Forte Minerals Corp: The Share Structure Behind Forte's

Why share structure matters in junior mining

Junior mining is a capital-intensive business. Exploration requires drilling, technical work, permitting, community engagement, and administrative overhead, all of which must be funded from cash raised by issuing equity. Most junior miners raise money in tranches over time, and each raise typically dilutes existing shareholders. Over years of exploration, that dilution compounds. It is one of the reasons early shareholders in junior mining companies can end up worse off than they expected, even when the underlying geological work goes well.

The single most important tool an investor has for evaluating dilution risk before it happens is the cap table.

The cap table (or capitalization table) is the breakdown of who owns what percentage of a company's shares. Two questions typically dominate: how many total shares are outstanding, and how much of the ownership is held by insiders, long-term investors, and strategic backers versus available for daily trading in the public float.

Forte's structure, in specific numbers

Forte Minerals has one of the tighter cap tables in the junior mining space today. Total shares outstanding: 78.2 million (fully diluted: 87.3 million). That is a relatively low total share count for a junior at this stage of exploration. The ownership breakdown: Insiders and management: approximately 20 percent. When founders and executives hold a significant portion of the shares themselves, their financial interests are aligned with public shareholders. What is good for the share price is directly good for their personal balance sheets. Long-term investors: approximately 25 percent. These are institutional or high-net-worth backers who have committed for a multi-year horizon rather than short-term trading. Strategic investors: approximately 17 percent. These are corporate or industry-linked holders with commercial or strategic reasons to own the shares. Public free float: approximately 24 percent. This is the portion of shares actively available for daily trading on the CSE, OTCQB, and Frankfurt exchanges. That structure has two consequences worth understanding. First, it means positive company catalysts (drill results, permit approvals, resource updates) hit a relatively small trading float, which can amplify share price movement in either direction. Second, it means insiders and long-term backers own a meaningful portion of the company, which changes the incentive structure around dilution decisions. Past market performance is not indicative of future results, and share structure alone does not determine outcomes.

Capital raised, and what it enables

The second data point that matters is how much capital Forte has raised to reach its current position. The company has raised approximately C$20.97 million since its 2022 IPO. Its market capitalization is approximately C$93.8 million (based on the September 15, 2026 share price of C$1.20).

Note: past market performance is not indicative of future results, and market capitalization figures reflect a specific point-in-time share price that will move with the market.

What matters structurally is that Forte held approximately C$14. million in cash on its most recent disclosure. That is a meaningful cash position for a junior exploration company at this stage. It gives the company runway to advance its exploration programs without needing to conduct a near-term dilutive financing.

The near-term work spans permitting and community agreements at the Alto Ruri gold target, a drill program on the Esperanza copper-molybdenum porphyry target where the environmental drilling permit has been approved, and continued evaluation of the additional Peruvian projects across the 19,000-hectare portfolio.

The people behind the cap table

The people who own significant portions of the equity include board and advisory members with prior senior roles at Freeport-McMoRan, Rio Tinto, Kennecott, Anglo American, Glencore, Vale, and Teck. Chair Patrick Evans has guided successful company sales including Norsemont Mining (acquired by Hudbay), Weda Bay Minerals (acquired by Eramet), and Southern Platinum (acquired by Lonmin). Director Richard Leveille was previously Senior Vice President of Exploration at Freeport, where his team was credited with adding 54 billion pounds of copper to reserves. Director and Qualified Person Richard Osmond, P.Geo, is President of GlobeTrotters Resources Group with prior involvement in discoveries at Vale’s Voisey’s Bay and Glencore’s Raglan. General Manager for Peru Manuel Montoya, P.Geo, spent his career at Teck’s Andes Exploration Group and was directly responsible for the initial exploration discoveries at the Zafranal deposit. Senior Advisor Dr. Thomas Henricksen has 50 years of experience and received the AMEBC’s Colin Spence Award in 2018. President and CEO Patrick Elliott has 25-plus years in mining including prior work at Zafranal and Elida in Peru.

Past experience at other companies does not guarantee a similar outcome at Forte.

The bottom line

Forte Minerals has assembled a cap table that most junior mining companies do not have: 78.2 million shares outstanding, only about a quarter of them in the daily trading float, and roughly six out of every ten shares held by insiders, long-term investors, or strategic backers who have committed for a multi-year horizon. Alongside that structure sits C$14.4 million in cash, enough to advance the current exploration program without needing to interrupt for a near-term dilutive financing, and a technical bench with prior senior roles at Freeport-McMoRan, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, and Glencore.

The work itself is what sits ahead: exploration and permitting progress across the 19,000-hectare Peruvian portfolio, drill-ready copper targets at Esperanza, and continued advancement of the Alto Ruri gold system. As with any exploration-stage program in Peru, that path involves commodity price movement, regulatory and community engagement in a country with its own political rhythms, and the possibility of additional financing as the work continues. Cap-table concentration can amplify share price movement in either direction. The same tight float that can respond quickly to positive catalysts can also react sharply to negative ones. Past market performance is not indicative of future results. The tickers are CUAU on the CSE, FOMNF on the OTCQB, and 2OA on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. For additional information, visit forteminerals.com or public filings on SEDAR+.

Disclaimer:

This content is disseminated on behalf of Forte Minerals Corp. (CSE: CUAU). This is not investment advice. Cashu Group is not a registered investment advisor. Cashu Group has been compensated to produce this content. All information is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Always do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Mining exploration is inherently risky and most exploration-stage companies do not become producing mines. Historical drill results referenced in this content are from 1997 drilling by a previous operator and have not been independently verified by Forte Minerals through its own drilling program.