Mr. Gilbert Clark reports

MERIDIAN MINING IS GRANTED A WATER PERMIT FOR FIELD USE OF TROMMEL

Meridian Mining Societas Europaea has been granted a water-use permit by SEDAM (Secretary of State for Environmental Development, Rondonia, Brazil), valid until Oct. 19, 2023, to be used for a rotating wet screen (trommel) at the Vitalino prospect. The trommel effectively washes soil from the mined mineralization and produces a clean gravel mix for subsequent sizing then processing (jigging). The company has applied for additional water abstraction permits at the Ervino, Jair Mundi, Antonio Gomes and Aracatuba prospects for use in wet screening.

With the addition of this permit, the company has achieved three key tasks:

• Continue to maintain the lower opex (operating expense) associated with prescreening operations all year round, including now the previously prohibitive wet season;
• Continue to produce stable volumes of higher-quality manganese oxide concentrate all year round; and
• Plan for the long term through the five-year permit validity.

In July, the incoming management commenced an optimization of the process flow sheet, whereby it would prescreen the mined material at or adjacent to the point of extraction. Currently, the company has three dry screens in the field, with a fourth in installation. These screens remove waste soil and clay (and the finer gravels), producing a higher-grade preconcentrate on site. The reduction in the fine waste component can reduce the volume of material to be trucked and processed by up to 75 per cent in dry-season conditions. This reduces the need to contain soil in the tailings ponds at the plants (and to truck it back to site for rehabilitation). This optimization has enabled the company to reduce trucking rental requirements by 45 per cent and is a projected fuel saving of greater than 35 per cent.

The dry screens become inefficient during the wet season. By having the permit granted, the trommel can be mobilized to the field, allowing the company to continue to remove the waste soils and clays and truck a preconcentrate during the wet season. The dry screen rejects and the trommel reject are stockpiled for later rescreening and recovery of the finer gravel manganese oxide size fractions. The soil is returned to the extraction site (topsoil above the colluvial horizon is separately segregated to return the pasture to its natural productive state).

The trommel that will be used in the field was previously installed at the Rio Madeira plant and is in good working condition. It will be serviced and then mobilized to the field at a minimal financial cost. The majority additional requirements of power generation, water pumps and piping will also come from existing equipment stocks; this is an efficient use of the company's assets and technical skills.

Gilbert Clark, interim chief executive officer and president, stated: "The Espigao team has achieved another great result to lower opex and maximize the operational economics of the project. In anticipation of the wet season, our employees have delivered a great result through working closely with the state environmental agency, SEDAM. The empowerment of local staff and their exposure to both mining economics and best practices continues to deliver materially beneficial results. The wet season has traditionally been an unprofitable period with lower production. Going forward, we can maintain the now cost-efficient prescreening all year round via the permit's granting and the use of the trommel. The use of surplus equipment is another management initiative that shows their drive to improve the company's operating economics."

Qualified person

The technical information about the company's exploration activity has been prepared under the supervision of and verified by Dr. Adrian McArthur, BSc (honours), PhD, FAusIMM, the chief geologist of Meridian Mining, who is a qualified person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101.

About Meridian Mining Societas Europaea

Meridian Mining is focused on the acquisition, exploration, development and mining activities in Brazil. The company is currently focused on exploring and developing the Espigao manganese and gold projects, the Bom Futuro tin joint venture area, and adjacent areas in the state of Rondonia. Meridian is currently producing high-grade manganese at its project located at Espigao do Oeste.

We seek Safe Harbor.