Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX: FT) (OTCQB: FTMDF) (“Fortune” or the “Company”) (www.fortuneminerals.com) is pleased to announce that it has closed the C$3.8 million loan previously announced with Prosper NWT, a public agency of the Government of the Northwest Territories (see November 10, 2025 news release). Fortune has also completed the acquisition of the Lamont County, Alberta site and facilities that were previously held under a purchase option with JFSL Field Services ULC (“JFSL”) (see August 19, 2024 news release). Fortune plans to construct a hydrometallurgical facility at this site (“Alberta Refinery”) to process concentrates from the NICO cobalt-gold-bismuth-copper mine and concentrator in the Northwest Territories (“NWT”) (collectively the “NICO Project”). The NICO Project will provide a reliable North American supply of battery grade cobalt sulphate, bismuth ingots (12% of global reserves) and copper cement - with more than one million ounces of in-situ gold as a countercyclical and highly liquid co-product.

Korea Zinc, the world's No. 1 nonferrous metal smelting company, will build a strategic minerals smelter in the United States. A plan is being pursued for the U.S. Department of Defense and local defense corporations to participate as shareholders. It is an unusual case for the U.S. government to directly hold equity in a corporation established by a Korean private company. It is seen as formalizing a U.S.-Korea "strategic resources alliance" to counter China's "weaponization of resources," as China dominates the global rare earth supply chain…The reason the U.S. government is trying to attract the smelter even by becoming a shareholder of corporations is the urgent reality facing U.S. security. America's key industries—semiconductors, defense, and aerospace—cannot operate without Chinese rare earths. In particular, dependence on China for antimony and bismuth, essential for shell and missile production, exceeds 70%...The United States attempted to rebuild its domestic supply chain, but the smelting industry ecosystem has collapsed due to environmental regulations and profitability issues. In this situation, Korea Zinc emerged as the only alternative. Korea Zinc possesses the world's best hydrometallurgical smelting technology that extracts not only base metals such as zinc, lead, and copper but also scarce metals such as antimony, bismuth, germanium, and gallium from ore without impurities… Korea Zinc, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Ministry of National Defense, and U.S. defense strategic companies will establish a joint venture (JV) worth about 2.8 trillion won, and the U.S. side will invest $690 million (about 1 trillion won) in this JV. $1.25 billion (about 1.8 trillion won) will be borrowed locally by the JV. The remaining 7.2 trillion won will be raised by the U.S. government and JPMorgan borrowing half each, with Korea Zinc providing a joint guarantee…The new smelter to be established in the United States will be modeled after Korea Zinc's Onsan Smelter in Ulsan. The Onsan Smelter combines wet and dry processes to produce not only zinc but also strategic and critical minerals such as antimony and germanium. The U.S. smelter is also expected to apply such an integrated process to serve as a supply base for advanced industry materials, covering not only critical minerals but also base minerals.

Korea Zinc on Monday announced a $7.4 billion smelter project that will be backed by the U.S. government, as Washington seeks to reduce its reliance on China for critical minerals including rare earths…As part of the plan, Korea Zinc will sell new shares worth $1.9 billion to a joint venture controlled by the U.S. government and unnamed U.S.-based strategic investors, which would then control around 10% of the South Korean firm…The U.S. Department of War will hold a 40% stake in the venture, while Korea Zinc's stake will be less than 10%, the company said…It will secure the remaining $5.5 billion for the plant through $4.7 billion in loans from the U.S. government and financial institutions, as well as $210 million in subsidies from the U.S. Commerce Department under the CHIPS and Science Act…Korea Zinc will kick-start the project by acquiring two mining complexes and the only U.S. zinc smelter, which has been operational since 1978, in Clarksville, Tennessee, from Nyrstar before constructing an integrated facility in the state, it said…The deal to build the first U.S.-based zinc smelter in decades comes as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to secure U.S. supply chains for critical minerals to reduce its reliance on China…The new integrated smelter would produce 540,000 tons per year of major non-ferrous metals, including 300,000 tons of zinc, 35,000 tons of copper, 200,000 tons of lead and 5,100 tons of rare earths annually, it said in a filing…China dominates the world's supply of critical minerals such as antimony and germanium, which are used in telecommunications equipment, semiconductors and military technology.

The European Commission is expected on Tuesday to reverse the EU's effective ban on sales of new combustion-engine cars from 2035, bowing to intense pressure from Germany, Italy and European automakers struggling against Chinese and U.S. rivals. The move, the details of which are still being hashed out by EU officials ahead of its unveiling, could see the effective ban pushed back by five years or softened indefinitely, official and industry sources said….Reneging on the ban has divided the sector. Traditional automakers like Volkswagen and Fiat-owner Stellantis have pushed hard for targets to be eased amid fierce competition from lower-cost Chinese rivals. The EV sector, however, sees it as yielding more ground to China in the electrification shift.