Mr. Rick LaBelle reports

ATLAS UNVEILS GREAT ATLANTIC SALT PROJECT BUILD TEAM

Atlas Salt Inc. has secured a top-tier build team for its Great Atlantic salt project to develop North America's premier undeveloped high-grade salt deposit, 100 per cent owned by Atlas and strategically located on the west coast of Newfoundland.

An independent feasibility study from SLR Consulting (Canada) Ltd., released Aug. 28, 2023, gave the project a pretax net present value (8 per cent) of $1,017-million with a 23-per-cent internal rate of return based on a 34-year mine life at a production rate of 2.5 million tonnes per year and a projected direct capital cost of $302-million. In the four-million-tonne-per-year expansion scenario, at the preliminary-economic-assessment-level analysis, pretax NPV (8 per cent) increases to $2,015-million with a 28-per-cent IRR over a 47.5-year mine life. Pretax cash flow is $17.8-billion out of total revenue of $24.75-billion over 47.5 years (refer to Aug. 28, 2023, news release) in the expansion scenario.

Three new executives form Great Atlantic salt project build team

New Atlas Salt chief executive officer Rick LaBelle has recruited three proven leaders with exemplary records in the mining industry to the positions of vice-president, engineering and construction; vice-president, corporate affairs; and chief financial officer.

Highlights:

• Vice-president, engineering and construction, Robert Booth, PEng, PMP, has successfully executed more than $1.5-billion in large capital projects over the past seven years, most recently with the world's largest gold mining company, Newmont. He is an engineer who has consistently demonstrated operational excellence and the highest standards of cost and quality control.
• Vice-president, corporate affairs, Alasdair Federico, is an experienced executive and lawyer who was Kirkland Lake Gold's executive vice-president, corporate affairs and social responsibility, between late 2016 and May, 2021, during a period of exceptional growth for the company. The merger of Kirkland Lake Gold and Agnico Eagle Mines was announced Sept. 28, 2021, with the merged entity valued at $22.4-billion (U.S.) upon closing in early 2022.
• New chief financial officer Peter Newton, CPA, CA, is an accomplished financial executive with more than 30 years experience in private equity and the capital markets. He is the former CFO of the Canadian division of Boart Longyear, the world's largest drilling company, where he was responsible for multiple foreign entities (17 countries, four continents) between 1992 and 2007.

Mr. LaBelle commented: "This elite core team will have tremendous synergy and possesses all the combined skill sets to bring North America's premier undeveloped salt project to the production stage on time and on budget. The build team allows Atlas Salt to set the goal for a new standard for economic, environmental and social mining development."

Mr. LaBelle concluded: "The projected rate of return for this project and its relatively low-risk nature makes it a top-tier asset, as compelling as anything I've seen in the mining industry. We have the right team to pull this together and make the Great Atlantic salt project a state-of-the-art salt factory for the 21st century, with the potential to deliver cash flow for generations."

Additional Great Atlantic build team highlights

Mr. Booth is a project manager leader who has demonstrated the ability to inspire high-performance teams to achieve unprecedented results for all stakeholders. Between 2018 and 2021, Mr. Booth was project director of the Manitoba business division of Hudbay Minerals where he managed a successful rapid and low-cost expansion of Hudbay's Snow Lake operations. From 1990 to 2017, Mr. Booth was a project leader with Vale Canada, advancing mining operations in Sudbury, including the development of the $760-million Totten mine (2010 to 2013) -- the first new mine built in the Sudbury area in four decades.

Mr. Federico was lead negotiator with key stakeholders to help secure the environmental assessment for the West Detour expansion, immediately prior to the Kirkland Lake Gold-Agnico Eagle Mines merger. Detour Lake is currently the largest producing gold mine in Canada. Also with Kirkland Lake Gold, Mr. Federico's expertise was instrumental in securing the impact benefits agreement for the Macassa mine on a short timeline. Prior to joining Kirkland Lake Gold, he was vice-president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Lake Shore Gold (2008 to 2016) which quickly advanced from explorer to producer and was acquired by Tahoe Resources for $751-million.

Mr. Newton's most recent assignments (2018 to 2023) have been for public and private companies or private equity groups performing interim and longer-term senior financial roles, ERP (enterprise resource planning) system reviews, and revitalizations from financial and operational perspectives. He excels at cash flow models and managing capital expenditures. In addition to a long career with the world's largest drilling company, Boart Longyear, Mr. Newton was CFO for Dumas Contracting Ltd. (2009 to 2011) and also performed senior financial roles for the world's largest mill liner company, Norcast Wear Solutions, and the world's second-largest explosives company, Dyno Nobel Canada Inc.

Atlas Salt wishes to thank Gillian Russell for her outstanding service as chief financial officer of the company since June, 2021. Ms. Russell is currently assisting in the transition to new CFO Mr. Newton.

Qualified person

The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with the Canadian regulatory requirements set out in National Instrument 43-101 and reviewed on behalf of the company by Patrick J. Laracy, PGeo, chairman of Atlas Salt, a qualified person.

About Atlas Salt Inc.

Bringing the power of salt to investors, Atlas Salt owns 100 per cent of the Great Atlantic salt deposit strategically located in western Newfoundland in the middle of the robust eastern North America road salt market. The project features a large homogeneous high-grade resource located next to a deepwater port.

We seek Safe Harbor.