Abasca Resources Announces Appointment of John Shmyr as Vice President, Engagement and Communications and Closing of $3.0 Million Private Placement
NEWS RELEASE
Abasca Resources Announces Appointment of John Shmyr as Vice President, Engagement and
Communications and Closing of $3.0 Million Private Placement
Abasca Resources Inc. – News Release 2026-04 March 16, 2026
#208 – 311 4th Avenue North, Saskatoon, SK S7K 2L8 Page 1 of 5
Abasca Resources Announces Appointment of John Shmyr as
Vice President, Engagement and Communications and
Closing of $3.0 Million Private Placement
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – March 16, 2026 – Abasca Resources Inc. (“Abasca” or the “Company”) (TSXV:
ABA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. John Shmyr as Vice President, Engagement and
Communications, and the successful closing of its non -brokered $3.0 million flow-through private
placement (the “Offering”) previously announced on February 13, 2026.
Appointment of John Shmyr as Vice President, Engagement and Communications
Abasca is pleased to welcome John Shmyr to the executive team. Mr. Shmyr brings over 1 4 years of
specialized experience in mineral exploration, permitting, and stakeholder engagement, with a particular
focus on Saskatchewan’s VMS and graphite-prospective regions. He most recently served as Vice President,
Exploration for a TSX Venture Exchange (“TSX-V”) listed Saskatchewan VMS exploration company.
In this new role, Mr. Shmyr will lead Abasca’s community engagement initiatives, lead environmental
permitting strategies, and coordinate communications as the Company fast-tracks the Loki Flake Graphite
Deposit (the “Loki Deposit”) toward the development stage.
“We are delighted to have John join Abasca at this critical juncture . His deep expertise in managing the
intersection of technical exploration and community engagement in Northern Saskatchewan will be
invaluable. As we transition from mineral discovery to mine development, ensuring strong relationships with
local stakeholders and maintaining best practices and compliance of environmental stewardship are top
priorities,” stated Dawn Zhou, President and CEO.
Closing of $3.0 Million Private Placement
The Company is also pleased to announce that it has closed the non -brokered private placement (the
“Offering”) previously announced on February 13, 2026. Pursuant to the Offering, the Company has issued
12,000,000 flow-through common shares of the Company (the “FT Shares”, and each common share of the
Company, a “Common Share”) at a price of $0.25 per FT Share to raise gross proceeds of $3.0 million.
Insiders of the Company, including certain directors and officers, participated in the Offering, namely Dave
Billard, Brett Kagetsu, Brian McEwan and Dawn Zhou . Mr. Billard subscribed for 80,000 FT Shares, M r.
Kagetsu for 100,000 FT Shares, M r. McEwan for 100,000 FT Shares and Ms. Zhou for 630,000 FT Shares . In
addition, 101159623 Saskatchewan Ltd. (“SaskCo”), a corporation the shares of which are solely owned by
Dawn Zhou, President, CEO and a director of Abasca, subscribed for 2,200,000 FT Shares. CSIT Consulting
Inc. (“CSIT”), a corporation the shares of which are solely owned by Ms. Zhou, subscribed for 1,400,000 FT
Shares. 9169601 Canada Inc. (“9169601”), a corporation 100% of the common shares (including joint
ownership) and 100% of the preferred shares are held by Ms. Zhou, subscribed for 3,600,000 FT Shares .
Canada DBD Management Inc. (“Canada DBD”), a corporation the shares of which are solely owned by Ms.
Zhou, subscribed for 1,800,000 FT Shares. Messrs. Billard, Kagetsu and McEwan, Ms. Zhou, SaskCo, CSIT,
9169601 and Canada DBD are each a “related party” to the Company within the meaning of Multilateral
NEWS RELEASE
Abasca Resources Announces Appointment of John Shmyr as Vice President, Engagement and
Communications and Closing of $3.0 Million Private Placement
Abasca Resources Inc. – News Release 2026-04 March 16, 2026
#208 – 311 4th Avenue North, Saskatoon, SK S7K 2L8 Page 2 of 5
Instrument 61 -101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions of the Canadian
Securities Administrators (“MI 61 -101”) and the ir participation in the Offering each constituted a “related
party transaction” under MI 61-101. The Company is exempt from the formal valuation requirement pursuant
to subsection 5.5(b) of MI 61-101 on the basis that the Common Shares are listed on the TSX-V. The Company
is also exempt from the minority approval requirement pursuant to subsection 5.7(1)(b) of MI 61-101 on the
basis that: (i) the Common Shares are listed on the TSX -V; (ii) at the time the transaction was agreed to,
neither the fair market value of the FT Shares distributed under the Offering nor the consideration to be
received for those FT Shares, insofar as the transaction involves the related parties, exceeds $2,500,000; (iii)
the Company has more than one independent director; and (iv) at least two -thirds of the independent
directors of the Company approved the Offering.
The gross proceeds from the Offering will be used to fund the ongoing exploration and development activities
at the Company’s 100% -owned Loki Deposit (Figure 1) . This includes the preparation of the upcoming
Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) and the continuation of the winter drilling program currently
underway at the Key Lake South (KLS) Project.
For more information on the Loki Flake Graphite Deposit and an overview of the Key Lake South Project,
please visit the Company’s website at https://www.abasca.ca.
NEWS RELEASE
Abasca Resources Announces Appointment of John Shmyr as Vice President, Engagement and
Communications and Closing of $3.0 Million Private Placement
Abasca Resources Inc. – News Release 2026-04 March 16, 2026
#208 – 311 4th Avenue North, Saskatoon, SK S7K 2L8 Page 3 of 5
Figure 1: Map of the Key Lake South Project area showing the location of the Loki Flake Graphite Deposit.
NEWS RELEASE
Abasca Resources Announces Appointment of John Shmyr as Vice President, Engagement and
Communications and Closing of $3.0 Million Private Placement
Abasca Resources Inc. – News Release 2026-04 March 16, 2026
#208 – 311 4th Avenue North, Saskatoon, SK S7K 2L8 Page 4 of 5
Qualified Person
The technical information in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Brian McEwan, P.Geo., a
Qualified Person as set out in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr.
McEwan is the Vice-President of Exploration and Development of Abasca.
About Abasca Resources Inc.
Abasca is a mineral exploration company that is primarily engaged in the acquisition and evaluation of
mineral exploration properties. The Company owns the Key Lake South Project (KLS), a 23,977 -hectare
exploration project located in the Athabasca Basin Region in northern Saskatchewan, approximately 15 km
south of the former Key Lake mine and current Key Lake mill. The project possesses geological similarities
and along strike of past Key Lake Mine with prospective conductors of over 50 km for potential ura nium
mineralization. KLS is also host to the Loki Flake Graphite Deposit comprising a total inferred resource of
11.31 Mt at 7.65 % Cg. Please refer to the technical report dated May 29, 2025, with an effective date of April
10, 2025 and titled “Technical Report on the Key Lake South Project with Initial Mineral Resource Estimate
for the Loki Flake Graphite Deposit, Saskatchewan, Canada” , filed under the Company’s profile on the
SEDAR+ website, for further information about the resource estimate.
On behalf of Abasca Resources Inc.
Dawn Zhou, M.Sc, CPA
President, CEO and Director
For more information visit the Company’s website at https://www.abasca.ca or contact:
Abasca Resources Inc.
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +1 (306) 933 4261
NEWS RELEASE
Abasca Resources Announces Appointment of John Shmyr as Vice President, Engagement and
Communications and Closing of $3.0 Million Private Placement
Abasca Resources Inc. – News Release 2026-04 March 16, 2026
#208 – 311 4th Avenue North, Saskatoon, SK S7K 2L8 Page 5 of 5
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange Inc.) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press
release.
Forward-Looking Information
This press release may contain certain forward-looking information (“forward-looking information”) within
the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation that are not based on historical fact, including
without limitation statements containing the words "believes", "anticipates", "plans", "intends", "will",
"should", "expects", "continue", "estimate", "forecasts" and other similar expressions. Forward -looking
information reflects management’s current beliefs with respect to future events and is based on information
currently available to management. Forward -looking information contained in this press release includes,
but is not limited to , statements relating to the preparation of a preliminary economic assessment for the
Loki Deposit, the de -risking of the Loki Deposit the advancement of the Loki Deposit to the development
stage and the acceleration of the Company’s path towards its production goals . Readers are cautioned to
not place undue reliance on forward -looking information. Actual results a nd developments may differ
materially from those contemplated by these statements. Abasca undertakes no obligation to comment on
analyses, expectations, or statements made by third-parties in respect of Abasca, its securities, or financial
or operating res ults (as applicable). Although Abasca believes that the expectations reflected in forward -
looking information in this press release are reasonable, such forward-looking information has been based
on expectations, factors, and assumptions concerning future events which may prove to be inaccurate and
are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and factors, certain of which are beyond Abasca’s control,
including the impact of general business and economic conditions; risks related the exploration activities to
be conducted on KLS, including risks related to government and environmental regulation; actual results of
exploration activities; industry conditions, including uranium and graphite price fluctuations, interest and
exchange rate fluctuations; the influe nce of macroeconomic developments; business opportunities that
become available or are pursued; title, permit or license disputes related to KLS; litigation; fluctuations in
interest rates; and other factors. In addition, the forward -looking information is based on several
assumptions which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions about the
availability of qualified employees and contractors for the Company’s operations and the availability of
equipment. The forward-looking information contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this
cautionary statement and are made as of the date hereof. Abasca disclaims any intention and has no
obligation or responsibility, except as required by law, to update or revise any forw ard-looking information,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.