RCS - Empress Royalty Corp - Empress Royalty Receives First Silver Tahuehueto

Empress RoyaltyAnnouncement

18/07/2022 12:00

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RNS Number : 7752S  Empress Royalty Corp.  18 July 2022

NEWS RELEASE | JULY 18, 2022 | VANCOUVER, BC

EMPRESS ROYALTY RECEIVES FIRST SILVER FROM TAHUEHUETO MINE

Empress Royalty Corp. (TSXV:EMPR | OTCQB:EMPYF) ("Empress" or the "Company")
is pleased to announce the Company has received the first payable silver
ounces from the silver stream agreement on the Tahuehueto Mine ("Tahuehueto"
or the "Mine").  Tahuehueto Mine is located in Durango, Mexico, 100% owned
and operated by Altaley Mining Corporation ("Altaley").

"I am excited to announce Empress has received its first payment of silver
ounces from the Tahuehueto mine. It's only been 12 months since the Tahuehueto
silver stream was completed and this is a major milestone to see a development
asset move forward to generate revenue for the Company", stated Alexandra
Woodyer Sherron, CEO and President of Empress.  "Tahuehueto is an exceptional
asset which is expected to generate significant revenue for Empress.  It
gives Empress direct exposure to silver and combined with our low G&A
provides an effective hedge against inflation pressures as seen in other
industries.  Empress continues to build a strong portfolio of revenue
generating gold and silver royalties and streams and Tahuehueto demonstrates
our ability to deliver value to our shareholders."

THE INVESTMENT

On April 16, 2021, Empress executed the US$5M silver stream agreement
("Stream") with Altaley to purchase 100% of the payable silver production from
Tahuehueto for the first 1,250,000 payable silver ounces.  Thereafter, the
percentage will step down to 20% of the payable silver production up to a
maximum of 10 years.  Empress will purchase the silver at 20% of spot
price.

PROJECT UPDATE

Tahuehueto is located in Durango, Mexico.  It is a typical epithermal
polymetallic mineral deposit in this part of Mexico, with metals consisting of
gold, silver, zinc, copper and lead.  The Mine is fully permitted, has all
social and environmental licenses to operate, and has offtake agreements in
place.

On April 26, 2022, Altaley filed an updated technical report, including a
Preliminary Feasibility Study ("PFS") for Tahuehueto.  With the filing of the
PFS report, Altaley updated the March 7, 2022, disclosure with a significant
increase of approximately 30% to the overall economics of the project.
Altaley expects to produce 2,166 oz/month of gold and 37,829 oz/month of
silver, of which 100% of the silver is subject to the above terms of the
Stream.  Please see Altaley's website (www.altaleymining.com
(http://www.altaleymining.com) ) for further details on the PFS.  Highlights
from the Altaley press release include the following:

•            2022 Preliminary Feasibility Study improves 2017 PFS
increasing throughput to 1,000 tonnes per day ("tpd") returning a post-tax NPV
of US$161.3M, at a discount rate of 5%, (US$141.8M and US$131.8M at discount
rate of 8% and 10% respectively).

•             IRR of 65% with a two year payback period with a
5% discount rate.

•             Total Life of Mine Capital Cost estimate of
US$56.9M with project construction over 95% complete.

•             Life of Mine All in Sustaining Costs ("AISC") estimated
at US$844 per gold equivalent ounce at US$1,647.52/ounce Au, US$21.64/ounce
Ag, US$0.92/pound Pb, US$1.14/pound Zn and US$3.60/pound Cu).

•             Proven & Probable Reserves of 3.58 million tonnes
grading 2.55g/t gold, 50.06 g/t silver, 1.92% zinc, 1.11% lead, 0.26% copper.

•             9-year Life of Mine ("LOM") utilizing mostly
low-cost bulk underground Sub-level Open Stoping mining method with average
annual production of 25,987 oz of gold, 453,952 oz of silver, 827 tonnes of
copper, 3,155 tonnes of lead and 6,123 k-lbs of zinc.

•             Significant opportunities exist to expand the Projects
Mineral Resources and Reserves base with near mine and regional exploration.
 Altaley plans to aggressively pursue exploration as soon as free cash flows
allow or alternative funding is secured.

On May 16, 2022, Altaley announced Tahuehueto initiated pre-production mining
and milling commissioning operations and construction efforts at the Mine were
advanced to allow the start-up and commission of one ball mill capable of
processing up to 500 tpd.  Please see Altaley's website
(www.altaleymining.com (http://www.altaleymining.com) )  for further details
on the announcement of pre-production.

On June 27, 2022, Altaley updated their shareholders on the commissioning,
pre-production, and construction progress at Tahuehueto.  Please see
Altaley's website (www.altaleymining.com (http://www.altaleymining.com) )
for further details on the Tahuehueto ramp-up.  Highlights are as follows:

•                 Altaley stated the operations team have been
diligently resolving various start-up issues related to the water supply
pipeline and mill commissioning and, over the past week have successfully
achieved ongoing pre-production with the first 500 tpd ball mill.  Recently,
processing has been stabilized with the mill achieving ore throughput up to
350 tpd and averaging approximately 195 tpd over the past 5 days.  Mill
throughput is estimated to remain at current levels over the next two weeks
with crushing being handled with a provisional cone crusher while the
permanent crushing circuit installation is being finalized and anticipated to
be operational within the next two weeks and thereafter the ball mill
throughput will be ramped up to capacity.

•             Altaley further updated on production that to date
approximately 260 tonnes of bulk concentrate has been produced at Tahuehueto.
 Two shipments of approximately 30 tonnes each have been shipped and received
to the point of sale.  These initial batches of concentrate were produced
from low-grade ore on purpose as original feed testing at the ball mill
start-up.  Revenue received from the first shipment was approximately
US$42,000 paid for gold, silver, and lead.  The second delivery payment is
pending. Another 70 tons of concentrate is in the process of being shipped
from Tahuehueto to Tepehuanes subsequently to be trucked in the coming days.
 The Tahuehueto operations team estimate that there are approximately another
150 tonnes of concentrate available, drying on the mill patio and within the
thickeners available to be filtered for drying on the patios.

•                The tailings storage facility is in the final
stages of construction and expected to be ready to receive dry stack tailings
within 45 days.  Tailings currently being generated are being filtered and
stored as additional backfill underground.  The Tahuehueto Laboratory is
essentially ready to be operational and technicians are calibrating ICP and
ancillary equipment expected to be fully operational over the next few days.

•                 Installation of the second 500 tpd ball mill is
scheduled over the next several months and the Company anticipates the project
will be able to commission this mill during Q4 2022 and ramp up production
towards the mine's designed capacity of 1,000 tpd near the end of 2022.

QUALIFIED PERSON

Technical information in this news release originates in the public disclosure
set out above and has been reviewed and approved by Richard Mazur, P.Geo., a
Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of
Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

ABOUT EMPRESS ROYALTY CORP.

Empress is a global royalty and streaming creation company providing investors
with a diversified portfolio of gold and silver investments.  Since listing
in December 2020, Empress has built a portfolio of 17 precious metal
investments and is actively investing in mining companies with development and
production stage projects who require additional non-dilutive capital.  The
Company has strategic partnerships with Endeavour Financial and Terra Capital
which allow Empress to not only access global investment opportunities but
also bring unique mining finance expertise, deal structuring and access to
capital markets.  Empress is looking forward to continuously creating value
for its shareholders through the proven royalty and streaming models.

ON BEHALF OF EMPRESS ROYALTY CORP.

Per:        Alexandra Woodyer Sherron, CEO and President

For further information, please visit our website at www.empressroyalty.com
(http://www.empressroyalty.com) or contact Kaitlin Taylor, Investor
Communications, by email at info@empressroyalty.com or by phone at
+1.604.331.2080.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that
term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release
contains statements about Empress' expectations regarding the economics of the
Tahuehueto mine which are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are
subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Generally, forward-looking
statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as
"expects", "believes", "anticipates", "aims to", "plans to" or "intends to" or
variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions,
events or results "will" occur. Although Empress believes that the
expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable,
undue reliance should not be placed on them as actual results may differ
materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the
actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements
include the timing and success in Altaley completing the successful
commissioning of the plant and bringing the Tahuehueto project into commercial
production as planned. The forward-looking statements contained in this news
release are made as of the date hereof, and Empress undertakes no obligation
to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information,
except as required by law. Readers should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements or information.

 

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