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Toronto, Oct. 02, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Plato Gold Corp. (TSX-V: PGC) (OTCQB: NIOVF) (Frankfurt: 4Y7 or WKN: A0M2QX) (“Plato” or the “Company”) announces that it has closed an initial tranche of its previously announced non-brokered critical-mineral flow-through private placement (the “Offering”). The Company issued, effective September 29, 2026, 1,100,000 flow-through common shares (the “FT Shares”) at $0.05 per FT Share for gross proceeds of $55,000. No warrants were issued. The Offering was announced on September 9, 2026 for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $150,000 and may be completed in one or more additional closings.

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Each FT Share is intended to qualify as a “flow-through share” within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the “Tax Act”). The Company intends to use the gross proceeds of the Offering to incur eligible “Canadian exploration expenses” that qualify as “flow-through critical mineral mining expenditures,” as those terms are defined in the Tax Act, in connection with exploration activities at the Company’s Pic River Platinum Group Metals Project near Marathon, Ontario. The Company intends to incur these expenditures on or before December 31, 2026 and to renounce them to subscribers with an effective date no later than December 31, 2026 under the general renunciation rule.

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The FT Shares issued under this initial closing are subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day and may not be traded before January 30, 2027, except as permitted under applicable securities legislation. The TSX Venture Exchange (the “Exchange”) has conditionally accepted the Offering; final acceptance remains pending.

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No finder’s fee or commission was paid in connection with this initial closing.

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Insider Participation and MI 61-101

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Anthony Cohen, President, Chief Executive Officer and a director of the Company, subscribed personally for 600,000 FT Shares for $30,000. 

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Following the issuance, Mr. Cohen beneficially owns, or exercises control or direction over, 57,738,311 common shares, representing approximately 24.91% of the 231,765,717 common shares outstanding, before giving effect to options to acquire an additional 3,500,000 common shares. Mr. Cohen was already a Control Person of the Company prior to the Offering.

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Mr. Cohen’s subscription constitutes a “related party transaction” within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 – Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (“MI 61-101”). The Company is relying on the exemptions from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, respectively, because neither the fair market value of the FT Shares issued to Mr. Cohen nor the consideration paid by him exceeds 25% of the Company’s market capitalization, calculated in accordance with MI 61-101.