Fortitude expands its owned power advantage by energizing its first greenfield build at an attractive power cost

Energization expands power portfolio to over 60 MWs of contracted power further supporting Fortitude’s venture mining platform

The milestone builds on the previously announced business combination with HeartSciences Inc. (Nasdaq: HSCS)

FAIRPORT, N.Y.: Fortitude Mining Holdings, Inc. ("Fortitude" or the “Company”), a vertically-integrated digital asset mining platform anchored in Zcash, today announced the energization of its new facility in Grand Island, Nebraska. With 12 MW of power capacity now delivered, Fortitude has completed construction, brought the facility online, and validated its electrical infrastructure ahead of full-scale operations. The energization follows Fortitude’s previous announcement that it has entered into a definitive agreement for a business combination transaction (the “Proposed Transaction”) with HeartSciences Inc. (Nasdaq: HSCS) (“HeartSciences”), aiming to bring a leading vertically-integrated Zcash mining platform to the public markets.

The energization of the Grand Island Facility, the Company’s first greenfield build, further strengthens its owned power portfolio that now spans over 60 MW across seven sites in South Dakota, Nebraska, Texas, and New York. The project showcases Fortitude’s in-house capability to design, construct, and energize a greenfield data center from the ground up, a development capability central to the Company’s expansion strategy. The power portfolio represents a key pillar in Fortitude’s business and underpins Fortitude’s vertically-integrated Zcash and venture mining strategy. In our view each megawatt of owned capacity drives down mining costs, creates revenue optionality through demand response and grid participation, and positions Fortitude to capture additional high-conviction opportunities across the Proof-of-Work ecosystem. With estimated power costs of approximately $0.045/kWh, the Grand Island Facility is expected to contribute to Fortitude's planned trajectory of lowering its Zcash direct cash mining cost from approximately $70 per coin toward approximately $40 per coin, assuming successful equipment deployment and stable power, network, and market conditions. We expect this reduction will be driven by newer-generation equipment efficiency and the lower power costs of owned sites relative to third-party hosted capacity. We believe the Grand Island Facility represents only the beginning of a complementary strategy that pairs greenfield development with targeted acquisitions to expand Fortitude’s owned capacity across the Proof-of-Work ecosystem.

"Grand Island is a meaningful step forward in our owned-and-operated power strategy, which we believe gives us the cost discipline and operational flexibility to scale on our own terms. It represents months of planning, engineering, and execution, and it is expected to bring real, reliable capacity online," said Andrea Childs, CEO of Fortitude. "We're proud to energize this facility and to start hashing across diversified, high-conviction networks as we pursue what we believe is a generational opportunity in the Proof-of-Work ecosystem. We would like to thank our local partners for supporting us throughout this process.”

"Our strategy is led by our goal to maximize every megawatt, build and own our power portfolio, and the Grand Island Facility is that model in action," said Erik Ellingson, CFO of Fortitude. "We're incredibly proud of our team for delivering on this milestone. Executing a greenfield build ourselves gives us a foundation we believe positions us to scale, and we see it as an important step toward the growth we're aiming for.”

Grand Island highlights Fortitude's disciplined power portfolio strategy in action: targeting locations with available, underutilized capacity, the Company plans to put to productive use while operating flexibly alongside local utilities and communities. The facility is purpose-built for that approach, positioned between two solar generation facilities and beside a substation with excess capacity historically, on an industrial site set well back from neighboring properties. By tapping anticipated excess capacity, Fortitude intends to put otherwise idle power to work, and during peak demand the facility is designed to curtail consumption to ease strain on the grid. That combination of available capacity, flexible load, and a well-situated site is precisely what we believe makes locations like Grand Island attractive as Fortitude scales its owned-and-operated portfolio.

"Fortitude's Grand Island Facility's ability to run at a consistent load factor around the clock is anticipated to allow the Grand Island Facility to better dollar-cost-average its cost of energy for all ratepayers, while its flexibility in being interruptible allows us to site the facility without acquiring additional costly generation,” said Ryan Schmitz, Utilities Director for the City of Grand Island. "Other benefits include the fact that the building is not expected to use any water or increase ambient sound levels at any adjacent property line. Fortitude has been great to work with, and we look forward to a continued, mutually beneficial partnership."

About Fortitude

Fortitude, currently wholly-owned by DCG, is an institutional-scale, vertically integrated venture mining platform operating across the Proof-of-Work ecosystem and anchored in Zcash. Fortitude pairs self-mining operations with an owned data center footprint, a diversified power portfolio backed by competitive long-term contracts, and disciplined capital allocation to identify and scale high-conviction opportunities in emerging Proof-of-Work ecosystems, beginning with its meaningful position in the Zcash network. Fortitude is led by an experienced team of operators, capital markets professionals, and digital asset specialists with a track record of identifying and scaling high-conviction opportunities and building privacy-preserving digital asset infrastructure.

For more information, visit www.fortitudemining.com and follow Fortitude on X at @FortitudeCrypto.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,” “expect,” “plan,” “will,” “would,” “believe,” “estimate,” “goal,” "intend," and other words of similar meaning, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, express or implied statements relating to Fortitude and its plans and expectations concerning the Grand Island Facility including expected cost savings and other benefits, and the expectation that the previously announced business combination transaction will bring Fortitude to the public markets. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements, including, without limitation, the following: the risk that the proposed business combination may not be completed on the anticipated timeline or at all; the failure to satisfy the conditions to the closing of the proposed business combination, including obtaining the requisite approval of the HeartSciences shareholders; market, macroeconomic, or other conditions that could adversely affect either HeartSciences or Fortitude, or the combined company; risks related to the integration of the two companies and the management of a newly public company; risks relating to Fortitude’s operations and business, including the highly volatile nature of the price of Zcash and other cryptocurrencies; and risks relating to significant legal, commercial, regulatory and technical uncertainty regarding digital assets generally. Additional factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release are discussed in the proxy statement filed by HeartSciences with the SEC in connection with the proposed business combination. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Each of HeartSciences and Fortitude expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. All forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release.

Additional Information About the Proposed Transaction and Where to Find It

This press release may be deemed solicitation material in respect of the Proposed Transaction. In connection with the Proposed Transaction, HeartSciences has filed and may file additional relevant materials with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including a preliminary proxy statement on Schedule 14A. Following the filing of a definitive proxy statement with the SEC, HeartSciences will mail the definitive proxy statement and a proxy card to each shareholder entitled to vote at the special meeting relating to the Proposed Transaction. INVESTORS AND SHAREHOLDERS OF HEARTSCIENCES ARE URGED TO READ THESE MATERIALS (INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION THAT HEARTSCIENCES HAS FILED OR MAY FILE WITH THE SEC WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT HEARTSCIENCES AND THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. THIS PRESS RELEASE DOES NOT CONTAIN ALL THE INFORMATION THAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED CONCERNING THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION AND RELATED MATTERS AND IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE THE BASIS FOR ANY INVESTMENT DECISION OR ANY OTHER DECISION IN RESPECT OF SUCH MATTERS. The preliminary proxy statement, the definitive proxy statement and other relevant materials in connection with the Proposed Transaction (when they become available), and any other documents filed by HeartSciences with the SEC, may be obtained free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition, investors and shareholders may obtain free copies of the documents filed with the SEC or by sending a request to the HeartSciences Investor Relations Department at investorrelations@heartsciences.com.

Participants in the Solicitation

HeartSciences and Fortitude, their respective directors and executive officers, and certain executive officers of Digital Currency Group may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from HeartSciences’ shareholders with respect to the Proposed Transaction. Information regarding the identity of the potential participants, and their direct or indirect interests in the Proposed Transaction, by security holdings or otherwise, is set forth in the preliminary proxy statement and other materials that have been or may be filed with the SEC in connection with the Proposed Transaction.

No Offer or Solicitation

This press release and the information contained herein is not intended to and does not constitute, or form part of, an offer, invitation or the solicitation of an offer or invitation to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, sell or otherwise dispose of any securities, or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction, pursuant to the Proposed Transaction or otherwise, nor shall there be any sale, issuance or transfer of securities in any jurisdiction in contravention of applicable law. The Proposed Transaction will be implemented solely pursuant to the terms and conditions of the merger agreement, which contain the full terms and conditions of the Proposed Transaction.

Fonte: Business Wire