Dr. Marc-Antoine Audet reports

SAMA RESOURCES ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF ITS NEW PRELIMINARY ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT FOR THE SAMAPLEU-GRATA NICKEL-COPPER PROJECT, COTE D'IVOIRE

Sama Resources Inc. has released the results of the new preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the Samapleu-Grata nickel-copper project located in Ivory Coast, West Africa.

The PEA is a preliminary technical study that examines the potential for a conventional open-pit mining operation producing both a conventional copper and nickel concentrate, together with cobalt, platinum, palladium and gold as byproducts. As well, the Sipilou Sud laterite deposit would produce direct shipping material.

Dr. Marc-Antoine Audet, president and chief executive officer of Sama Resources, commented: "Today's preliminary economic assessment reflects our new approach to the project. It showcases the value of the Samapleu-Grata nickel-copper project and improves upon our 2020 PEA. While we present a lower NPV [net present value] and IRR [internal rate of return] than we did in 2020, that is principally a function of the lower nickel price used in this PEA. In today's PEA, we have effectively doubled the mill feed and changed the flowsheet to produce conventional nickel and copper concentrates, and, in doing so, have increased overall nickel concentrate production by 19 per cent and, importantly, increased life-of-mine copper concentrate production by more than 100 per cent over its projected 16-year mine life. The project now has the potential to produce approximately 38,000 tonnes per year of copper concentrate on average over the life of mine, resulting in 10,000 tonnes per year of payable copper on average."

Taylor Melvin, president and CEO of Ivanhoe Electric, continued: "We are pleased to have completed our earn-in to 60 per cent of the Samapleu-Grata nickel-copper project in the Ivory Coast. We are particularly encouraged to see the polymetallic nature of the project and the inclusion of all key payable metals -- nickel, copper, gold, cobalt, platinum and palladium -- and the significant improvement in both the quality and quantity of potential future copper concentrate production. The quality results of the preliminary economic assessment are the product of the hard work put into the project by our team and our partners at Sama. We look forward to the next steps for this project."

Dr. Audet concluded: "What is exciting about the PEA is that we believe it to just be the beginning. The Samapleu-Grata nickel-copper project presents the rare opportunity for significant expansion over its 835-square-kilometre area. We have already identified surface nickel-copper mineralization at prospects such as Yepleu, located 25 kilometres southwest of Samapleu-Grata, and we have more than 10 other targets of interest. Yepleu and these other prospects highlight the significant untapped mineral potential of the entire project area."

Highlights of the 2024 preliminary economic assessment

The 2024 PEA outlines the potential for a conventional open-pit mining operation supporting 86.5 million tonnes (Mt) of modelled mill feed together with 1.62 million tonnes of direct-shipped laterite material entirely from the Grata, Main and Extension deposits, and the Sipilou Sud laterite deposit:

• Average annual production of approximately 38,627 tonnes of 26 per cent copper concentrate and 55,119 tonnes of 13 per cent nickel concentrate:
  • Average annual nickel metal in concentrate of approximately 7,165 tonnes per year and copper metal in concentrate of approximately 10,043 tonnes per year.
• 16 year-life of mine;
• Pretax net present value at an 8-per-cent discount rate of $463-million (U.S.) and internal rate of return of 28.2 per cent;
• Posttax NPV of $257-million (U.S.) and posttax IRR of 22.3 per cent;
• Initial capital costs of $338-million, including a contingency of $61-million (U.S.);
• All-in sustaining cash costs per pound (lb) Ni (nickel) and Cu (copper) of $4.05 (U.S.)/lb before byproduct credits, and $3 (U.S.)/lb after byproduct credits of $1.05 (U.S.)/lb;
• Posttax payback period of 3.8 years.

The 2024 PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources, considered too speculative in nature to be categorized as mineral reserves. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves have not demonstrated economic viability. Additional trenching and/or drilling will be required to convert inferred mineral resources to indicated or measured mineral resources. There is no certainty that the results of the 2024 PEA will be realized.

The 2024 PEA demonstrates the potential for a long-life nickel-copper mine in Ivory Coast

The Samapleu-Grata nickel copper project is located in western Ivory Coast, approximately 600 kilometres from the capital Abidjan via paved four-lane highway to Yamoussoukro, followed by paved roads to Daloa and Duekoue to the west, and north to Man and Biankouma. The remaining 35 km is accessed by a dirt road toward the west-northwest. The total area of the project is approximately 835 square kilometres.

The project consists of five exploration permits -- PR838 (Samapleu-Est), PR839 (Samapleu-Ouest), PR300 (Zeregouine), PR604 (Grata) and PR837 (Zoupleu).

The 2024 PEA envisages a conventional open-pit mining operation with off-highway haul trucks, hydraulic excavators and wheel loaders. The mineral resources, contained in three pits, are intended to be mined by surface operations.

The mineral processing plant is designed to process 5,475,000 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of run-of-mine mineralized material to annually produce 38,627 tonnes of a 26 per cent copper concentrate and 55,119 tonnes of a 13 per cent nickel concentrate. Both concentrates will be saleable products. No longer is it envisioned that the project would produce either a carbonyl nickel powder or carbonyl iron powder as set out in the 2020 PEA. This eliminates the need for a refining plant, with the impact most noticeable in the reduction in sustaining capital in the 2024 PEA to $112-million (U.S.) (including contingency) from $194-million (U.S.) in 2020. The surface infrastructure and processing plant would be located near the Grata deposit open-pit mining operation.

The mineral processing plant would consist of a crushing, grinding, rougher flotation and cleaner flotation circuit. The back-end of the concentrator includes tailings and concentrate thickening, concentrate filtration, and material handling.

The nickel and copper concentrates would be recovered as separate cleaned concentrates through a conventional flotation process. The tailings from the concentrator would be thickened and pumped to the tailings storage facility (TSF). Reclaiming water from the TSF has been considered in the process design to minimize freshwater makeup to the concentrator.

The TSF is designed to provide storage for the total estimated volume of tailings over the 16-year life-of-mine. The TSF would be located approximately 500 metres southwest of the plant site, adjacent to a local village and cemetery, and constructed from saprolite and inert waste rock from open-pit development. One embankment will be constructed to establish a valley-type impoundment. The freshwater diversion dam will also be constructed to divert freshwater from the upstream TSF catchment area directly to the environment. The TSF location was selected based on the results of a scoping-level options comparison for the project.

The table entitled "2024 PEA estimated operating results" sets out the anticipated operating results for the potential future mining operations at the Samapleu-Grata nickel-copper project.

Conventional nickel and copper flotation underpin the metallurgical processes in the 2024 PEA

Over the life of mine, the Samapleu-Grata project will produce an annual average of 36,627 tonnes of a 26 per cent copper concentrate and 55,119 tonnes of a 13 per cent nickel concentrate through a process plant with a capacity of 5.475 Mtpa. No longer is it envisioned that the project would produce either a carbonyl nickel powder or carbonyl iron powder as set out in the 2020 PEA.

The metallurgical test work set out in the 2020 PEA demonstrated poor copper and nickel separation, and uncertainties over the copper recovery. The 2020 PEA also assumed no revenue for precious metals nor cobalt for all of these elements would have been lost to the carbonylation residue. As a result, the 2020 PEA set out the potential for production of carbonyl nickel powder and carbonyl iron powder. The carbonyl process is relatively complex and novel, and so it was considered that constructing and operating the required refinery in a remote mine site would raise additional technical risks.

Accordingly, when work commenced for the 2024 PEA, the focus turned to examining the potential to use more conventional processes that would preserve or enhance copper and nickel recoveries, and allow revenue to be earned from the cobalt and precious metals. This conventional process is reasonably straightforward, carries a lower technical risk and focuses entirely on flotation, for the production of separate copper and nickel concentrates which can be sold directly to third parties without further on-site processing.

A 46-test flotation development program was undertaken on the Main and Grata deposits, which included multiple locked-cycle tests. Those tests confirmed a robust flowsheet that yielded a 26 per cent copper concentrate at up to 91-per-cent copper recovery for the Grata deposit and 83-per-cent copper recovery for the Main deposit, along with a 13 per cent nickel concentrate at 67-per-cent nickel recovery for the Main deposit and 72 per cent for the Grata deposit. Additionally, approximately 50 per cent to 60 per cent of the cobalt floated in the nickel concentrate, while combined recoveries of platinum and palladium in both concentrates, typically ranged from 60 per cent to 70 per cent with lower gold recoveries. The locked-cycle nickel concentrates typically assayed between 2 per cent and 5 per cent magnesium oxide, and fell within specification for sale to nickel smelters. Both concentrates are expected to be clean with very low levels of penalty elements such as antimony or arsenic.

Attractive economics are demonstrated in the 2024 PEA

The 2024 PEA outlines a potential mining operation producing 887,000 tonnes of nickel concentrate and 621,000 tonnes of copper concentrate over a 16-year mine life. The LOM all-in sustaining cash costs per pound Ni and Cu are $4.05 (U.S.)/lb Ni before byproduct credits and $3 (U.S.)/lb Cu after byproduct credits of $1.05 (U.S.)/lb Cu.

This produces a pretax NPV (8-per-cent discount) of $463-million (U.S.) and IRR of 28.2 per cent, with a posttax NPV (8-per-cent discount) of $257-million (U.S.) and posttax IRR of 22.3 per cent. This is based on the long-term metal prices in the table entitled "2024 PEA long-term metal prices."

The posttax payback period is 3.8 years based on initial capital costs of $338-million (U.S.), including a contingency of $61-million (U.S.).

The components of the initial capital cost of $338-million (U.S.) are shown in the table entitled "2024 PEA initial capital cost summary." While this initial capital cost is $50-million (U.S.) higher than the $288-million (U.S.) presented in the 2020 PEA, that 17-per-cent increase in initial capital is accompanied by a 19-per-cent increase in life-of-mine Ni concentrate production to 887,000 tonnes of 13 per cent Ni concentrate from 745,000 tonnes of 10.3 per cent Ni concentrate in 2020. Also, Cu concentrate production increases 127 per cent from 273,000 tonnes of 23 per cent Cu concentrate in 2020 to 621,000 tonnes of 26 per cent Cu concentrate in the 2024 PEA.

Sustaining capital is anticipated to be $112-million (U.S.), made up largely of mining costs ($55.6-million (U.S.)), tailings management ($14.4-million (U.S.)), reclamation and closure costs ($22.7-million (U.S.)), and a $19.2-million (U.S.) contingency.

The project also demonstrates the potential for compelling operating costs with an all-in sustaining cash cost per pound Ni and Cu of $4.05 (U.S.)/lb before byproduct credits and $3 (U.S.)/lb after byproduct credits of $1.05 (U.S.)/lb. The main components of operating cost are set out in the table entitled "2024 PEA operating costs summary."

The 2024 PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources considered too speculative in nature to be categorized as mineral reserves. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves have not demonstrated economic viability. Additional trenching and/or drilling will be required to convert inferred mineral resources to indicated or measured mineral resources. There is no certainty that the results of the 2024 PEA will be realized.

The Samapleu-Grata nickel project is expected to be most sensitive to metal pricing and operating costs

A variation of plus/minus 10 per cent in metals prices modifies the NPV by plus/minus 17 per cent, while a plus/minus 10 per cent variation in operating costs varies the NPV by plus/minus 7 per cent.

A variation of plus/minus 10 per cent in sustaining capital costs will have an impact of plus/minus 19 per cent on the NPV.

Ample expansion opportunities remain to identify additional mineralization within the project's 835 square km footprint

The Samapleu-Grata nickel-copper project is hosted within the Yacouba complex, which is an ancient igneous complex that has intruded older gneisses of the West African craton. Mineralization in the Yacouba complex consists predominantly of magmatic sulphide mineralization hosted in pipe-like mafic-ultramafic intrusive conduits, and is composed of pyrrhotite, pentlandite and chalcopyrite, with subordinate amounts of pyrite, platinum group minerals (PGMs) and chromite. The style of mineralization observed within the Yacouba complex is analogous to some of the world's largest Ni-Cu deposits, such as Jinchuan, Voisey's Bay, Kabanga, Eagle, Eagle's Nest and Nkomati.

It is from this setting that the Yacouba complex has yielded the Grata, Main and Extension deposits that form the 2024 PEA. Exploration outside of these deposits by Sama has yielded numerous targets and areas of interest, including the Yepleu, Bounta and Draba targets.

Sama geologists recognized the prospectivity of the area in the early 2010s, and commenced surface mapping and sampling in areas of limited exposure along more than 30 kilometres of strike length. These efforts resulted in the identification of the Yacouba complex and the magmatic sulphide mineralization at the Yepleu target, as well as the Main and Extension deposits.

Magmatic sulphide mineralization at the Samapleu project can be highly conductive where semi-massive to massive accumulations and continuous veins are formed. Recognizing this, Sama flew an airborne electromagnetic (EM) survey in 2013 over portions of the project area, which was further extended in 2018. Both airborne EM surveys confirmed the presence of highly conductive features coincident with the known nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum-palladium-bearing magmatic sulphide mineralization at the Yepleu target, and at the Main and Extension deposits. The EM surveys also identified multiple high-conductivity anomalies in areas with limited to no surface outcrop that represented high-priority exploration targets.

In December, 2021, Sama announced positive results from the maiden drill program testing of the Grata blind geophysical anomaly, reporting 6.40 metres grading 1.05 per cent nickel, 1.24 per cent copper and 0.48 gram per tonne (g/t) palladium within a wider mineralized zone of 141 m grading 0.38 per cent nickel, 0.37 per cent copper and 0.25 g/t palladium. The Grata deposit has since grown to a key deposit underpinning the 2024 PEA.

Similarly, the Yepleu target was also drill tested starting in 2018, and has demonstrated similar encouraging results in both shallow and deep drilling. In October, 2023, Sama commenced a 3,800 m drill program at the Yepleu target which confirmed an area of near-surface mineralization that is open in all directions, and which covers approximately 500 m by 500 m. The drilling program returned promising intercepts, including:

• Drill hole S-341 intersecting a 21 m thick mineralized magmatic pyroxenite, including 2.75 m of massive sulphide at 1.02 per cent Ni and 0.56 per cent Cu from 13 m below surface;
• Drill hole S-342 intersecting a 38 m thick mineralized magmatic pyroxenite with 4.35 m of massive sulphide grading 1.58 per cent Ni and 0.65 per cent Cu from 17 m below surface;
• Drill hole S-349 intersecting 53 m of combined mineralization layers grading 0.29 per cent Ni, including 2.60 m at 1.31 per cent Ni and 0.95 per cent Cu.

Recently, Sama has started drill testing a geophysical target in the northeast corner of the property, an area called Draba.

Exploration to date has demonstrated a strong correlation between the conductive anomalies identified in airborne and ground-based electromagnetic surveys, and the demonstrated mineralization defined within the 2024 PEA. The presence of multiple similarly conductive untested anomalies reflects the considerable exploration potential that remains within the 835 square km project area. Less than half of the conductive targets have been accessed for mapping, let alone sampling or drill testing.

The Samapleu-Grata nickel-copper project compares favourably to other preproduction nickel projects

The Samapleu-Grata nickel-copper project is a potentially commercially profitable operating open-pit operation consisting of magmatic polymetallic sulphide mineralization with appreciable byproduct metals, including copper, gold, cobalt, platinum and palladium. The project has a comparatively small capital cost and favourable internal rate of return while producing competitive nickel and copper concentrates. There is a scarcity of advance-staged, true magmatic-sulphide nickel assets in the market, especially open-pit projects.

The Samapleu-Grata nickel-copper project has one of the lowest total capital costs while producing a pretax IRR that is second only to the Tamarack deposit in the United States, providing the opportunity to construct a relatively small, but comparably profitable polymetallic mining operation.

The project has a near 1:1 NPV/initial capital ratio resulting from its lower initial capital cost.

Finally, the polymetallic nature of the Samapleu-Grata nickel-copper project means that it has the potential to produce not only a nickel concentrate, but a high-quality 26 per cent copper concentrate that is on par with the copper concentrate produced from primary copper mines.

2024 PEA based on updated February, 2024, mineral resource estimate, including a maiden resource estimate for the Sipilou Sud laterite deposit

The 2024 PEA is based on an updated mineral resource estimate (see the tables entitled "Mineral resource estimate for the Main, Extension and Grata deposits at the Samapleu-Grata nickel-copper project (March 21, 2024)" and "Maiden mineral resource estimate for the Sipilou Sud laterite deposit at the Samapleu-Grata nickel-copper project (March 21, 2024)"), which has an effective date of March 21, 2024, and incorporates drilling carried out at the Main, Extension and Grata deposits from 2010 until mid-2022.

The change in the updated mineral resource model for the Main, Extension and Grata deposits compared with the 2023 mineral resource model is due to locating missing downhole surveys which have now been included. This resulted in a 127-per-cent, 51-per-cent and 11-per-cent increase in the number of surveyed holes at the Grata, Extension and Main deposits, respectively, which has allowed for a reclassification of the resource. That reclassification has resulted in an increase in indicated mineral resources to 19.4 Mt, a 29-per-cent increase over the 2023 mineral resource statement.

A maiden mineral resource estimate was also completed for the Sipilou Sud laterite deposit, which is physically separate from the sulphide deposits.

National Instrument 43-101 disclosures

A technical report with respect to the Samapleu-Grata nickel-copper project, prepared under National Instrument 43-101, including the 2024 PEA and updated mineral resource statement, will be filed and available on SEDAR+ within 45 days from the date of this news release.

For readers to fully understand the information in this news release, they should read the technical report in its entirety when it is filed on SEDAR+, including all qualifications, assumptions and exclusions that relate to the information to be set out in the technical report. The technical report is intended to be read as a whole, and sections should not be read or relied upon out of context.

The following companies have undertaken work in preparing the 2024 PEA:

• BBA International Inc.;
• Knight Piesold Ltd.

The independent qualified persons responsible for preparing the 2024 PEA are:

• Todd McCracken, PGeo -- BBA International;
• Bahareh Asi, PEng -- BBA International;
• Kevan Ford, MEng -- BBA International;
• Jason Van Schie, PEng -- BBA International;
• Chris Martin, CEng -- independent consultant;
• Wilson Muir, PEng -- Knight Piesold.

Each qualified person has reviewed and approved the information in this news release relevant to the portion of the 2024 PEA for which they are responsible. By virtue of education and relevant experience, the aforementioned are independent qualified persons for the purpose of NI 43-101.

Any other scientific and technical information contained in this news release not related to the 2024 PEA has been reviewed, verified and approved by Dr. Audet, PGeo, the president and chief executive officer of Sama, and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Audet is not independent of Sama.

About Sama Resources Inc.

Sama is a Canadian-based, growth-oriented resource company focused on exploring the Samapleu nickel-copper project in Ivory Coast, West Africa. The company is managed by experienced industry professionals with a strong record of discovery. Sama is committed to advancing the Samapleu-Grata nickel-copper project. Sama's projects are located approximately 600 km northwest of Abidjan in Ivory Coast, and are flanked to the west by the Ivorian and Guinean borders. Sama's projects are located adjacent to the large world-class nickel-cobalt laterite deposits of Sipilou and Foungouesso, forming a 125-kilometre-long new base metal camp in West Africa. Sama owns 40-per-cent interest in the Samapleu nickel-copper project in Ivory Coast with its joint venture partner Ivanhoe Electric owning 60 per cent.

We seek Safe Harbor.