Vela Minerals to Acquire Standard Uranium and Davidson River Property

VELA MINERALS LTD.

Suite 2200, 885 West Georgia Street Vancouver, British Columbia V6C 3E8

NEWS RELEASE

VELA MINERALS TO ACQUIRE STANDARD URANIUM AND DAVIDSON RIVER PROPERTY

April 19, 2018 – Vancouver, British Columbia – Vela Minerals Ltd. (the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a definitive share purchase agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”), dated effective April 18, 2018, to acquire (the “Transaction”) all of the outstanding share capital of Standard Uranium Ltd. (“Standard Uranium”). Standard Uranium is a mineral resource company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, and established under the Canada Business Corporations Act.

Since its establishment, Standard Uranium has focused on the development of prospective exploration stage uranium projects in the Athabasca Basin. Standard Uranium currently holds the rights to acquire the Davidson River Project (the “Property”), which is presently owned by Jody Dahrouge and 877384 Alberta Ltd. The Property is the largest private land holding in the southwest part of the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, comprising 65,000 acres. The Property is highly prospective for basement hosted Uranium deposits, yet remains virtually unexplored despite its proximity to recent high-grade Uranium discoveries. Standard Uranium has recently completed geophysical work on the Property and is planning a further summer exploration program.

Transaction

The Purchase Agreement was entered into with each of the shareholders of Standard Uranium (collectively, the “Vendors”). Each of the Vendors and Standard Uranium are at arms’-length to the Company, and no insiders of the Company hold any interest in Standard Uranium or the Property. In consideration for the acquisition of the outstanding share capital of Standard Uranium, the Company will issue 32,200,000 common shares (the “Consideration Shares”) and 10,000,000 common share purchase warrants (the “Consideration Warrants”) to the existing shareholders of Standard Uranium. In connection with completion of this Transaction, the Company intends to change its name to “Standard Uranium Ltd.”

Completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including the availability of financing, and the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the “Exchange”). The Transaction cannot be completed until these conditions are satisfied, and there can be no assurance that the Transaction will be completed in a timely fashion, or at all. As part of its due diligence process, and as required by the Exchange, the Company has commissioned a geological report on the Property. Once completed, a copy of the geological report will be available for review under the Company’s profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).

Pending completion of filings with the Exchange in connection with the Transaction, trading in the Company’s common shares has been halted at the request of the Company. It is anticipated that trading will remain halted until the Transaction has been completed. Following completion of the Transaction, the Company anticipates that it will continue to be listed on the Exchange as a Tier 2 Mining Issuer.

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Management Changes

In connection with completion of the Transaction, Jon Bey will join the Board of Directors of the Company and will serve as Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Bey is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Uranium, and has significant experience in structuring and financing transactions in the resource sector. Mr. Bey is a senior executive with more than twelve years of resource sector and capital markets experience. He is Chairman of the Steel Rose Group of companies, CEO of the investor relations firm Steel Rose Communications and Chairman of Steel Rose Capital, a capital markets advisory firm. Following the appointment of Mr. Bey, it is anticipated that Richard Grayston would remain with the Company and would serve in the capacity of Chief Financial Officer.

Private Placement

In connection with the Transaction, the Company intends to conduct a non-brokered private placement (the “Financing”) of up to 10,000,000 common shares (each, a “Share”) at a price of $0.25 per Share. All securities to be issued by the Company pursuant to the Financing will be subject to a four-month statutory hold period. The Company anticipates paying finders’ fees to certain eligible parties who introduce subscribers to the Financing.

The proceeds of the Financing are intended to be used to advance exploration efforts on the Property, and to satisfy working capital requirements of the Transaction.

For further information, contact Richard Grayston at [email protected].

On behalf of the Board,

Vela Minerals Ltd.

Richard Grayston, Chief Executive Officer

Completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including Exchange acceptance. The Transaction cannot close until the required approvals are obtained, and the outstanding conditions are satisfied. There can be no assurance that the Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.

Investors are cautioned that any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative.

The TSX Venture Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release may contain certain “Forward-Looking Statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “target, “plan”, “forecast”, “may”, “schedule” and other similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to anticipated financing activities, the process for completion of the Transaction, the proposed activities of the Company following completion of the Transaction, regulatory or government requirements or approvals necessary for completion of the Transaction, and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Company’s current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social risks, contingencies and uncertainties. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affections such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.