TIDMEMPR
Empress Royalty Corp.
18 July 2022
NEWS RELEASE | JULY 18, 2022 | VANCOUVER, BC
EMPRESS ROYALTY RECEIVES FIRST SILVER FROM TAHUEHUETO MINE
Empress Royalty Corp. (TSXV:EMPR | OTCQB:EMPYF) ("Empress" or
the "Company") is pleased to announce the Company has received the
first payable silver ounces from the silver stream agreement on the
Tahuehueto Mine ("Tahuehueto" or the "Mine"). Tahuehueto Mine is
located in Durango, Mexico, 100% owned and operated by Altaley
Mining Corporation ("Altaley").
"I am excited to announce Empress has received its first payment
of silver ounces from the Tahuehueto mine. It's only been 12 months
since the Tahuehueto silver stream was completed and this is a
major milestone to see a development asset move forward to generate
revenue for the Company", stated Alexandra Woodyer Sherron, CEO and
President of Empress. "Tahuehueto is an exceptional asset which is
expected to generate significant revenue for Empress. It gives
Empress direct exposure to silver and combined with our low G&A
provides an effective hedge against inflation pressures as seen in
other industries. Empress continues to build a strong portfolio of
revenue generating gold and silver royalties and streams and
Tahuehueto demonstrates our ability to deliver value to our
shareholders."
THE INVESTMENT
On April 16, 2021, Empress executed the US$5M silver stream
agreement ("Stream") with Altaley to purchase 100% of the payable
silver production from Tahuehueto for the first 1,250,000 payable
silver ounces. Thereafter, the percentage will step down to 20% of
the payable silver production up to a maximum of 10 years. Empress
will purchase the silver at 20% of spot price.
PROJECT UPDATE
Tahuehueto is located in Durango, Mexico. It is a typical
epithermal polymetallic mineral deposit in this part of Mexico,
with metals consisting of gold, silver, zinc, copper and lead. The
Mine is fully permitted, has all social and environmental licenses
to operate, and has offtake agreements in place.
On April 26, 2022, Altaley filed an updated technical report,
including a Preliminary Feasibility Study ("PFS") for Tahuehueto.
With the filing of the PFS report, Altaley updated the March 7,
2022, disclosure with a significant increase of approximately 30%
to the overall economics of the project. Altaley expects to produce
2,166 oz/month of gold and 37,829 oz/month of silver, of which 100%
of the silver is subject to the above terms of the Stream. Please
see Altaley's website (www.altaleymining.com) for further details
on the PFS. Highlights from the Altaley press release include the
following:
-- 2022 Preliminary Feasibility Study improves 2017 PFS
increasing throughput to 1,000 tonnes per day ("tpd") returning a
post-tax NPV of US$161.3M, at a discount rate of 5%, (US$141.8M and
US$131.8M at discount rate of 8% and 10% respectively).
-- IRR of 65% with a two year payback period with a 5% discount rate.
-- Total Life of Mine Capital Cost estimate of US$56.9M with
project construction over 95% complete.
-- Life of Mine All in Sustaining Costs ("AISC") estimated at
US$844 per gold equivalent ounce at US$1,647.52/ounce Au,
US$21.64/ounce Ag, US$0.92/pound Pb, US$1.14/pound Zn and
US$3.60/pound Cu).
-- Proven & Probable Reserves of 3.58 million tonnes grading
2.55g/t gold, 50.06 g/t silver, 1.92% zinc, 1.11% lead, 0.26%
copper.
-- 9-year Life of Mine ("LOM") utilizing mostly low-cost bulk
underground Sub-level Open Stoping mining method with average
annual production of 25,987 oz of gold, 453,952 oz of silver, 827
tonnes of copper, 3,155 tonnes of lead and 6,123 k-lbs of zinc.
-- Significant opportunities exist to expand the Projects
Mineral Resources and Reserves base with near mine and regional
exploration. Altaley plans to aggressively pursue exploration as
soon as free cash flows allow or alternative funding is
secured.
On May 16, 2022, Altaley announced Tahuehueto initiated
pre-production mining and milling commissioning operations and
construction efforts at the Mine were advanced to allow the
start-up and commission of one ball mill capable of processing up
to 500 tpd. Please see Altaley's website (www.altaleymining.com)
for further details on the announcement of pre-production.
On June 27, 2022, Altaley updated their shareholders on the
commissioning, pre-production, and construction progress at
Tahuehueto. Please see Altaley's website (www.altaleymining.com)
for further details on the Tahuehueto ramp-up. Highlights are as
follows:
-- Altaley stated the operations team have been diligently
resolving various start-up issues related to the water supply
pipeline and mill commissioning and, over the past week have
successfully achieved ongoing pre-production with the first 500 tpd
ball mill. Recently, processing has been stabilized with the mill
achieving ore throughput up to 350 tpd and averaging approximately
195 tpd over the past 5 days. Mill throughput is estimated to
remain at current levels over the next two weeks with crushing
being handled with a provisional cone crusher while the permanent
crushing circuit installation is being finalized and anticipated to
be operational within the next two weeks and thereafter the ball
mill throughput will be ramped up to capacity.
-- Altaley further updated on production that to date
approximately 260 tonnes of bulk concentrate has been produced at
Tahuehueto. Two shipments of approximately 30 tonnes each have been
shipped and received to the point of sale. These initial batches of
concentrate were produced from low-grade ore on purpose as original
feed testing at the ball mill start-up. Revenue received from the
first shipment was approximately US$42,000 paid for gold, silver,
and lead. The second delivery payment is pending. Another 70 tons
of concentrate is in the process of being shipped from Tahuehueto
to Tepehuanes subsequently to be trucked in the coming days. The
Tahuehueto operations team estimate that there are approximately
another 150 tonnes of concentrate available, drying on the mill
patio and within the thickeners available to be filtered for drying
on the patios.
-- The tailings storage facility is in the final stages of
construction and expected to be ready to receive dry stack tailings
within 45 days. Tailings currently being generated are being
filtered and stored as additional backfill underground. The
Tahuehueto Laboratory is essentially ready to be operational and
technicians are calibrating ICP and ancillary equipment expected to
be fully operational over the next few days.
-- Installation of the second 500 tpd ball mill is scheduled
over the next several months and the Company anticipates the
project will be able to commission this mill during Q4 2022 and
ramp up production towards the mine's designed capacity of 1,000
tpd near the end of 2022.
QUALIFIED PERSON
Technical information in this news release originates in the
public disclosure set out above and has been reviewed and approved
by Richard Mazur, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined in National
Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral
Projects.
ABOUT EMPRESS ROYALTY CORP.
Empress is a global royalty and streaming creation company
providing investors with a diversified portfolio of gold and silver
investments. Since listing in December 2020, Empress has built a
portfolio of 17 precious metal investments and is actively
investing in mining companies with development and production stage
projects who require additional non-dilutive capital. The Company
has strategic partnerships with Endeavour Financial and Terra
Capital which allow Empress to not only access global investment
opportunities but also bring unique mining finance expertise, deal
structuring and access to capital markets. Empress is looking
forward to continuously creating value for its shareholders through
the proven royalty and streaming models.
ON BEHALF OF EMPRESS ROYALTY CORP.
Per: Alexandra Woodyer Sherron, CEO and President
For further information, please visit our website at
www.empressroyalty.com or contact Kaitlin Taylor, Investor
Communications, by email at info@empressroyalty.com or by phone at
+1.604.331.2080.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release. This news release contains statements
about Empress' expectations regarding the economics of the
Tahuehueto mine which are forward-looking in nature and, as a
result, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Generally,
forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of
forward-looking terminology such as "expects", "believes",
"anticipates", "aims to", "plans to" or "intends to" or variations
of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions,
events or results "will" occur. Although Empress believes that the
expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are
reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as actual
results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements.
Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially
from those in forward-looking statements include the timing and
success in Altaley completing the successful commissioning of the
plant and bringing the Tahuehueto project into commercial
production as planned. The forward-looking statements contained in
this news release are made as of the date hereof, and Empress
undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any
forward-looking statements or information, except as required by
law. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking
statements or information.
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END
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