LONDON, Ontario, September 26, 2025 — Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF) (“Fortune” or the “Company”) (www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to announce that Mr. David Massola has rejoined the Company as Vice President, Business Development to assist with the transition of the vertically integrated NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper critical minerals project (“NICO Project”) to project finance and development. David Massola is a seasoned mining industry financial executive with decades of experience working for large multinational mining and processing companies, junior mining companies, and developers, including significant work in Canada’s northern territories. Dave will be based in Toronto and will help the Company with its strategic and financial planning, assist with joint ventures, corporate and project finance, and he will lead the negotiations for First Nation Participation Agreements and business relationships.
David Massola graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Accounting before embarking on a twenty-year career with BHP Group Limited (“BHP”) and its predecessors, the world’s largest mining company by market capitalization. This included work at the corporate office in San Francisco, the Escondida Copper Mine in Chile, the Island Copper Mine in British Columbia, and the Ekati Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories (“NWT”), the latter for which he was Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) of BHP Diamonds Inc. David left BHP to become Vice President and CFO of DeBeers Canada Corporation, which was developing two diamond mines in the NWT and Ontario at the time. His recent experience included roles as Senior Vice President of Finance and CFO of GlobeStar Mining Corp., where he was involved with the financing, construction and operation of a copper-gold mine in the Dominican Republic, and for which he also negotiated its subsequent sale. He was also President and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of Continental Nickel Ltd., which was developing a mine in Tanzania, and led the negotiations for its subsequent takeover. David also served as Vice President, Business Development, and later as CEO of GoldQuest Mining Corporation that is developing a gold mine in the Dominican Republic, and he was Fortune’s Vice President of Finance and CFO from 2016 to 2020.
David Massola’s financial and business acumen will complement Fortune as the Company advances the NICO Project to a construction decision. The NICO Project is a development stage asset comprised of a planned mine and concentrator in the NWT and a dedicated hydrometallurgical facility in Alberta where concentrates from the mine, and other feed sources, will be processed to make cobalt sulphate, gold doré, bismuth ingots, and copper cement for the energy transition, new technologies and defence. The NICO Project will produce value-added products from three critical minerals, and there is 1.1 million ounces of in-situ gold in the deposit as a countercyclical co-product to mitigate metal price volatility.