Cotec completes drilling, sampling at Lac Jeannine

Executive Summary

• Cotec Holdings Corp. completed its 2025 sonic drilling and bulk sampling program at the Lac Jeannine iron tailings project in Quebec, targeting the upgrade of inferred resources to indicated and the expansion into adjacent tailings.
• The company has engaged Corem for metallurgical testing and initiated the process to appoint an EPCM provider for a feasibility study, which is expected to commence in Q3 2025.
• Previous Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) indicated a pretax NPV of $93.6 million and an IRR of 38%, with the new feasibility study incorporating Salter Cyclone multigravity separators (MGS) technology to recover additional iron ore.

Key Details

• Drilling Program Completion: Completed an infill and expansion program consisting of 572 metres of sonic drilling across 12 holes, with depths up to 58 metres.
• Bulk Sampling: Concluded bulk sampling of seven tonnes of tailings and waste rock dumps, which have been shipped to Corem’s testing facility in Quebec.
• Resource Upgrade Goals: The drilling targeted upgrading the existing inferred mineral resource of 73 million tonnes (Mt) at 6.7% total Fe (containing 4.9 Mt of total Fe) to indicated status.
• Expansion Potential: The program aimed to extend the project to adjacent tailings, which has the potential to almost double the life of mine with no additional capital expenditure (capex).
• Feasibility Study: The study is expected to start in Q3 2025 and will include the application of Salter Cyclone multigravity separators (MGS) technology for iron ore recovery.
• Previous Economic Metrics (June 2024 PEA):
  • Based on open-pit extraction and gravity concentrate production.
  • Pretax NPV: $93.6 million (U.S.) at a 7.0% discount rate.
  • Pretax IRR: 38%.
  • After-tax NPV: $59.5 million (U.S.).
  • After-tax IRR: 30%.
• Assay Results Timeline: Bulk sampling and assay results are expected in Q4 2025.
• Qualified Person: Christian Beaulieu, PGeo, member of l'Ordre des geologues du Quebec (No. 1072), reviewed and approved the technical content.

Notable Quotes

• Julian Treger, CEO: "Cotec has progressed its discussions with strategic partners to move rapidly onto preparation of a feasibility study with the support of all stakeholders, including the government of Quebec, first nations and other interested parties. The results from this next phase of drilling and bulk sample collection will allow Cotec to increase its current resource estimate for Lac Jeannine and potentially unlock additional material outside of the tailings dam to reprocess."
• Julian Treger, CEO: "The company is very excited to commence a feasibility study regarding the recovery and production of critical mineral iron ore concentrate at competitive cost structures which can deliver high-purity iron concentrates for the green steel industry. The Lac Jeannine project offers great potential for the resource industry to recover the economic benefit of large Fe tailing sites."