Mr. Ramon Barua reports

ACLARA SECURES 100 per cent OWNERSHIP OF THE CARINA MODULE MINING RIGHTS

The second tranche of Aclara Resources Inc.'s earn-in agreement has been fulfilled, thus securing 100-per-cent ownership of the 8,490 hectares of mining rights comprising the Carina module. On Nov. 6, 2023, the company had previously executed the first tranche of the earn-in agreement securing an initial 51-per-cent ownership interest.

Ramon Barua, chief executive officer, commented: "We are pleased to report that we have earned 100-per-cent interest of the Carina module mining rights. This significant milestone is a result of how quickly we have been able to drill the property and obtain favourable results. After only five months of announcing the discovery of the Carina module, we have reported a material mineral resource estimate, a robust preliminary economic assessment and are in the middle of a piloting program using Brazilian clays at our pilot plant in Concepcion, Chile.

"In addition, we continue to advance the project in several fronts, including an ongoing reverse circulation drilling campaign to increase mineral resources at depth, the initiation of the environmental and social baseline studies and the evaluation of several proposals from world-class engineering companies to prepare a prefeasibility study. We remain fully committed to deliver a robust project in a fast-track schedule, aiming to produce sustainable rare earths at a time when the demand is expected to significantly outpace the supply."

Earn-in agreement

The company has exercised the option to earn 100-per-cent interest of the Carina module mining rights. In order to earn the remaining 49 per cent, Aclara fulfilled the following conditions:

• Drilled 2,000 metres within the mining rights that constitute the project, in addition to the first 2,000 metres drilled to earn the first tranche in 2023;
• Invested $2-million (U.S.) in exploration expenses, in addition to the $1-million (U.S.) previously invested in exploration expenses to earn the first tranche;
• Paid the owner of the mining rights a total $300,000 (U.S.), in addition to the $200,000 (U.S.) previously paid to the mining rights owner to earn the first tranche.

The earn-in agreement also considers a royalty payment to the previous owner of the mining rights when the project is in commercial production. Aclara has an option to acquire 100 per cent of the royalty for $6.5-million (U.S.) during the first year of commercial production. The purchase of the royalty is included in the financial model that underpins the Carina module preliminary economic assessment released by the company on Jan. 23, 2024.

About Aclara Resources Inc.

Aclara Resources is a development-stage company that focuses on heavy rare earth mineral resources hosted in ion-adsorption clay deposits. Its primary project is known as the Penco module and is located in the BioBio region of southern Chile. The company is also working on the initial development phase of a second module, the Carina module, located in the state of Goias in central Brazil.

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