Media

Highlights:

• An application for the Declaration of Mining Project Feasibility (DMPF) for the MCB Project has been submitted to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).
  
• The submission includes major documents such as the Project Feasibility Study/Report along with environmental and social impact management plans in accordance with National Government standards.
  
• The approval of a DMPF is a critical step to securing a Mineral Agreement with the National Government.
  
• Results received from MCB-040 continue to define further shallow high-grade copper. Total intersection of 162m @ 0.58% copper from 30m, including:
  
  • 19.5m @ 0.95% copper and 0.05g/t gold from 42.5m
  • 10m @ 1.17% copper and 0.04g/t gold from 114m
  • 22m @ 0.77% copper and 0.02g/t gold from 170m
    
•   Additional intersection of 12m @ 1.22% copper and 0.06g/t gold from 339m.

Celsius Resources is pleased to announce it has submitted all the required documents for the Declaration of Mining Project Feasibility (DMPF) for its flagship Maalinao-Caigutan-Biyog (MCB) copper-gold project, which is held by its Philippine subsidiary Makilala Mining Company, Inc. (“MMCI”).

Following the completion of the scoping study, all the major documents to support the application for DMPF were developed and completed in time for submission to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau-Cordillera Administrative Region (MGB-CAR) before the end of September 2022.

This includes the Mining Project Feasibility Study Report, Final Exploration Report, Environmental Impact Statement Report, Environmental Protection and Enhancement Program, Final Mine Rehabilitation and/or Decommissioning Plan, Social Development and Management Program, Care and Maintenance Program, and LGU Project Endorsements, amongst others.

Prior to the submission, the environmental, social and mine closure plans went through a rigorous consultation process with the host community and local government stakeholders to ensure local content integration. These plans are part of the Philippine Government mining policy reforms whereby social and environmental safeguards are integrated into the overall mine development and operations plan.

“With the submission of the DMPF, we are inching closer to harnessing the potential of the MCB Project to bring about significant economic value to both our shareholders and stakeholders in an ethical and sustainable manner,” said Celsius Resources Country Operations Director Peter Hume.

A technical presentation is underway during the first week of October as part of the MGB review and evaluation process. The DMPF approval will trigger the next stage of obtaining a Mineral Agreement with the National Government which is anticipated by the end of 2022 and pave the way through to construction and operations.

Being a priority project of the government, MGB has been very supportive in fast-tracking the permitting and projects approvals (see CLA Announcement dated 24 February 2022).

Meanwhile, results from drill hole MCB-040 have been received, which continue to identify new positions of shallow mineralisation in line with other recent drilling results (see CLA announcements dated 13 December 2021, 23 May 2022, 04 July 2022, and 03 August 2022) confirming the presence of an extensive shallow higher-grade position.

The results provide a much better definition now on the various high-grade zones, which is important for the optimisation of the MCB mine plan prior to commencement of mine operations. Excellent high-grade intersections are coming together to expand on the earlier understanding of these high-grade zones. 

It appears multiple high-grade zones are stacked on top of each other, which can achieve outstanding results as recently announced from hole MCB-038, which intersected 611.4m @ 1.39% copper and 0.75g/t gold from 32.5m. These results are a continuation of the shallow high-grade zones.

Results from MCB-040

Drill hole MCB-040 was drilled to test the north-western extents of the shallow higher-grade copper mineralisation (see Figure 2).

The results from MCB-040 have confirmed further extensions to the higher-grade copper mineralisation as part of a series of relatively flat lying high grade zones which are extending away from vertically orientated feeder structures which are all closely related to an intrusive Tonalite rock (Figure 1).

Figure 1.Location of MCB-040 drill hole relative to recent and historical diamond drilling at MCB.

Table 1: Significant intersections from drill holes MCB-040.

Figure 2.Cross section of drill hole MCB-040 and significant assay results (looking southwest).

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