Vancouver, British Columbia - Newsfile Corp. - 23 June 2026 - Founders Metals Inc. (TSXV: FDR) (OTCQX: FDMIF) (FSE: 9DL0) ("Founders" or the "Company") announces drill results from the Upper Antino target area at the Antino Gold Project ("Antino" or the "Project") in southeastern Suriname. The Company has made a new gold discovery 1.2 kilometres (km) west of Upper Antino, where hole FR217 returned 53.1 metres (m) of 1.21 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au) from surface in a previously untested area. Drilling also continues to demonstrate that Upper Antino is strongly mineralized at depth, highlighted by 9.0 m of 12.21 g/t Au from 320 m vertical depth, together with 37.0 m of 3.27 g/t Au from 209.0 m in the same hole (FR230). Upper Antino Drilling Highlights

• New discovery 1.2 km west of Upper Antino:
  • 53.1 m of 1.21 g/t Au from surface (FR217) - new discovery targeted by a surficial geochemical anomaly
  • More than a kilometre beyond the known mineralized footprint of Upper Antino, opening a new target in previously untested ground within the Antino land package. Follow-up drilling is underway.
• High-grade gold across multiple zones at Upper Antino:
  • 9.0 m of 12.21 g/t Au from 408.0 m (FR230) approximately 320 m vertical depth and 37.0 m of 3.27 g/t Au from 209.0 m (FR230)
• Additional high-grade gold intersected in northern follow-up drilling:
  • 3.0 m of 29.17 g/t Au from 101.0 m (FR219)
• 100 m up-dip extension of high-grade from infill drilling:
  • 33.0 m of 2.15 g/t Au from 85.0 m (FR225)
  • Shallow mineralization on the main shear that links the near-surface zone to the deeper high-grade intercepts, reinforcing grade continuity from surface to depth

Colin Padget, President & CEO, commented, "Today's results demonstrate further growth of the gold system at Upper Antino. To the west, we have made an entirely new discovery more than a kilometre beyond our previous drilling, with 53.1 m of 1.21 g/t gold from surface on a target that wasn't on the map four months ago. At Upper Antino itself, drill hole FR230 hit multiple zones of high-grade gold mineralization including 9.0 m of 12.21 g/t gold at 320 m vertical depth, further demonstrating continuity of grade to deeper levels. Several of the largest gold deposits in the Guiana Shield carry a significant amount of gold at depth, and Upper Antino shows that same potential. With the rainy season now underway, we are concentrating our Upper Antino drill metres where site access remains strongest - on resource-definition and infill drilling across the established core of the system, while continuing to test its growth to depth." Geology DiscussionNew Discovery Targeting overlapping, newly acquired geophysical and auger geochemical anomalies west of Upper Antino, discovery hole FR217 intersected53.1 m of 1.21 g/t Au from surface (Figure 1). The gold mineralization appears associated with a zone of quartz-carbonate veining, pervasive sericite alteration and locally up to 10% sulphide within steeply NW-trending shears along the mapped contact between two volcanic units. Along-strike follow-up drilling is currently underway. Upper Antino At Upper Antino, diamond drillhole FR230 tested along-strike and down-dip extensions of multiple parallel structures in the southeast area of Upper Antino, intersecting several gold-bearing zones. The resulting FR230 intercepts - 9.0 m of 12.21 g/t Au, 37.0 m of 3.27 g/t Au, 3.0 m of 5.53 g/t Au, and 2.0 m of 7.21 g/t Au - are consistent with the parallel structures shown to control gold mineralization at Upper Antino (Figure 2). In the central part of Upper Antino, drillhole FR225 returned 33.0 m of 2.15 g/t Au from 85.0 m, extending high-grade mineralization approximately 100 m up-dip from previously released results. Additionally, follow-up exploration drilling at Upper Antino's current northern extent returned 3.0 m of 29.17 g/t Au (FR219), indicating renewed potential for high-grade gold mineralization in this more distal part of the Upper Antino gold system. Several step-out holes drilled to the northwest of the main Upper Antino mineralized area returned no significant gold, though they intersected visible shear structures interpreted to extend from the Upper Antino system. Gold at Upper Antino is concentrated in discrete, plunging high-grade shoots within northwest-trending shear zones, and these holes are interpreted to have tested the shear corridor between, or off the plunge of, these shoots rather than the shoots themselves. The mineralized structures are interpreted to continue along strike, supported by the high-grade gold intersected in FR219 (3.0 m of 29.17 g/t Au) at the northern end of the area, and the Company is using this structural framework to target the projected positions of high-grade shoots in subsequent drilling. About Founders Metals Inc. Founders Metals Inc. is a Canadian gold exploration company building a...