Announcement • Jul 16
Founders Metals Inc. Provides Mid-Year Exploration Update Across Four Targets and Confirms New Antino Northeast Discovery
Founders Metals Inc. announced surface exploration and drilling results from its fully funded 70,000-metre drill program at the Antino Gold Project in southeastern Suriname. In the first half of 2026 Founders has advanced multiple gold systems simultaneously. First-ever drilling confirms a new gold discovery on a kilometre-scale gold-in-auger anomaly with 1,200 m drill-confirmed strike length. 58.5 metres of 1.00 grams per tonne gold from 18.6 m (ANE009), including 18.0 m of 1.59 grams per tonne gold. 53.0 m of 0.46 grams per tonne gold from 149.0 m (ANE002), including 8.0 m of 2.29 grams per tonne gold. Drilling has now tested and confirmed mineralization along three of twelve mapped northwest-trending parallel shear zones; nine shears remain untested. 16.5 m of 1.82 grams per tonne gold from 8.1 m, including 3.0 m of 6.38 grams per tonne gold (AN002), 8.1 m of 3.42 grams per tonne gold from surface (AN009), and 22.5 m of 0.46 grams per tonne gold from 32.1 m (AN005). Fifteen new deep auger holes expand the high-grade gold previously defined, with near-surface intercepts including: 30.0 m of 4.52 grams per tonne gold (MGAD061), 23.0 m of 5.31 grams per tonne gold (MGAD062), 19.0 m of 4.02 grams per tonne gold (MGAD064), 9.0 m of 6.24 grams per tonne gold (MGAD074), 30.0 m of 3.69 grams per tonne gold (MGAD060), and 17.0 m of 2.94 grams per tonne gold (MGAD063). In several holes, mineralization continues to the 30 m auger limit. The Company has a diamond drill moving to Maria Geralda in early August to test these results in bedrock. A 35-metre-wide shear zone with visible gold intersected in drill hole FR251 at Antino West, 50 m along strike from the previously released discovery hole (FR217: 53.1 m of 1.21 grams per tonne gold); assays pending. At Antino Northeast, the Company completed its first-ever drilling, testing a kilometre-scale gold-in-auger anomaly. Discovery hole ANE009 returned 58.5 m of 1.00 grams per tonne gold from 18.6 m, confirming a new mineralized gold system within the anomaly. Approximately 1,200 m away, hole ANE002 intersected 53.0 m of 0.46 grams per tonne gold from 149.0 m, further demonstrating the scale of the system. Mineralization remains open in all directions, and the majority of the auger anomaly has yet to be drill-tested. Follow-up drilling is planned to further define the extent of the gold system and test a second major parallel structure identified with structural mapping as well as surficial auger sampling programs. The Antino North discovery is a series of northwest-trending, shear-hosted gold zones mapped over multiple kilometres across the area. To date, the Company's surface program has identified twelve parallel shear structures, of which three have now been drill-tested. Mineralization is similar in character to the shear- and vein-hosted gold at Upper Antino, comprising sheared subvertical quartz veins with a sericite-ankerite-tourmaline alteration assemblage and late brittle deformation overprinting. The mapped shear zones are spatially coincident with a large regional-scale fold. Results include 16.5 m of 1.82 grams per tonne gold from 8.1 m (AN002), 8.1 m of 3.42 grams per tonne gold from surface (AN009), 10.0 m of 0.87 grams per tonne gold from 209.0 m (AN004), and 22.5 m of 0.46 grams per tonne gold from 32.1 m (AN005). Building on the deep auger program reported in May 2026, which defined a coherent, plunging high-grade gold shoot at Maria Geralda, the Company has completed fifteen additional deep auger holes. Five of the new holes were drilled on the same 3 m x 3 m vertical grid to 30 m depth in saprolite, with nine along a new drill fence stepping out 9 m to the north, and one 18 m to the north. Results from these holes include 9.0 m of 6.24 grams per tonne gold (MGAD074) and 28.0 m of 0.85 grams per tonne gold from surface (MGAD071). These results extend the width of the high-grade gold shoot, further defining a plunging structure with consistent distribution of high-grade material. Results from the five new holes on the 3 m x 3 m grid continue to confirm a robust, high-grade gold shoot near-surface. Highlight intercepts include 30.0 m of 4.52 grams per tonne gold (MGAD061), 23.0 m of 5.31 grams per tonne gold (MGAD062), 19.0 m of 4.02 grams per tonne gold (MGAD064), 30.0 m of 3.69 grams per tonne gold (MGAD060) and 17.0 m of 2.94 grams per tonne gold (MGAD063). Several holes, including MGAD060 and MGAD061, returned gold mineralization to the end of the hole at the 30 m auger limit, indicating that the shoot remains open at depth. All current mineralization is hosted in saprolite; the bedrock beneath the shoot has not yet been tested by diamond drilling. On the east of Maria Geralda, an anomaly with similar widths and grades to the shoot defined in the deep auger program was identified in a historical high-grade channel that returned 12.3 m of 4.52 grams per tonne gold. The location and distribution of grade suggest the presence of a second, vertically stacked mineralized gold shoot within the broader northwest-oriented structure. The Company plans to follow up with an additional deep auger program to test mineralization east of the existing auger grid, near the historical high-grade channel, and to begin diamond drilling to test the shoot into bedrock. The Antino West discovery is located approximately 1.2 kilometres west of Upper Antino, where discovery hole FR217 returned 53.1 m of 1.21 grams per tonne gold from surface. Gold mineralization is associated with quartz-carbonate veining, pervasive sericite alteration and locally up to 10% sulphide within steeply northwest-trending shears developed along the mapped contact between two volcanic units. Follow-up drilling has continued along strike, with hole FR251 - collared approximately 50 m from the discovery hole - intersecting two shear zones: a 35-metre-wide zone with visible gold from 86.0 m, and a separate 11-metre-wide zone from 183.0 m. Assays are pending, and additional follow-up drilling is planned to test the extent of the mineralized system. Samples were analyzed at FILAB Suriname, a Bureau Veritas Certified Laboratory in Paramaribo, Suriname. 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 finish.
