New Age Metals TSX-V: NAM
New Age Metals TSX-V: NAM OTCQB: NMTLF
Field Office: 59 Burtch’s Lane, Rockport, ON, Canada, K0E 1V0 [email protected]
+1.613. 659.2773 www.newagemetals.com
New Age Metals Delivers New Positive Preliminary Economic Assessment of
the River Valley Palladium Project
June 29 th, 2023 , Rockport, Canada - New Age Metals Inc. (NAM) (TSX.V: NAM; OTCQB: NMTLF;
FSE: P7J) (“NAM” or the “Company” is pleased to announce the positive results of a new independent
Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) prepared in accordance with NI 43 -101 for the River V alley
Project, a wholly-owned palladium-platinum-copper deposit located 60 km east-northeast (100 road km) of
Sudbury, Ontario. This new PEA was developed by a group of independent consultants; namely P&E
Mining Consultants Inc. (mining, scheduling , project economics); D.E.N.M . Engineering Ltd. (mineral
processing and metallurgy); Knight Piésold Ltd. (tailings facility, water management, and rock mechanics);
and Story Environmental (environment and community). The Mineral Resource Estimate upon which this
new PEA is based was done by P&E in 2021.
PEA Highlights
• Pre-Tax NPV(5%): $289M; After-Tax: $135M
• Pre-Tax IRR: 16%; Post-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: $268.7M
• Average Unit Operating Cost: $30.98/t
• Assumed Metal Prices: US$2,150/oz Pd, US$1,050/oz Pt, US$1,830/oz Au, US$4.00/lb Cu
• River Valley Process Feed: Treated in an on-site conventional sulphide flotation plant to produce a saleable
PGM-enriched Cu concentrate to be transported off-site for smelting and refining.
• Project Enhancement Opportunities: Increased metal recoveries and expanded Mineral Resources
Harry Barr, NAM Chairman & CEO, stated: “The PEA results released today are positive with a post-tax
NPV(5%) of $134 M CAD, an IRR of 11% and 16 years of palladium, platinum and copper production .
Compared to the 2019 PEA, thi s 2023 PEA envisions a smaller, higher-grade operation with lower
CAPEX, expanded underground mining and reduced open pit mining, and a much -smaller
environmental footprint. These encouraging results are based on the 2021 Mineral Resource Estimate,
which was produced in accordance with current CIM standards and guidelines , to provide feed to an on -
site 2.5 Mtpa process plant. The next steps include targeting areas for drilling to convert Inferred to
Indicated Mineral Resources , expanding current Mineral Resources, the discovery of new
mineralized zones, and to testing of promising new technologies for improved metal recoveries, all
for incorporation into future, more advanced economic studies.”
New Age Metals TSX-V: NAM OTCQB: NMTLF
Field Office: 59 Burtch’s Lane, Rockport, ON, Canada, K0E 1V0 [email protected]
+1.613. 659.2773 www.newagemetals.com
PEA Summary*
The site plan layout for the new River Valley PEA is shown in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1. New PEA site layout plan for the River Valley Palladium Project.
Figure 1 shows five open pits and two underground portals that have been used in the engineering design
New Age Metals TSX-V: NAM OTCQB: NMTLF
Field Office: 59 Burtch’s Lane, Rockport, ON, Canada, K0E 1V0 [email protected]
+1.613. 659.2773 www.newagemetals.com
of the Project, the proposed process plant site, low -grade stockpile, waste rock storage facilities, tailings
storage facility, and site infrastructure. The Project as represented in Figure 1 has an area of 38.8 km2, which
reflects a major reduction from the 126.5 km2 site plan area in the 2019 PEA.
The parameters of the PEA are summarized in Table 1.
Table 1. PEA Summary Parameters
Assumptions
Palladium Price (Base case) US$/oz 2,150
Exchange Rate US$:CDN$ 1.35
Production Profile
Total Tonnes Processed 38,640,000
Process Plant Head Grade PdEq g/t 1.19
Mine Life (years) 16
Daily process plant throughput (tpd) 6,850
Palladium Process Plant Recovery (%) 71.5
Total Payable Palladium Equivalent Ounces 735,000
Average annual Palladium Production Ounces 47,400
Operating Costs ($ per tonne processed)
Unit Average LOM Operating Costs 30.98
Open Pit Mining Costs 12.63
Underground Mining Costs 60.61
Processing Costs 12.69
G&A 2.01
LOM Average Cash Cost US$/oz Pd 1,241
Capital Requirements
Pre-Production Capital Cost ($ M) 268.7
Sustaining Capital Cost (Life of Mine) ($ M) 163.0
Project Economics
Royalties (%) 3
Royalty Payable After $1.5M Buy Down to 1.5% ($ M) 35.4
Taxes (M $) 255.0
Pre-Tax
Cumulative Undiscounted Cash Flow ($ M) 599.0
NPV (5% Discount Rate) ($ M) 289.0
IRR (%) 16
New Age Metals TSX-V: NAM OTCQB: NMTLF
Field Office: 59 Burtch’s Lane, Rockport, ON, Canada, K0E 1V0 [email protected]
+1.613. 659.2773 www.newagemetals.com
Payback (years) 6.2
After-Tax
Cumulative Undiscounted Cash Flow ($ M) 344.0
NPV (5% Discount Rate) ($ M) 135.0
IRR (%) 11
Payback (years) 6.9
PEA operating costs and capital costs are presented in Tables 2 and 3.
Table 2. Operating Cost Summary
Operating Cost Unit LoM
Open Pit Mining Cost $/t mined 2.95
Open Pit Mining Cost $/t processed 12.63
Underground Mining Cost $/t processed 60.61
Process Cost $/t processed 12.69
G&A $/t processed 2.01
Unit LoM Average Operating $/t processed 30.98
Table 3. Capital Cost Summary
Development Capital Initial (Y-2, Y-
1) ($ M)
Sustaining
($ M)
Total
LOM
($ M)
Open Pit Development and Equipment 37.0 59.4 96.4
Process Plant 119.2 119.2
On-Site Infrastructure 17.4 17.4
Electrical Powerline 30.0 30.0
Tailings Management Facility 17.0 27.0 44.0
Owner's Costs 10.0 10.0
Underground Mine Development 37.1 37.1
Reclamation Bond and Closure 16.3 16.3
Contingency 29.9 18.1 48.0
Total Capital 268.7 163 431.7
*This PEA was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43 -101 (“NI 43 -01”) Standards of Disclosure of
Mineral Projects. It was prepared by P&E Mining Consultants Inc. with D.E.N.M . Engineering Ltd., Knight Piésold
Ltd. and Story Environmental. Readers are cautioned that the PEA is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred
New Age Metals TSX-V: NAM OTCQB: NMTLF
Field Office: 59 Burtch’s Lane, Rockport, ON, Canada, K0E 1V0 [email protected]
+1.613. 659.2773 www.newagemetals.com
Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to
them that would enable them to be classified a s Mineral Reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be
realized. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic variability. The
Company plans to file the PEA Technical Report (“Technical Report”) on SEDAR at www.sedar.com within 45 days
of the date of this press release. All currency is stated as CDN$ unless indicated otherwise.
Opportunities to Enhance Project Value
Two major opportunities to enhance Project value are: 1) improved metal recovery; and 2) increased
Mineral Resources.
1) Improved Metal Recoveries
HYDROMETALLURGICAL OPTIONS The main focus of this PEA from a processing stand point is
conventional milling and flotation with upgrading of the resultant copper concentrate to a marketable
product. The final concentrate (copper and PGMs) would be shipped to specific smelters to treat the River
Valley product as a part of the revenue stream.
As an alternative to shipping to smelters, pressure leaching and metal precipitation options to recover
platinum group metals (“PGMs”), gold and base metals will be investigated. Several PGM deposits
worldwide are currently being subject to hydrometallurgical testing as a potentially economic alternative to
base metal smelters.
Alternative Flotation Applications. Conventional flotation of the River Valley material has thus far been
unable to produce a high -grade marketable smelter concentrate for maximum net smelter returns.
The expected concentrate grades based on the recent testing at SGS Lakefield were detailed in New Age
Metals press release dated August 9, 2022.
Preliminary scoping work has been completed on the River Valley material utilizing two f lotation
alternatives to produce a higher-grade rougher concentrate and also possible increases in PGM recoveries.
The two technologies being investigated are the Woodgrove flotation and the Glencore (Jameson ) cell
techniques.
Rhodium Recovery & Marketability. Additional work in this area would be beneficial for the Project,
due to the high metal price of rhodium. The testwork recently complete showed the ability to recover
rhodium in the final concentrate, albeit not at a saleable threshold grade for the smelters. Review of the
rhodium mineralogy and process alternatives is recommended.
2) Increased Mineral Resources
The distribution of the current Mineral Resources at River Valley is shown in Figure 2.
New Age Metals TSX-V: NAM OTCQB: NMTLF
Field Office: 59 Burtch’s Lane, Rockport, ON, Canada, K0E 1V0 [email protected]
+1.613. 659.2773 www.newagemetals.com
Major infill, expansion and exploration drill programs are planned to: 1) convert Inferred to Indicated
Mineral Resources at the Lismer and Varley Zones; 2) expand current Mineral Resources at depth and along
strike at the Dana South, Banshee, Lismer Ridge, Varley and Azen Zones; and 3) test targets and delineate
mineralized zones that show potential for inclusion in future Mineral Resource modelling, particularly in
the footwall to the River Valley Intrusion, as guided by geophysical survey and 3-D geological modelling
results.
The drilling programs are slated to commenced in H2 2023, subject to financing.
Figure 2. Distribution of pit constrained Mineral Resources at $15/t NSR cut -off. The priority mineralized zones for
infill, expansion and exploration drilling are labelled red. Note that the Pine Zone is not exposed at surface.
M&I = Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources , Ind: = Indicated Mineral Resources , Inf = Inferred Mineral
Resources.
PEA Details
Mineral Resources
The details of the 2021 updated Mineral Resource Estimate were announced in a Company press release
dated October 5, 2021. The effective date of the updated Mineral Resource Estimate is September 14, 2021.
At cut-offs of CDN$15/t NSR (pit constrained) and CDN$50/t NSR (out -of-pit), the Mineral Resource
Estimate consists of: 89.9 Mt grading 0.54 g/t Pd, 0.21 g/t Pt, 0.04 g/t Au and 0.06% Cu, or CDN$47.58/t
NSR in the Measured and Indicated classifications; and 94 Mt grading 0.35 g/t Pd, 0.16 g/t Pt, 0.04 g/t Au
and 0.06% Cu, or CDN$31.69/t NSR in the Inferred classification. Contained metal contents are 2.3 Moz
New Age Metals TSX-V: NAM OTCQB: NMTLF
Field Office: 59 Burtch’s Lane, Rockport, ON, Canada, K0E 1V0 [email protected]
+1.613. 659.2773 www.newagemetals.com
Pd+Pt+Au in the Measured and Indicated classifications and 1.6 Moz Pd+Pt+Au in the Inferred
classification Table 4.
Notes: Class = Classification, Meas + Ind = Measured and Indicated classifications.
1 Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
2. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation,
socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues.
3. The Inferred Mineral Resource in this estimate has a lower level of confidence than that applied to an Indicated
Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserv e. It is reasonably expected that the majority of
the Inferred Mineral Resource could potentially be upgraded to an Indicated Mineral Resource with continued
exploration.
4. The Mineral Resources were estimated in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and
Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions (2014) and Best Practices
Guidelines (2019) prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by the CIM
Council.
5. The Mineral Resource Estimate is based on US$ metal prices of $1,850/oz Pd, $900/oz Pt, $1,600/oz Au, $3.00/lb
Cu, $16/lb Co, $6.50/lb Ni, $8,000/oz Rh, $18.50/oz Ag. The US$:CDN$ exchange rate used was 0.75.
6. The NSR estimates use flotation recoveries of 80% for Pd, 80% for Pt, 80% for Au, 85% for Cu, 25% for Co, 90%
for Ni, 80% for Rh and 65% for Ag and smelter payables of 80% for Pd, 80% for Pt, 85% for Au, 85% for Cu, 50%
for Co, 90% for Ni, 80% for Rh and 65% for Ag.
7 The pit optimization used a mining cost of $2.25/t mined, combined processing and G&A costs of CDN$15/t, and
pit slopes of 50º. The out -of-pit Mineral Resources used underground mining, processing and G&A cost of
CDN$50/t.
8 Out-of-pit Mineral Resources were determined to be potentially extractable with the longhole mining method.
The predominant contribution of Pd + Pt to the NSR value (86%) is particularly noteworthy, given the rarity
of such primary platinum-group metal deposits in secure and established global mining jurisdictions.
New Age Metals TSX-V: NAM OTCQB: NMTLF
Field Office: 59 Burtch’s Lane, Rockport, ON, Canada, K0E 1V0 [email protected]
+1.613. 659.2773 www.newagemetals.com
The Mineral Resource Estimate is sensitive to the selection of reporting NSR cut-off values for pit
constrained Mineral Resources. At a cut-off of $CDN25/t NSR, pit constrained Mineral Resources
are presented in Table 5.
Mining: OP & UG
The River V alley Project is planned to be mined by both open pit and underground methods. Initial mining
would be by open pit at the northwest end of the Deposit, close to the proposed process plant site.
A series of five open pits would be mined, starting at Dana North Zone and progressing in a southeasterly
direction to the Varley Zone. The Dana North Pit contains approximately half of the mineralized process
plant feed. Higher grade underground mineralization is planned to be mined during production years two
to seven, a nd will total approximately 3 Mt of process plant feed. The underground mining method is
planned to be sublevel longhole stoping with cemented rock backfill.
The average open pit strip ratio is envisaged to be 3.4:1 over the life -of-mine. It is anticipated that a fleet
of 90 t haul trucks, 10 m 3 excavators, and 254 mm diameter hole rotary drills will be utilized, following
industry standard conventional open pit mining techniques.
Mineral Processing
The new PEA annual process feed rate to the River Valley process plant will be 2.5 Mtpy (6,850 mtpd) of
mineralized material. The process plant remains as previously designed to produce a single copper sulphide
and PGM concentrate. The dewatered and dried concentrate would be hauled off-site for smelting.
Simplified process plant details are as follows:
1. Run-of-Mine (ROM) to be crushed in a single primary jaw crusher to 150 mm sizing (380 mtph);
2. SAG mill in closed circuit with a recycle pebble crusher and ball mill to produce flotation feed (310 mtph);
3. Rougher flotation, regrinding of the associated conc entrate, three-stage cleaning circuit to produce the final
concentrate;
4. Concentrate dewatering, filtering, drying for shipping to the smelter;
5. Tailings thickening prior to pumping to the tailings management facility (TMF);
6. Standard process water recovery w ould be from the associated thickeners and return water from the TMF
area. Make-up water for the process would be from one the lakes on the Property; and
7. Power for the facility will be provided by a dedicated 44 kV feeder line from Crystal Falls T ransformer
Station.
Initial discussions with Hydro One (suppler and builder) have been completed regarding options, capital and
$/kwh estimates.