Vancouver, British Columbia - Newsfile Corp. - March 17, 2026 - Founders Metals Inc. (TSXV: FDR) (OTCQX: FDMIF) (FSE: 9DL0) ("Founders" or the "Company") announces that it has been included in the MVIS Global Junior Gold Miners Index ("MVGDXJ"), the underlying benchmark for the VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF ("GDXJ").

Separately, the Company reports the commencement of diamond drilling at Antino North on its Antino Gold Project ("Antino" or "Project") in southeastern Suriname, with a second rig now being mobilized to the area (Figure 1).

Highlights

• GDXJ Index Inclusion: Founders Metals added to the MVIS Global Junior Gold Miners Index in the Q1 2026 quarterly review, triggering passive buying from index-tracking ETFs
• Maiden Drilling at Antino North: First diamond drill rig now turning where field work has delineated ten parallel gold-bearing structures across a 4 km area
• Second Rig Mobilizing: A second diamond drill rig is being mobilized to test the multi-km historical auger gold anomaly in the east of Antino North
• Surface Results: Previously reported channel sampling at Antino North returned 20.0 m of 2.07 g/t Au including 7.0 m of 5.05 g/t Au
• Auger Sampling Progress: Founders has collected over 4000 auger samples to date in 2026

Colin Padget, President & CEO, commented, "Our inclusion in the GDXJ index is a meaningful milestone for Founders and reflects the market's growing recognition of what we are building in the Guiana Shield and brings new passive and institutional capital into the stock."

"On the ground, we are equally excited to be now drilling at Antino North. The shear zones we've mapped in the northwest offer numerous compelling first drill targets where this year's surface work has returned high-grade grab and channel results in geology similar to Upper Antino. With the scale of the new Antino North targets, we are also mobilizing a second rig that will initially test the large historical auger anomaly in the east. We see Antino North as having the potential to become a second centre of gravity within our expanding gold camp."

About Founders Metals Inc.
Founders Metals Inc. is a Canadian gold exploration company building a district-scale gold camp in southeastern Suriname. The Company controls a 102,360-hectare contiguous land package in the Guiana Shield - the largest uninterrupted package of highly prospective greenstone belt geology in the region. Founders is backed by strategic partnerships with Gold Fields and B2Gold and is executing one of the most active exploration programs in the global junior gold sector. The Company is committed to responsible exploration, strong community engagement, and disciplined capital allocation as it advances Suriname's next major gold camp.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS,
Per: "Colin Padget"
Colin Padget
President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director

Contact Information
Katie MacKenzie, Vice President, Corporate Development
Tel: +1 306 537 8903 | katiem@fdrmetals.com

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding long term value creation and the Company's prospects. Forward-looking information can generally be identified by words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", "believes", or variations indicating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" occur or be achieved.

Forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and reasonable assumptions but are subject to business, market, and economic risks, uncertainties, and contingencies that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied, including: general business and economic uncertainties; exploration results; mining industry risks; and other factors described in the Company's most recent annual management discussion and analysis. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, other factors may cause results not to be as anticipated. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

All material information on Founders Metals can be found at www.sedarplus.ca.

Quality Assurance and Control

Samples were analyzed at FILAB Suriname, a Bureau Veritas Certified Laboratory in Paramaribo, Suriname (a commercial certified laboratory under ISO 9001:2015). Samples are crushed to 75% passing 2.35 mm screen, riffle split (700 g) and pulverized to 85% passing 88 µm. Samples were analyzed using a 50 g fire assay (50 g aliquot) with an Atomic Absorption (AA) finish. For samples that return assay values over 5.0 grams per tonne (g/t), another cut was taken from the original pulp and fire assayed with a gravimetric finish. Founders Metals inserts blanks and certified reference standards in the sample sequence for quality control. External QA-QC checks are performed at ALS Global Laboratories (Geochemistry Division) in Lima, Peru (an ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited facility). A secure chain of custody is maintained in transporting and storing of all samples. Drill intervals with visible gold are assayed using metallic screening. Rock chip samples from outcrop/bedrock are selective by nature and may not be representative of the mineralization hosted on the project.

Qualified Persons

The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Michael Dufresne, M.Sc., P.Geol., P.Geo., an independent qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.



Figure 1: Antino plan map showing progress of 2026 auger geochemical survey

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The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Read more: Founders Metals Added to GDXJ Index; Commences Drilling at Antino North