ESM.TO · 2022-03-23 12:00:00

Euro Sun Files Updated Definitive Feasibility Study FOR the Rovina Valley GOLD-Copper Project

Economic Studies

News Release

EURO SUN FILES UPDATED DEFINITIVE FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR

THE ROVINA VALLEY GOLD-COPPER PROJECT

TORONTO, March 23, 2022 -- Euro Sun Mining Inc. (TSX: ESM) (“Euro Sun” or the “Company”)

is pleased to announce it has filed a technical report pursuant to National Instrument 43-101

supporting the Updated Definitive Feasibility Study (“DFS”) on the Colnic and Rovina open pits -

the initial phase of development of its Rovina Valley Gold and Copper Project (the “Rovina Valley

Project”) in Romania (the “Technical Report”). Included in the updated DFS is an updated mineral

reserve and resource estimate for the open pit deposits, namely Colnic and Rovina, incorporating

current metal prices and operating parameters. All amounts are in US dollars unless otherwise

indicated.

Key Highlights Include (summary table set out in Table 1):

 Pre-Tax NPV increased 41% to $630 million, with an IRR of 22.7%, based on

$1,675/oz gold and $3.75/lb copper

 Estimated to produce 1.47Moz of gold and 403Mlbs of copper over the life of

the project at an AISC of $787/gold equivalent ounce

 Approximately 43 million tonnes or 19% less waste material expected to be

mined resulting in a 1.45:1 strip ratio over LOM

 The updated study incorporates the most current cost and capital

expenditure data, with initial CAPEX of $448 million

 The Rovina Valley Project incorporates dry stack tailings and is a cyanide

free operation

Scott Moore, Chief Executive Officer Euro Sun Mining Inc. comments “Filing of the full DFS is a

key milestone for one of Europe’s largest undeveloped Copper-Gold projects. The substantially

improved economics are based upon conservative long term commodity prices and include the

full impact from cost escalation since the original study. With operating after-tax cashflows

anticipated to be of more than US$1 billion and a highly competitive AISC of US$787 gold

equivalent ounce oz, this is clearly a high-quality project. We continue to advance methodically

along the permitting path and look forward to providing further positive updates throughout 2022.”

The optimized and updated DFS for the Rovina Valley Project continues to focus on responsible

mining procedures including, dry stacking, continuous revegetation, and a cyanide free

processing facility. The enhanced project benefits from positive geotechnical study results,

reducing waste removal and strip ratios, driving a 9% increase in gold production and a 41%

increase in pre-tax NPV. The DFS also incorporated updated cost estimates and metal price

assumptions.

Euro Sun is incorporating strong responsible mining procedures into every aspect of the project

and is utilizing a phased development approach for the Rovina Valley Project. The Rovina Valley

Project consists of two open pit gold-copper deposits, Colnic and Rovina, and the underground

Ciresata gold-copper deposit. The Ciresata underground deposit is expected to be phased in

following the completion of the Colnic and Rovina pits, assuming future mining studies are

completed, and positive results are obtained.

News Release

Table 1: Updated Definitive Feasibility Highlights

Study Version DFS Update (Jan 2022)

Base Case Assumptions Life of Mine First 10 years

Gold price (base case) $1675 /oz

Copper price (base case) $3.75 /lb

Gold recovery 79.7%

Copper recovery 91.3%

Mine life 17.2 years

Mining rate 55,000 tonnes per day

Plant life 17.4 years

Plant rate 21 000 tonnes per day

Mine Parameters

Average annual gold production 82,000 ounces 107,000 ounces

Average annual copper production 23.2 million pounds 14.0 million pounds

Average annual gold equivalent production 136,000 ounces 139,000 ounces

Average gold grade 0.44 g/t 0.55 g/t

Average copper grade 0.15% 0.11%

Total gold production 1,472,000 troy ounces 1,074,000 troy ounces

Total copper production 403 million pounds 140 million pounds

Total equivalent gold production 2,375,000 troy ounces 1,387,000 troy ounces

Colnic LOM strip ratio (waste to ore) 1.15 1.19

Rovina LOM Strip ratio (waste to ore) 1.89 N/A

Pre strip tonnes 7.7 million tonnes 7.7 million tonnes

Capital Costs

Pre-strip Capital $14.1 million

Initial Capital $447.7 million

Total initial Capital $464.2 million

Sustaining Capital $68.3 million

Total CAPEX $516 million

Operating Costs

All-in sustaining costs $787/oz Au eq $823/oz Au eq

Mining costs $1.71 /tonne moved $1.76 /tonne moved

Milling costs $8.8 /tonne milled $8.83 /tonne milled

Waste and water management $0.36 /tonne milled $0.42 /tonne milled

G&A costs $0.29 /tonne milled $0.29 /tonne milled

Cash Flow

Pre-Tax NPV (5% discount rate) $630 million

Pre-Tax IRR 22.7%

Post-Tax NPV (5% discount rate) $512 million

Post-Tax IRR 20.5%

News Release

The technical report related to the updated DFS results has been filed on SEDAR, in accordance

with National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”). The study has been prepared with input from the

following independent consultants:

Caracle Creek International Consulting MINRES –

CCIC (South Africa)

Mineral resources

DRA (South Africa) Mining, mineral reserves

ERM (Romania) Environmental and social

Knight Piésold (South Africa) Tailings facilities, and Hydrogeology

Middindi Consulting (South Africa) Geotechnical

Lawrence Consulting (Canada) Geochemistry

SENET (South Africa) Processing plant and infrastructure

SENET and Sidus Consulting Economic valuation / financial modelling

Rovina Valley Gold-Copper Project Overview

The Rovina Valley Project is situated in the Hunedoara County of Transylvania in western –

central Romania. The Rovina Valley Project consists of three deposits, Rovina to the North, Colnic

Central and the Ciresata deposit to the south. The DFS only incorporates the Rovina and the

Colnic deposits and does not include the Ciresata deposit, which the Company expects will be

brought into the project for development later, assuming future mining studies are completed, and

positive results are obtained. The Rovina exploration licence is held by Samax Romania S.R.L.,

a Romanian registered company which is a wholly owned subsidiary of ESM. Since November

2018, ESM possesses an exploitation permit and mining licence with a renewable 20-year validity.

The Colnic and Ciresata deposits are described as gold-copper porphyries while the Rovina

deposit is termed a copper-gold porphyry. All three of these deposits are located such that they

can access a central processing plant. The Rovina Valley Project processing facility is being

designed to produce a gold and copper concentrate from the Colnic and Rovina deposits.

The Rovina Valley Project is within the Golden Quadrilateral Mining District of the South Apuseni

Mountains, an area with a history of mining dating back to Roman times. This has supported the

development of excellent infrastructure including rail, power and paved access roads. In addition,

there are two international airports less than 180km from the project location. These being in the

cities of Timisoara and Sibiu. The town of Brad is within 5km of the project site from where there

will be a good source of local skilled labour. Sourcing the right skills and resources locally supports

ESM community upliftment opportunities.

The Rovina Valley Project is expected to be mined with a standard open-pit mining method using

rigid dump trucks and hydraulic loaders. The open pit mining operation is anticipated to last

approximately seventeen years, during which the lower-grade material will be stockpiled if

possible, for treatment at the tail end of mining operations.

Over the life of the project, it is planned that 140.0 Mt of ore will be mined. Of this ore, 123.3 Mt

will be delivered to the processing facility, including 13,9 Mt of LG ore which will have been

stockpiled for future processing. A total of 16,7Mt of LG ore will be sent to waste due to

News Release

insufficient space to store this LG ore for future processing. A total of 203,1 Mt of waste will be

mined and placed on the waste facility combined with tailings. This represents a life of mine

stripping ratio of 1.45:1.

Waste Rock and Tailings Management

Knight Piésold have advanced the design of a waste management facility within the project area

for the co-deposition of waste rock and filtered rougher tailings. Process plant rougher tailings will

be filtered in the plant where the resultant filter cake will be transported by conveyors and will be

co-mingled with waste rock prior to deposition. The cleaner tails will be filtered separately from

the rougher tailings and the resultant filter cake will be transported by conveyors and deposited

separately within a lined zone contained within the boundary of the co-mingled facility. This design

has been engineered to reduce the risk of development of impacted seepage from potentially acid

generating waste rock and capture the impacted seepage from the cleaner tailings. After

completion of mining the Colnic pit, the waste rock and rougher tailings will be preferentially

backfilled into the Colnic pit, while the cleaner tails will continue to report to the lined zone of the

waste management facility.

Operating Costs

Chief Operating Officer Sam Rasmussen adds “The final report supporting the updated DFS

further demonstrates the robustness of the project as the majority of capital costs were

calculated on supplier quotations and built-up versus factoring. Operating costs were also built-

up using updated consumables pricing further increasing the confidence of project economics.”

Capital Costs

The estimated capital costs for the Rovina Valley Project were in almost all cases built up from

quotations and proposals from equipment and service providers. The updated DFS costs currently

utilize an owner purchased and operated mining fleet. All financial analysis for the Life of Mine

includes the total design, construction and commissioning, production, and closure.

Project Opportunities

The updated DFS has been completed based upon the development of the Colnic and Rovina

pits only. Further developing and treating the resource at Ciresata could further extend the life of

the operation while utilising the infrastructure and processing capabilities anticipated to be in

operation for the Rovina and Colnic deposits.

Permitting Update

The Company is currently completing the draft of the Planul Urbanistic Zonal (PUZ, Urban Zoning

Plan) and expects to file with the County of Hunedoara presently. It is expected to have the public

audience on the draft plan sometime in early Q2, 2022 with final submission and approval of the

PUZ in Q3 2022. Once the PUZ has been approved, submittal of the notification to complete the

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure will be filed with the Ministry of Environment.

News Release

Rovina Valley Project 2022 Resource and Reserve Update

Table 2: Rovina Valley 2022 Mineral Reserve Estimate Colnic and Rovina Deposits

Deposit Classification Tonnage

(Mt)

(g/t)

(%)

(koz)

(t)

Colnic

Proven 25.60 0.65 0.11% 535.0 28,158.7

Probable 47.99 0.55 0.09% 848.6 43,190.4

Rovina

Proven 22.58 0.34 0.29% 243.3 67,005.8

Probable 27.13 0.24 0.22% 211.6 60,166.7

Colnic &

Rovina

Proven 48.18 0.50 0.20% 778.3 94,164.6

Probable 75.12 0.44 0.14% 1,060.2 103,357.2

Total Proven &

Probable 123.30 0.47 0.16% 1,838.5 197,522

The Mineral reserve estimate uses a base gold price of $1,550/oz and a base copper price of $3.30/lb

Notes:

 All tonnes quoted are dry tonnes. Differences in the addition of deposit tonnes to the total displayed is due to

rounding.

 The estimate of Rovina Valley Gold Project Mineral Reserves are not at this stage materially affected by any

known environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socioeconomic, marketing, political, or other relevant

issue. Furthermore, the estimate of Project Reserves is not materially affected by any known mining,

metallurgical, infrastructure, or other relevant factor.

 Mineral Reserve estimates follow the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM")

definitions standards for Mineral Resources and Reserves and have been completed in accordance with NI

43-101.

 Effective date of reserves are January 31, 2022

Table 3: Rovina Valley 2022 Mineral Resource Estimate Update Colnic and Rovina

Deposits

Deposit Classification Tonnage

(Mt)

(g/t)

(%)

(Moz)

(Mlb)

Au Eq*

(g/t)

Au Eq*

(Moz)

Colnic

Measured 29.2 0.65 0.12 0.61 74 0.81 0.76

Indicated 103.6 0.48 0.10 1.61 224 0.62 2.07

Rovina

Measured 33.2 0.36 0.29 0.38 213 0.77 0.82

Indicated 79.1 0.26 0.22 0.67 384 0.57 1.46

Colnic &

Rovina

Measured 62.4 0.49 0.21 0.99 288 0.79 1.58

Indicated 182.7 0.39 0.15 2.28 607 0.60 3.53

Total Measured &

Indicated 245.1 0.42 0.17 3.27 895 0.65 5.11

Notes:

News Release

Deposit Classification Tonnage

(Mt)

(g/t)

(%)

(Moz)

(Mlb)

Au Eq*

(g/t)

Au Eq*

(Moz)

 *Au and Cu Equivalent determined by using a long-term gold price of US$1,700/oz and a copper price of

US$3.50/lb with metallurgical recoveries not taken into account.

 Mineral Resources are reported inclusive of Mineral Reserves. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral

Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

 Mineral Resources are contained within a conceptual pit shell that are generated using the same economic

and technical parameters as used for Mineral Reserves but at gold price of US$1,700/oz and a copper price

of US$3.50/lb.

 Colnic and Rovina deposits are amenable to open pit mining and Mineral Resources are Pit constrained

and tabulated at a base case cut-off grade of 0.35 g/t AuEq for Colnic and 0.25 % CuEq for Rovina

 Minor summation differences may occur, because of rounding.

 Mineral Resource estimates follow the CIM definition standards for Mineral Resources and Reserves and

have been completed in accordance with NI 43-101. With and effective date of January 31, 2022

Table 4: Rovina Valley 2019 Mineral Resource Estimate Ciresata Deposit

Deposit Classification Tonnage

(Mt)

(g/t)

(%)

(Moz)

(Mlb)

Au Eq*

(g/t)

Au Eq*

(Moz)

Ciresata

Measured 28.5 0.88 0.16 0.81 102 1.13 1.03

Indicated 125.9 0.74 0.15 3.01 413 0.97 3.92

Total Measured &

Indicated 154.4 0.77 0.15 3.82 515 1.00 4.95

Notes:

 From Table 14-20, Technical Report “Rovina Valley Project, Preliminary Economic Assessment,

NI 43-101, Feb. 20, 2019“ from AGP Mining Consultants Inc (available on SEDAR). This

preliminary economic assessment is preliminary in nature and there is no certainty that the

preliminary economic assessment will be realized.

 Au and Cu Equivalent determined by using a long-term gold price of US$1,500/oz and a copper

price of US$3.50/lb with metallurgical recoveries not taken into account.

 The Ciresata deposit is amenable to bulk underground mining and resources are tabulated at a

base case 0.65 g/t Au eq

 No Mineral Reserves have been defined at the Ciresata deposit. Mineral Resources that are not

Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

 Minor summation differences may occur, as a result of rounding.

 Mineral Resource estimates follow the CIM definition standards for Mineral Resources and

Reserves and have been completed in accordance with the Standards of Disclosure for

Mineral Projects as defined by NI 43-101.

On a consolidated basis of measured and indicated resources, the Rovina Valley Project

includes 399.5 Mt containing 7.09 Moz gold and 1,410 Mlbs copper equal to 10.06 M gold

equivalent ounces.

Qualified Persons

The mineral reserve estimate stated in this press release have been reviewed and approved by

Mr. David Alan Thompson (ECSA No. 201190010), Principal Mining Engineer for DRA Projects

(Pty) Ltd, who is an independent Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr.

D Thompson was responsible for the mineral reserve estimate of the RVP Feasibility Study that

News Release

supports this press release. Mr. D Thompson confirmed that he has reviewed the information in

this press release as it relates to the mineral reserve estimate.

The mineral resources estimate stated in this press release have been reviewed and approved

by Mr. Sivanesan (Desmond) Subramani (Pri. Sci. Nat - 400184/06), Principal for Mineral

Resources at Caracle Creek International Consultants, who is an independent qualified person

as defined by NI 43-101. Mr. D Subramani was responsible for the mineral resource estimate of

the DFS. Mr. D Subramani confirmed that he has reviewed and approved the information in this

press release as it relates to the mineral resource estimate.

Mr. Randy Ruff, P. Geo., an employee of Euro Sun and a qualified person as defined by NI 43-

101 has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release other than the

mineral resource estimates and the mineral reserve estimates.

About SENET

SENET is one of the leading project management and engineering firms in the field of mineral

processing. For almost three decades, SENET has provided project management,

multidisciplinary engineering, procurement, logistics management, and construction services to

the mining, mineral processing, infrastructure and materials handling industries. SENET is

committed to a policy of exceptional service and engineering excellence with a strong emphasis

on quality, safety and environmental aspects.

About Euro Sun Mining Inc.

Euro Sun is a Toronto Stock Exchange listed mining company focused on the exploration and

development of its 100%-owned Rovina Valley gold and copper project located in west-central

Romania, which hosts the second largest gold deposit in Europe.

For further information about Euro Sun Mining, or the contents of this press release, please

contact Investor Relations at [email protected]

Caution regarding forward-looking information:

This press release contains statements which constitute “forward-looking information” within the

meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs

and current expectations of the Company with respect to future business activities and operating

performance. Forward-looking information is often identified by the words “may”, “would”, “could”,

“should”, “will”, “intend”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect” or similar expressions

and includes information regarding the Company’s estimates, expectations, forecasts and

guidance for production, waste material, all-in sustaining cost, capital expenditures, cost savings,

project economics (including pre-tax net present value and after tax cashflows) and other

information contained in the updated DFS; as well as references to other possible events, the

future price of gold and copper, the estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the

realization of mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates, the timing and amount of estimated

future production, costs of production, capital expenditures, costs and timing of the development

of the project and mining and processing activities, requirements for additional capital,

government regulation of mining operations, environmental risks and the anticipated timing for

the filing of the updated DFS as a NI 43-101 compliant technical report.

News Release

Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is not based on historical facts but

instead reflect management’s expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or

events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable

at the date the statements are made. Although the Company believes that the expectations

reflected in such forward-looking information are reasonable, such information involves risks and

uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such information, as unknown or

unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or

achievements of the Company. This forward-looking information may be affected by risks and

uncertainties in the combined business of the Company and market conditions, including (1) there

being no significant disruptions affecting the Company’s operations whether due to extreme

weather events and other or related natural disasters, labor disruptions, supply disruptions, power

disruptions, damage to equipment or otherwise; (2) permitting, development, operations and

production for the Rovina Valley Project being consistent with the Company’s expectations; (3)

political and legal developments Romania being consistent with current expectations; (4) certain

price assumptions for gold and copper; (5) prices for diesel, electricity and other key supplies

being approximately consistent with current levels; (6) the accuracy of the Company’s mineral

reserve and mineral resource estimates; and (7) labor and materials costs increasing on a basis

consistent with the Company’s current expectations. This information is qualified in its entirety by

cautionary statements and risk factor disclosure contained in filings made by the Company with

the Canadian securities regulators, including the Company’s annual information form, financial

statements and related MD&A for the financial year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the

securities regulatory authorities in certain provinces of Canada and available at www.sedar.com.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying

the forward-looking information prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those

described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although

the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could

cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as

anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and do not assume any

obligation, to update this forward-looking information except as otherwise required by applicable

law.

The Company has included certain non-GAAP financial measures in this press release, such as

all-in sustaining costs (“AISC”) per gold equivalent ounce, net present value (“NPV”). These non-

GAAP financial measures do not have any standardized meaning. Accordingly, these financial

measures are intended to provide additional information and should not be considered in

isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with

International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”). AISC, as defined by the World Gold Council

is a common financial performance measure in the mining industry but have no standard

definition under IFRS. AISC include operating cash costs, net-smelter royalty, corporate

costs, sustaining capital expenditure, sustaining exploration expenditure and capitalised

stripping costs. Other companies may calculate these measures differently and should not be

considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance

with IFRS.

The TSX does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

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