A National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”) Feasibility Study for the BlackRock Project (the “FS”) was prepared by BBA Inc. with an effective date of November 18, 2022 and is filed on the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedarplus.ca.
A summary of the key results and the mineral reserve and mineral resource estimate can be found below:
FS Economic Results and Production Summary:
| Economic Assumptions | ||
| Exchange Rate | CAD:USD | 0.76 |
| Average high purity pig iron price | US$/t | $786 |
| Average ferrovanadium price | US$/kg | $38.17 |
| Average titanium slag price | US$/t | $300 |
| Mining Summary | ||
| Mine Life | years | 39 |
| Average annual mill feed | Mtpa | 3.3 |
| Average annual pig iron production | kt | 526 |
| Average ferrovanadium production | kt | 4.4 |
| Average annual titanium slag production | kt | 118 |
| Economic Results | ||
| Initial capital (mine site and metallurgical plant) | C$M | $1,471 |
| Pig iron cash costs | US$/t | $277 |
| Pig iron all-in-sustaining cash costs | US$/t | $306 |
| Ferrovanadium cash costs | US$/kg | $13.61 |
| Ferrovanadium all-in-sustaining cash costs | US$/kg | $15.02 |
| After-tax NPV (8%) | C$M | $1,932 |
| After-tax IRR | % | 18.2% |
| Payback period | years | 5.4 |
Qualified Persons
The FS was prepared by the following Qualified Persons under NI 43-101, each of whom is independent of BlackRock and the Company under NI 43-101, who have reviewed, verified, and approved the scientific and technical data for which they have responsibility contained in this news release pertaining to the FS.
| Qualified Person | Company | Scope of Responsibility |
| Claude Bisaillon, P Geo. | SGSmGeostat | Geology and Mineral Resource Estimation |
| Isabelle Leblanc, P.Eng. | BBA Inc | Mineral reserve estimation, mine planning, mining infrastructure |
| Andre Alliare, P.Eng. | BBA Inc | Processing, Surface infrastructure, estimate integration, financial model, overal NI 43-101 |
| Nathalie Fortin, P.Eng. | WSP | Environemtal |
| NJicolas Skiadas, P.Eng. | Journeaux Associates | Tailings and Water management |