TNR Gold Announces Advancement of Mariana Lithium Project to Construction by Ganfeng Lithium
NEWS RELEASE
TNR Gold Announces Advancement of Mariana Lithium Project to
Construction by Ganfeng Lithium
Vancouver, British Columbia – September 27, 2021: TNR Gold Corp. (TSX-V: TNR) (“TNR”, “TNR
Gold” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that, further to the Company’s news release dated July
14, 202 1, International Lithium Corp. (“ILC”) announced the purchase by Ganfeng Lithium of ILC’s
remaining 8.58% stake in Litio Minera Argentina S.A., the owner of the Mariana Lithium Project in Salta
Province, Argentina. TNR Gold holds a 1.8% net smelter returns (“NSR”) royalty on the Mariana Lithium
Project.
The news release issued on September 21, 2021 by ILC stated:
“The board of International Lithium Corp. (the “ Company” or “ ILC”) is pleased to announce that it has
agreed to the sale of its remaining 8.58% stake in Litio Miñera Argentina S.A. “LMA”, the company owning
the Mariana lithium salar project in Argentina, and also to sell its other rights in the project, including the
right to acquire a further 10% in the Mariana project. The legal entity acquiring is Ganfeng Lithium
Netherlands Co., B.V., a subsidiary of the Company’s partner Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd.”
The news release issued by ILC on July 8, 2021 stated:
“The Company has now received a 300-page report (the “Report”) from strategic partner Ganfeng Lithium
Co. Ltd., (“GFL”) that contains an updated mineral resource estimate for the Mariana lithium brine project
(the “Project”) located in Salta, Argentina. This Report was not prepared for public NI43 -101 reporting
standards, and therefore the Company is unable to disclose it fully. However, in the interests of investor
transparency and to avoid selective disclosure, we are disclosing the following details from the Report
which have already been disclosed in a news release issued by Ganfeng Lithium on July 6, 2021, and/or
in a news release by the Salta Government in Argentina on June 16, 2021.
Highlights from the Report which are already in the public domain are as follows:
1. The resource estimate contained in the Report, detailed in the table below, includes:
• 6,854,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate (“Li 2CO3“) equivalent (LCE) in the Measured and
Indicated Resource categories, an increase of 55% over the 2019 estimate of 4,410,000
tonnes of Measured and Indicated Resource (Company news release, February 6, 2020)
• an additional 1,267,000 tonnes of Li2CO3 in the Inferred Resource category
1055 Dunsmuir Street, Suite 3500
Vancouver, British Columbia
V7X 1H7, Canada
T: +1 (604) 229-8129
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.tnrgoldcorp.com
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• these amounts are also now stated as 7,863,000 tonnes of lithium chloride equivalent in the
Measured and Indicated Resource categories, and an additional 1,454,000 tonnes of lithium
chloride equivalent in the Inferred Resource category
2. Ganfeng have reported that an Environmental Impact Report approval has been received from
the Salta regional government in Argentina for the construction of a plant with a designed
annualized capacity of 20,000 tonnes per annum of lithium chloride.
3. The Salta regi onal government has disclosed in a news release following its discussions with
Ganfeng that the likely project expenditure from now to bring the Mariana Project to full production
is around US$600 million.
Report – Mariana Lithium Brine Project, Argentina
Further to previous Company news releases dated March 8, 2017, April 20, 2017, and February 6, 2020,
ILC has received the Report for the Mariana lithium brine project containing an update to the resource
estimate for the Project. Golder Associates Consulti ng Ltd. (“Golder”) prepared the Report based on an
independent lithium brine resource estimate by Geos Mining Minerals Consultants (“Geos”) based in
Sydney, Australia.
Resource
Category
Aquifer
Volume
(Mm3)
Brine
Volume*
(GL)
Brine
Density
(g/mL)
Li
(mg/L)
K
(mg/L)
Li
(kt)
LCE#
(kt)
LiCl#
(kt)
Measured 17,653 2,648 1.217 315 9,598 833 4,436 5,089
Indicated 9,286 1,393 1.213 326 10,044 454 2,418 2,774
Inferred 4,747 712 1.211 334 10,121 238 1,267 1,454
Measured +
Indicated
26,939
4,041
1.215
319
9,752
1,287
6,854
7,863
* Brine volumes are reported using a conservative aquifer average specific yield (SY) of 15%. Due to the nature of brine
deposits, it is not relevant to estimate Mineral Resources to a specific cut -off grade. However, a nominal grade cut-off value
of 230 mg/L Li has been applied for reporting purposes only.
# Based on standard conversion rates, and assumes full extraction and conversion.
LCE = Lithium Carbonate Equivalent; conversion factor 5.324 (Ministry of Energy and Mines, British Columbia, Canada).
LiCl = Lithium Chloride; conversion factor 6.1078
Figures have been rounded. Well efficiency and production efficiency are modifying factors to resources and reserves,
respectively.
The Qualified Person who prepared the brine resource estimate in the Report is Llyle Sawyer, MAIG of
Geos. The effective date for the estimate is June 4, 2021.
Mineral resources are not mineral reserves as defined by the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy,
and th e Company cannot guarantee that the resources reported here will be converted to mineral
reserves. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.”
Kirill Klip, Executive Chairman of the Company commented, “We are pleased with the great news when
it comes to Ganfeng Lithium and the Mariana Lithium Project. I am also very pleased to see that Ganfeng
Lithium has consolidated 100% of the Mariana Lithium Project and advanced it to the construction stage.
This news comes after a 55% increase in measured and indicated resources following the previously
announced 2020 increase of more than 250% in measured and indicated resources from the 2017
resource estimate at Mariana Lithium Project. We extend our congratulations to Ganfeng and salute to
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people of Argentina on the celebration of ‘Pachamama’ - the ritual that thanks the earth for all that we
receive from it. This ritual was performed at Mariana Lithium in September after successful approval of
the Environmental Impact Report by the Salta regional government in Argentina and granted approvals
for the construction of a plant with a designed annualized capacity of 20,000 tonnes per annum of lithium
chloride.
We are very pleased to see that this new plan represents a 100% increase of previously planned lithium
annual production rate presented in the Mariana Project preliminary economic assessment (“PEA”),
announced in our news release of January 28, 2019. It was the first PEA on the project and provided a
potential value for the total NSR Royalty from Mariana’s life of mine cashflow, which has now been very
significantly increased.
We welcome the news from the Salta regional government following its discussions with Ganfeng that
the likely project expenditure to bring the Mariana Project to full production is approximately US$600
million.
TNR does not have to contribute any capital for the development of Mariana and our NSR Royalty does
not depend on the size of ILC’s diluted ownership in the Mariana Lithium Project. The 1.8% Mariana NSR
Royalty on the entire Mariana Lithium Project is a very important part of TNR Gold’s portfolio. The
essence of our business model is to have industry leaders like Ganfeng Lithium as operators on the
projects that will potentially generate royalty cashflows to contribute significant value for our
shareholders.”
The ILC press releases and websi te material appear to be prepared by Qualified Persons and the
procedures, methodology and key assumptions disclosed therein are those adopted and consistently
applied in the mining industry, but no Qualified Person engaged by TNR has done sufficient work to
analyze, interpret, classify or verify ILC’s information to determine the current mineral resource or other
information referred to in its press releases. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned in placing any reliance
on the disclosures therein.
ABOUT TNR GOLD CORP.
TNR Gold Corp. is working to become the green energy metals royalty and gold company.
Over the past twenty -five years, TNR, through its lead generator business model, has been successful
in generating high -quality exploration projects around the globe. With the Company’s expertise,
resources and industry network, it identified the potential of the Los Azules Copper Project in Argentina
and now holds a 0.36% NSR Royalty on the entire project, which is being developed by McEwen Mining
Inc.
In 2009, TNR founded International Lithium Corp. (“ILC”), a green energy metals company that was made
public through the spin-out of TNR’s energy metals portfolio in 2011. ILC holds interests in lithium projects
in Argentina, Ireland and Canada.
TNR retains a 1.8% NSR Royalty on the Mariana Lithium Project in Argentina. ILC has a right to
repurchase 1.0% of the NSR Royalty on the Mariana Lithium Project, of which 0.9% relates to the
Company’s NSR Royalty interest. The Company would receive $900,000 on the completion of the
repurchase. The project is currently being advanced in a joint venture between ILC and Ganfeng Lithium
International Co. Ltd.
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TNR provides significant exposure to gold through its 90% holding in the Shotgun Gold porphyry project
in Alaska. The pro ject is located in South western Alaska near the Donlin Gold project, which is being
developed by Barrick Gold and Novagold Resources Inc.
The Company’s strategy with Shotgun Gold Project is to attract a joint venture partner ship with one of
the gold major mining companies. The Company is actively introducing the project to interested parties.
At its core, TNR provides significant exposure to gold, copper , silver and lithium through its holdings in
Alaska (the Shotgun Gold porphyry project) and Argentina ( the Los Azules Copper and the Mariana
Lithium projects) and is committed to the continued generation of in -demand projects, while diversifying
its markets and building shareholder value.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Kirill Klip
Executive Chairman
www.tnrgoldcorp.com
For further information concerning this news release please contact +1 604-229-8129
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is
defined in the policies of th e TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the
adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain “forward-looking information”
within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward -looking information is frequently characterized
by words such as “plan”, “expect”, “project”, “intend”, “believe”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “will”, “could” and
other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions “may” or “could” occur, although not
all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Specifically, forward -looking statements
in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements made in relation to: TNR’s corporate
objectives, changes in share capital, market conditions for energy commodities, the results of McEwen
Mining’s and ILC’s PEAs, and improvements in the financial performance of the Company. Such forward-
looking information is based on a number of assumptions and subject to a variety of risks and
uncertainties, including but not limited to those discussed in the sections entitled “Risks” and “Forward -
Looking Statements” in the Company’s interim and annual Management’s Discussion and Analysis which
are available under the Company’s profile on www.sedar.com. While management believes that the
assumptions made and reflected in this news release are reasonable, should one or more of the risks,
uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results
may vary materially from those described in forward -looking information. In particular, there can be no
assurance that: TNR will be able to repay its loans or complete a ny further royalty acquisitions or sales;
debt or other financing will be available to TNR; or that TNR will be able to achieve any of its corporate
objectives. TNR relies on the confirmation of its ownership for mining claims from the appropriate
government agencies when paying rental payments for such mining claims requested by these agencies.
There could be a risk in the future of the changing internal policies of such government agencies or risk
related to the third parties challenging in the future the ownership of such mining claims. Given these
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uncertainties, readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements included herein are not guarantees
of future performance, and such forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied on.
In formulating the forward-looking statements contained herein, management has assumed that business
and economic conditions affecting TNR and its royalty partners, McEwen Mining Inc. and International
Lithium Corp. will continue substantially in the ordinary course, in cluding without limitation with respect
to general industry conditions, general levels of economic activity and regulations. These assumptions,
although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect.
Forward-looking information herein and all subsequent written and oral forward -looking information are
based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified
in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Exce pt as required by law, the Company assumes no
obligation to update forward -looking information should circumstances or management’s estimates or
opinions change.