Mr. Rob Gamley reports

EMP METALS FILES TECHNICAL REPORT TO SUPPORT PRELIMINARY ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT FOR VIEWFIELD LITHIUM BRINE PROJECT

EMP Metals Corp. has filed a National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects technical report with respect to the Viewfield lithium brine project. The technical report titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report: Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Lithium Brines in the Viewfield Area -- Phase 1," dated Feb. 12, 2024, and effective as of Oct. 31, 2023, supports the preliminary economic assessment (the PEA) on the Viewfield lithium brine project (see news release dated Jan. 9, 2024). The technical report is available on SEDAR+ and on the company's website.

PEA highlights:

• Average of 12,175 tonnes/year of battery-grade lithium carbonate over a 23-year period;
• $1.49-billion (U.S.) net present value using an 8-per-cent discount on a pretax basis;
• Pretax internal rate of return of 55 per cent, which represents a payout duration of 2.1 years;
• $1.06-billion (U.S.) NPV using an 8-per-cent discount rate on an after-tax basis;
• After-tax IRR of 45 per cent, which represents a payout duration of 2.4 years;
• All-in operating costs (opex) of $3,319 (U.S.)/tonne lithium carbonate equivalent;
• Total capital expenditures (capex) of $571-million (U.S.) inclusive of both direct and indirect capital costs, including $52-million (U.S.) in contingency;
• Weighted average lithium concentrations of 128 milligrams/litre from seven target zones over the project life (range of 84 mg/L to 259 mg/L);
• Project economics used a base $20,000 (U.S.)/tonne. Twenty-per-cent variation in price to either $16,000 (U.S.)/tonne or $24,000 (U.S.)/tonne of LCE generates after-tax IRRs of 34 per cent and 56 per cent, respectively;
• PEA encompasses approximately 11,000 net hectares, representing 46 per cent of HCL's Viewfield landholdings and only 14 per cent of HCL's total landholdings in Southern Saskatchewan.

Project development

The development plan employed in the PEA has been broken into three distinct units:

1. Wellfield: Includes all production wellbores, disposal wellbores and pipeline networks;
2. Direct lithium extraction (DLE): Includes infrastructure related to prefiltration and DLE operations. Koch Technology Solutions (KTS) was the DLE technical partner selected for the PEA;
3. Concentration, refining and conversion (CRC): Includes all infrastructure downstream of DLE required to refine and convert lithium chloride eluent into battery-grade LCE. Saltworks Technologies was the CRC technical provider selected for the PEA.

Based on production testing and fluid analysis conducted by HCL in 2023 in the Viewfield project area, in addition to publicly available lithium testing throughout the area, it is expected to see lithium grades of 84 mg/L to 259 mg/L in the seven target members of the Duperow within the PEA lands. Over the life of the project, an average weighted concentration of 128 mg/L has been estimated.

Exploitation of the resource will occur in two production stages via multileg, horizontal wellbores. All project capital (minus end-of-life capex) is allocated at the beginning of the project, with production estimated to commence in Q1 2027.

• Stage 1:
  • Wymark C, D and E (years 1 to 7): These zones are the shallowest and highest-concentration (160 mg/L to 259 mg/L) zones and will be produced first through to depletion;
  • Average LCE output during stage 1 is 18,850 tonnes/year with average opex of $2,332/tonne (U.S.).
• Stage 2:
  • Wymark A, B and Saskatoon A, B (years 8 onward): These zones are lower concentration (84 mg/L to 145 mg/L) and will be exploited after depletion of Wymark C, D and E;
  • Average LCE output during stage 2 is 10,200 tonnes/year with average opex of $4,166/tonne (U.S.).

Note: A recovery factor of 50 per cent of total lithium in place was estimated for the PEA.

A total of 36 multileg production wells will be drilled to exploit seven target members of the Duperow, in addition to 30 vertical disposal wells to dispose of spent brine and process water. A network of underground pipelines will be constructed to transport the large water volumes from the wellheads to a DLE site for extraction and concentration to lithium chloride, and from there the eluent will be transported via pipelines to a CRC site for refining and conversion into battery-grade LCE. A total of five DLE sites and two CRC sites will process a daily average of 62,000 cubic metres/day of brine, resulting in an average output of 12,175 tonnes/year of battery-grade LCE.

Additional information related to the PEA is contained in the company's news release dated Jan. 9, 2024.

PEA cautionary note

The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred resources that are considered too speculative to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves and there is no certainty the estimates presented in the PEA will be realized.

About EMP Metals Corp.

EMP Metals is a Canadian-based lithium exploration and development company focused on large scale resources using direct lithium extraction. EMP Metals, in partnership with ROK Resources Inc., currently holds 196,000 net (79,300 hectares) acres of subsurface dispositions and strategic wellbores in Southern Saskatchewan.

Qualified persons and technical report

The preliminary economic assessment was prepared by Sproule Associates Ltd. with the assistance of the contractors outlined below. All contractors completing the report are qualified persons as defined by NI 43-101 and are independent of the company. The National Instrument 43-101 PEA report will be filed on SEDAR+ within 45 days.

Sproule Associates: Sproule is a global energy consulting and advisory firm that helps companies, investors and governments minimize risk and optimize business decisions. Meghan Klein, PEng, is the senior manager, engineering, at Sproule and a qualified person for the PEA.

Red Tree Exploration Inc.: Red Tree Exploration is an independent geological consulting company with experience in oil and gas, lithium, and helium evaluations. Trevor Else, PGeo, is a qualified person for the PEA and the president of Red Tree Exploration.

Koch Technology Solutions: Koch Technology Solutions is a technology licensing business, a part of Koch Engineered Solutions. KTS creates value for its customers across a growing portfolio of technologies, including the polyester value chain, the refining industry and lithium extraction fields. Nojan Ghadi is a qualified person for the PEA.

Saltworks Technologies: Saltworks is a team of engineers, scientists and builders focused on the innovation, construction and delivery of full-scale systems to treat industrial waste water and refine lithium into a battery-grade product. Ben Sparrow, PEng, is a qualified person for the PEA and chief executive officer of Saltworks.

Each of Ms. Klein, Mr. Else, Mr. Ghadi and Mr. Sparrow are independent qualified persons in accordance with NI 43-101 and have reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release.

We seek Safe Harbor.