South Star Battery Metals Announces Approval of Final Exploration Reports of Santa Cruz Mine by Brazilian Mining Authority & 2022 Outlook
NEWS RELEASE
South Star Battery Metals Announces Approval of Final Exploration Reports of Santa Cruz Mine by Brazilian
Mining Authority & 2022 Outlook
Vancouver, Canada, February 9th, 2021 – South Star Battery Metals Corp. (“South Star” or the “Company”)
(TSXV: STS) (OTCQB: STSBF) , is pleased to announce that it has received approval from the Brazilian Mining
Authority (“ANM”) on February 8th, 2022 for the final exploration reports for 7 of the 13 claims of the Santa Cruz
Graphite Mine in Brazil. The other 6 areas are in final analysis by the ANM, and the Company expects they should
be published shortly.
Table 1: Final Exploration Reports Approved by ANM
“The seven areas that were approved by the ANM include all the main areas we plan on using for Phase 1 & 2
operations and is a huge step forward towards getting our definitive mining license for all future Phases of Santa
Cruz,” commented Richard Pearce, President and CEO of South Star. “We are fully licensed and permitted for
Phase 1 operations (5,000 tpy) . We are in the process of preparing the definitive environmental licensing
documentation for Phase 2 (25,000 tpy) and Phase 3 (50,000 tpy). The next step in the process for the definitive
mining license is submittal of the Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PAE”) and in parallel approval of the
definitive mining license. The PAE documents for the main areas are in final review by our team, and we anticipate
submitting to the ANM shortly. Our goals are to have Phases 2 and 3 fully permitted around the time our Phase
1 plant is commissioning in Q1 of 2023. This is another step forward for the mine a nd real, long-term value
creation for shareholders with a large land package and scalable resource in one of the premier graphite
producing regions in the world. We have a substantial drilling program planned for 2022 and 2023 with the goal
of significantly increasing our reserves and mine life. I’d like to thank our team and the analysts at the ANM for
all their hard work and dedication.”
Claim Number Status
871.722/2010 In Analysis
872.328/2010 Approved Feb 8th, 2022
872.329/2010 Approved Feb 8th, 2022
872.732/2010 In Analysis
872.733/2010 Approved Feb 8th, 2022
872.734/2010 In Analysis
872.735/2010 In Analysis
872.736/2010 Approved Feb 8th, 2022
872.737/2010 Approved Feb 8th, 2022
872.874/2010 In Analysis
871.052/2011 Approved Feb 8th, 2022
871.053/2011 Approved Feb 8th, 2022
871.524/2013 In Analysis
2022 OUTLOOK & CATALYST EVENTS
• Santa Cruz Phase 1 (5,000 tpy concentrates) is fully permitted and construction ready with commercial
production planned for March or April of 2023;
• The on-going testing programs have shown that our purified graphite products made from the fines portion
of our production meet or exceed a broad range of appli cations, including lithium -ion battery production.
The Company is also exploring many markets that have short er qualification periods than EV sector and
excellent margins for our final products as well;
• The Company is in advanced negotiations and continues to push towards finalizing the project financing of
Phase 1 operations. The Company looks forward to providing additional detail at the appropriate time in the
near future;
• Phase 1 start of construction;
• Phase 1 commissioning & start of commercial production;
• Exploration and resource/reserves expansion at Santa Cruz;
• Exploration and maiden resource estimate at Alabama;
• Value-add product optimizations;
• Value-add process trade off study with conceptual level CAPEX/OPEX;
• Environmental permitting and mining license for Phase 2 (25,000 tpy concentrate) and Phase 3 (50,000 tpy
concentrate); &
• Commercial off-take agreements.
2021 END OF YEAR SUMMARY
The Company is pleased to announce that a 2021 end of year summary is available on the website. Highlights
include:
• 560% share price return in 2021;
• Excellent share liquidity with December 2021 daily average of 825,000 shares traded and a daily trading value
of approximately USD171,000;
• US buying has increased from basically 0 in January 2021 to account for approximately 20 -25% of the daily
traded value by December;
• Market capitalization has grown 1467% from CAD$2.15M at the close of 2020 to CAD$33.7M at the close of
2021;
• Current assets at end of 2021 will be around CAD3.5M including CAD3.4M in cash; &
• The earn-in agreement for the Alabama Project was finalized and will potentially provide the next project in
the pipeline in a key jurisdiction for diversifying political risks and supply chain requirements.
2021 EOY Summary Link
ABOUT SOUTH STAR BATTERY METALS CORP
South Star Battery Metals Corp. is a Canadian battery metals project developer focused on the selective
acquisition and development of near-term production projects in the Americas. South Star’s Santa Cruz Graphite
Project, located in Southern Bahia, Brazil is the first of a series of industrial and battery metals projects that will
be put into production. Brazil is the second -largest graphite-producing region in the world with more than 80
years of continuous mining. Santa Cruz has at -surface mineralization in friable materials, and successful large -
scale pilot-plant testing (>30t) has been completed. The results of the testing show that approximately 65% of Cg
concentrate is +80 mesh with good recoveries and 95%-99% Cg. With excellent infrastructure and logistics, South
Star is carrying its development plan towards Phase 1 production projected in Q4 2022, pending financing. South
Star trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol STS, and on the OTCQB under the symbol STSBF.
South Star is committed to a corporate culture, project execution plan and safe operations th at embrace the
highest standards of ESG principles based on transparency, stakeholder engagement, ongoing education and
stewardship. To learn more, please visit the Company website at http://www.southstarbatterymetals.com.
This news release has been reviewed and approved by Richard Pearce, P.E., a "Qualified Person" under National
Instrument 43-101 and President and CEO of South Star Battery Metals.
On behalf of the Board,
Mr. Richard Pearce
Chief Executive Officer
For additional information, please contact:
South Star Investor Relations (Canada IR)
Email: [email protected]
RBMG – RB Milestone Group LLC (IR US)
Trevor Brucato, Managing Director
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: https://twitter.com/southstarbm
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/southstarbatterymetals
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southstarbatterymetals/
YouTube: South Star Battery Metals - YouTube
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the
TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
This news release and the Updated Technical Report contain references to inferred resources. The Report is
preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to
have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves.
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
The information contained herein contains "forward -looking statements" within the meaning of applicable
securities legislation. Forward -looking state ments relate to information that is based on assumptions of
management, forecasts of future results, and estimates of amounts not yet determinable. Any statements that
express predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or
performance are not statements of historical fact and may be "forward-looking statements".
Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or
results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related
to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of
legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks ass ociated with mining and exploration; risks related to the
maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for
delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility st udies; the uncertainty of
profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity
of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the pote ntial
for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future
exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related
to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties
and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and
uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumpt ions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially
from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty
to forward -looking statements. These forward -looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the
Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual
events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections.