The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the retained EU law version of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 (the "UK MAR") which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The information is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of the UK MAR. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

FIRST CLASS METALS PLC

17 March 2026

Additional Visible Gold at Roy, Sunbeam

First Class Metals PLC ("First Class Metals", "FCM" or the "Company") the UK listed company focused on the discovery of economic metal deposits across its exploration properties in Ontario, Canada, is pleased to report further visible gold has been identified in core from the drilling at the Roy prospect on the Sunbeam Property.

Highlights

·    Visible gold ('VG') observed in two separate sections of core from a second drill hole at Roy, further confirming the presence of gold mineralisation within the targeted structure

·    The planned drill programme has now been successfully completed with 12 holes drilled at Roy.

·    Total meterage exceeded the 1,000m contractual minimum.

·    Current drilling has confirmed the mineralised structure over a strike extent exceeding 300m.

·    Detailed geological logging and sampling is ongoing with the logging of 6 holes now complete.

·    Eight drill holes remain to be cut and sampled.

·    Holes 1-2 have been dispatched to the laboratory in Thunder Bay for assaying.

Marc J. Sale CEO First Class Metals Commented:

"The drill programme at Roy has to date been a resounding success. I was fortunate to be on site when the first visible gold was identified. The identification of a second occurrence, in two sections of core, while we are still barely halfway through the logging and sampling is incredibly encouraging and furthers the credibility of the Sunbeam property as a whole."

Roy structure

The lineament that the Roy occurrence / development is located on is a district scale structure and has now been traced through historic work and Emerald Geological Services ("EGS") prospecting towards the 111ppb lake sediment sample some 5km northeast along strike of the mine shaft. The structure also hosts historic shafts B43 and B45, which further enhances the potential see Figure 1.

Figure 1 illustrating the soil (VLF) grid and locations of historic shafts, including Roy, drilling has focussed on the area immediately around the Roy shaft and the strike extension to the NE.

Drilling

The planned 1,000m minimum programme has been successfully completed with 12 holes drilled for a total of 1,030m, see Figure 2

Figure 2 showing the location of the locations of the 12 drill holes at Roy, note hole 26-01 was abandoned at 26m.

All holes intersected the targeted 'structure' or the potentially mineralised package which is now confirmed over a strike length exceeding 300m, see Figure 2 and 3

Figure 3 boxes of core from drill hole SUN-26-06, drilled on an azimuth of 200^o, in order to test the plunge of the mineralsied structure. It shows the mineralised 'package' of altered (variously quartz veined) tonalite on the margins of deformed chloritic schist containing / alternating with quartz veins and veinlets. This hole contains two separate occurrences of VG.

The observation of further visible gold in the core in two separated locations is extremely significant, see Figure 4-8.The gold grains are scattered throughout a small area of the quartz vein and again associated with galena.

Figure 4 showing the quartz vein with the visible gold

Figure 5 showing closer view of the visible gold grains in one of the quartz veins.

Figure 6 showing visible gold grains in the quartz vein.

Figure 7 showing visible gold grains and galena in the quartz vein.

The gold is intimately associated with a lead mineral, galena, which appears a slightly metallic grey in the images.

Figure 8 showing a second occurrence of visible gold grains and galena in the quartz vein, less than a metre from the initial observation.

The EGS team will continue to diligently log and sample the remaining six holes and keep keen eyes open for further instances of VG.

Qualified Person

The technical disclosures contained in this announcement have been drafted in line with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum standards and guidelines and approved by Marc J. Sale, who has more than 30 years in the gold exploration industry and is considered a Qualified Person owing to his status as a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

Glossary of Technical Terms

For Further Information:

Engage with us by asking questions, watching video summaries, and seeing what other shareholders have to say. Navigate to our Interactive Investor hub here:

https:www.firstclassmetalsplc.com

For further information, please contact:

James Knowles, Executive Chair
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 07488 362641

Marc J Sale, CEO
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 07711 093532

AlbR Capital Limited

David Coffman / Dan Harris

Website: www.albrcapital.com
Tel: (0)20 7469 0930

Axis Capital Markets (Broker)
Lewis Jones
Website: Axcap247.com
Tel: (0)203 026 0449

First Class Metals PLC - Background

First Class Metals listed on the LSE in July 2022 and is focused on metals exploration in Ontario, Canada which has a robust and thriving junior mineral exploration sector. In particular, the Hemlo 'camp' near Marathon, Ontario is a proven world class address for gold exploration, featuring the Hemlo gold deposit owned by Hemlo Mining Corp., (>23M oz gold produced), with the past producing Geco and Winston Lake base metal deposits also situated in the region.

FCM currently holds 100% ownership of seven claim blocks covering over 250km² in northwest Ontario. A further three blocks are under option and cover an additional 30km².FCM is focussed on exploring for gold but has base metals and critical metals mineralisation. FCM is maintaining a joint venture with GT Resources on the West Pickle Lake Property a drill-proven ultra-high-grade Ni-Cu project.

The flagship properties, North Hemlo and Sunbeam, are gold focussed. North Hemlo has a significant discovery in the Dead Otter trend which is a discontinuous 3.5km gold anomalous trend with a 19.6g/t Au peak grab sample. This sampling being the highest known assay from a grab sample ever recorded on the North Limb of Hemlo.

In October 2022 FCM completed the option to purchase the historical high-grade past-producing Sunbeam gold mine near Atikokan, Ontario, ~15 km southeast of Agnico Eagle's Hammond Reef gold deposit (3.3 Moz of open pit probable gold reserves).

FCM acquired the Zigzag Project near Armstrong, Ontario in March 2023. The property features Li-Ta-bearing pegmatites in the same belt as Green Technology Metals' Seymour Lake Project, which contains a Mineral Resource estimate of 9.9 Mt @ 1.04% Li2O. Zigzag was successfully drilled prior to Christmas 2023 and results have now been released.

The Kerrs Gold property, acquired under option by First Class Metals in April 2024, is located in northeastern Ontario within the Abitibi Greenstone Belt, one of the world's most prolific gold-producing regions. The project holds a historical inferred resource of approximately 386,000 ounces of gold, underscoring its potential as a meaningful addition to FCM's expanding gold portfolio. Kerrs Gold complements the Company's exploration strategy and provides exposure to a well-established mining district. FCM is currently reviewing plans to advance the project and further unlock its value.

The significant potential of the properties for precious, base and battery metals relates to 'nearology', since all properties lie in the same districts as known deposits (Hemlo, Hammond Reef, Seymour Lake), and either contain known showings, geochemical or geophysical anomalies, or favourable structures along strike from known showings (e.g. the Esa project, with an inferred Hemlo-style shear along strike from known gold occurrences).

For further information see the Company's presentation on the web site:

www.firstclassmetalsplc.com

Forward Looking Statements

Certain statements in this announcement may contain forward-looking statements which are based on the Company's expectations, intentions and projections regarding its future performance, anticipated events or trends and other matters that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate only to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements sometimes use words such as 'aim', 'anticipate', 'target', 'expect', 'estimate', 'intend', 'plan', 'goal', 'believe', or other words of similar meaning. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of such statements and, except as required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.