Auxico Signs Definitive Agreement for Joint Venture on Tin Tailings in Brazil

• 30 million tonnes of tailings with tin, niobium and rare earth elements

June 7, 2022 (Source) — Auxico Resources Canada Inc. (CSE: AUAG) is pleased to announce that a final agreement has been signed (“Agreement”) with Cooperativa Estanifera de Mineradores da Amazônia Legal Ltda. (“CEMAL”) concerning the production of tin, niobium and rare earths from the Massangana tailings estimated to contain 30,000,000 tonnes in the State of Rondônia, Brazil. A study prepared by the German Mineral Resources Agency and the Geological Survey of Brazil¹ indicates that three types of products could be generated from the tin tailings: columbite concentrate containing 34.07% niobium, monazite concentrate containing 37.74% total rare earth oxide (“TREO”), and cassiterite concentrate containing 54.92% tin. For reference, please see below the table outlining the products as provided within the study.

The Company is launching a feasibility study to process 3,000,000 tonnes a year of tailings at a rate of 10,000 tonnes per day, in order to produce the concentrates outlined in the table above as the first phase of the project. The objective of this project is to produce 135,000 tonnes of monazite concentrate per year, 19,500 tonnes of cassiterite concentrate (tin), and 45,000 tonnes of columbite concentrate (50% niobium + 5% tantalum).

Phase 1 of this project will be launched within the next 12 months and all the necessary permits are in place to execute these activities. During this phase, the Company will be conducting a pre-production study which includes on-site visits and sampling to verify the current resource and validate the present indications.

Phase 2 will involve the construction of the ultrasound-based processing facility capable of eliminating the radioactive elements that are contained in the tailings. The plant will have a capacity of 100,000 tonnes per year in order to produce rare earth concentrates that meet the international norms for the transportation of these materials.

In Phase 3 these rare earth concentrates from Brazil (50,000 tonnes) will be shipped to the United States of America (“US”) for final separation of the rare earth elements. The Company has prepared a scoping study for the refining of rare earths in Little Rock, Arkansas, US.

The total capital expenditure for the concentration plant in Brazil, and the elemental separation in the US, has been estimated at US$300,000,000. The Company received a term sheet from Broughton Capital for US$300,000,000 debt financing, which is subject to due diligence and an off-take agreement, of which the Company is in the process of negotiating.

Auxico will earn 85% of the profits of the Joint Venture (“JV”) by first, paying US$2,000,000 over the next year, and second, by providing the JV with the necessary capital to engage in the production of the above-mentioned concentrates.

Payments are scheduled as follows: the first payment of US$500,000 will be made within 30 days of the date that the Agreement was signed; the second payment of US$250,000 will be made on or before September 30, 2022; the third payment of US$250,000 will be made on or before December 31, 2022; and final payment of US$1,000,000 will be made on the anniversary of the first payment.

The Company has successfully removed the thorium content, making the concentrate non-radioactive and eligible for international shipping. Using the ultrasound-assisted extraction (“UAEx”) process, the thorium content in the concentrate was reduced to less than 0.1%. For reference, please see the following table.

The feed material from the tailings received by Auxico averaged 4.56% total rare earth oxide content (TREO), indicating a content of rare earths in the tailings in the order of 1,370,000 tonnes.  The provided concentrate contained 63.49% TREO. Please see the table below.

Coalia Research Institute in Thetford Mines, Quebec, analyzed the samples of the concentrates and performed the metallurgical testing referred to above.

Auxico plans, under the supervision of the QP, to initiate a sampling program of the tailings, and prospect primary and secondary deposits identified from satellite imagery. Primary Structures: Four ring structure intrusions highly fractured by secondary faults have been identified. Secondary Structures: Numerous flow/drainage accumulation sites that are not yet exploited have also been identified from satellite imagery. These sites are located in the lowest topographical areas in valleys or streams/rivers in the drainage systems that cross the Massangana granites and the immediate surrounding areas which may represent alluvial mineral deposits, similar to the ones previously exploited.

The following program has been recommended by Auxico’s QP and JAPOSAT:  (1) compilation of all available technical data; (2) prospect the highly fractured NW and NE lineaments cutting the Massangana Granite Ring structures in search of pegmatite/quartz veins primary source of the mineralization; (3) prospect the drainage accumulation sites for the secondary alluvial mineral deposits: and (4) conduct a LIDAR survey over the property to get a more accurate representation of the structural features and also to more accurately map and calculate the area/volume of the tailings.

Auxico Resources Canada Inc. (“Auxico” or the “Company”) is a Canadian company that was founded in 2014 and based in Montreal. Auxico is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Additional information on Auxico can be found on the Company’s website (www.auxicoresources.com) or on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under “Auxico Resources Canada Inc.”

This news release was reviewed and approved by Joel Scodnick, P.Geo., an independent consultant to Auxico, in his capacity as a Qualified Person, as defined by National Instrument 43-101. The estimated resource presented in this press release is not compliant with National Instrument 43-101, and therefore the QP warns the reader to be cautious of the results in this press release.

The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this release.

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

This press release contains statements that constitute “forward-statements.” Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements, or developments to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Although the Company believes, in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. When used in this press release, the words “estimate”, “project”, “belief”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “expect”, “plan”, “predict”, “may” or “should” and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. The forward-looking statements and information in this press release include information relating to the planned studies, drill program and the development of the Massangana Project, its sampling program, indications and other mining projects and prospects thereof, related to the Company’s operations in Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia and/or Democratic Republic of Congo. Such statements and information reflect the current view of the Company. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking statements and information.

By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of the Company as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Readers should not place undue importance on forward-looking information and should not rely upon this information as of any other date. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management’s beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking information as a result of various risk factors. These factors include, among others, uncertainties arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, and general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets. The reader is referred to the Company’s public filings for a more complete discussion of such risk factors, and their potential effects, which may be accessed through the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Except as required by securities law, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise.

SOURCE Auxico Resources Canada Inc.

For further information: Pierre Gauthier, CEO, Auxico Resources Canada Inc., [email protected], Cell: +1 514 299 0881; Mark Billings, President, Auxico Resources Canada Inc., [email protected], Cell: +1 514 296 1641