Positive Preliminary Economic Assessment Of The River Valley Palladium Project

ROCKPORT - New Age Metals Inc. (NAM) announced a new positive National Instrument 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) Technical Report for the River Valley Palladium Project, 60 km east-northeast of Sudbury, Ontario. Highlights: Pre-Tax NPV(5%): $296M; After-Tax: $140M; Pre-Tax IRR: 16%; After-tax IRR: 11%; Annual Production: 2.5 Mt of potential process plant feed at an average grade of 1.19 g/t PdEq and process recovery of 71.5%, resulting in an average annual payable Pd production of 47,400 oz.; Total Tonnes Processed over Life of Mine: 38.6 Mt/16 years; Pre-production Capital Requirement: $269M; Average Unit Operating Cost: $30.98/t; Assumed US$ Metal Prices: $2,150/oz Pd, $1,050/oz Pt, $1,830/oz Au, $4.00/lb Cu; River Valley Process Plant Feed: Treated in an on-site conventional sulphide flotation plant to produce a saleable PGM-enriched Cu concentrate for transport off-site for smelting and refining; and Project Enhancement Opportunities: Increased metal recoveries and expanded Mineral Resources.

Harry Barr, NAM Chairman & CEO, said, “We are pleased to file the Report for the River Valley 2023 PEA, which shows positive results with an after-tax NPV(5%) of $140 M CAD and IRR of 11% and 16 years of palladium, platinum and copper production. Compared to the 2019 PEA, this new PEA is based on a much smaller, higher-grade operation with markedly lower CAPEX, expanded underground mining and reduced open pit mining, and significantly smaller environmental impact. These encouraging results are based on the 2021 Mineral Resource Estimate, produced in accordance with current CIM standards and guidelines, to provide feed to an on-site 2.5 Mtpa process plant. The next steps in Project development include testing of promising new technologies for improved platinum metal recoveries and targeting areas for drilling to convert Inferred to Indicated Mineral Resources, expanding current Mineral Resources, and the discovery and delineation of new mineralized zones, all for incorporation into future, more advanced economic studies.”