Subject: TRADE ISSUES
Osino Receives Environmental Clearance Certificate For Its Twin Hills Gold Project, Namibia
- Osino receives an Environmental Clearance Certificate ("ECC") from Namibia's Ministry of the Environment, Forestry and Tourism ("MEFT") for its Twin Hills Gold Project in Namibia.
- The ECC is subject to the relocation of historical graves which are located within the Twin Hills project area. A process is underway to secure the necessary consent to conclude this to the satisfaction of Namibia's National Heritage Council ("NHC").
- The issuance of the ECC thus concludes one of three significant outstanding conditions for the conclusions of a full mining license ("ML") for the Twin Hills gold project, to be issued by Namibia's Ministry of Mines & Energy ("MME"). The process has been further described in a news release dated 31 October 2022.
- The other conditions to the issuance of a full, unconditional ML are the implementation of a 5% non-carried minority interest for local shareholders and achievement of customary affirmative action quotas (20% of management) and the submission of a strategy for adherence to the Namibian government's poverty alleviation and socio-economic upliftment strategy of especially disadvantaged population groups.
- Granting of the ECC thus substantially de-risks Osino's permitting timeline and confirms Namibian regulatory support for the rapid advancement of Osino's Twin Hills Gold Project into the development phase.
- Applications to obtain the necessary secondary permits have commenced with the aim of concluding all permitting, initiating early works and commencing with construction during H2 2023.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Osino Resources Corp. (TSXV:OSI) (FSE:RSR1) (OTCQX:OSIIF) ("Osino" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that the Namibian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism ("MEFT") has issued an Environmental Clearance Certificate ("ECC") for the Twin Hills Gold Project ("Twin Hills" or "the Project") which is valid for three years and renewable on a three yearly cycle.
Twin Hills' most recent technical study, a pre-feasibility ("PFS") study released in September 2022, outlines a 13-year open-pit mine life with an average annual gold production rate of 169koz per annum at all-in sustaining costs of US$930/oz in the 10 years of operation. This is based on 2.15 Moz in reserves.
Heye Daun, Osino's co-founder, President and CEO commented: "We are very pleased to have received environmental authorization for full-scale mining for our Twin Hills gold project. We recognize that there are still a few outstanding approvals and consents to be achieved (such as the grave relocation, conclusion of the site-specific secondary permits, and the additional conditions to the mining license explained below). Nevertheless, this milestone takes us one step closer to being fully permitted. This again confirms Namibia as one of the world's top mining jurisdictions, where it is possible to permit and advance a large-scale open pit gold mining project, according to global best practices, from inception to approval within less than three years. We commend our Namibian regulators and service providers for this remarkable achievement."
Osino Environmental Clearance Certificate Approved
Following extensive stakeholder engagement and environmental baseline studies in 2021 and early 2022, the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy ("MME") and Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism ("MEFT") thoroughly reviewed the Project's Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ("ESIA") and Environmental Management Plan ("EMP") and found no material flaws in the scope and assessment of the project.
Included in the assessment and the management plan are provisions that any archeological finds must be reported to the National Heritage Council ("NHC") for review, guidance and management.
Following the discovery of some historical grave sites within the Twin Hills Project area, Osino conducted a field review and documentation of the burial sites as an addendum to the archeological baseline study. Following this, an additional reconnaissance fieldwork program was carried out in the area to confirm that no other graves exist. All documents have been submitted to NHC for review and it is anticipated that the graves will have to be relocated, with consent from the descendants.
Namibian Environmental and Mining Permitting Process Overview
As per the Environmental Management Act, 2007 ("EMA"), the proposed mining project triggers listed activities under Namibia's EMA. Such activities require an environmental clearance certificate. In 2020 Osino appointed an independent environmental consulting firm (Environmental Compliance Consultancy (Pty) Ltd) as the Environmental Assessment Practitioner (EAP) in accordance with EMA 2007 Regulation 3 to conduct an environmental and social impact assessment and apply for the required environmental clearance certificate.
The MME is the competent authority for the proposed Project, and accordingly, the application was submitted to MME to carry out their designated functions. Once an ECC is issued, the certificate becomes effective from the date endorsed and remains effective for a period not exceeding three years as per the EMA 2007. ECCs are eligible for renewal every three years.
The issuance of the ECC is one of three outstanding conditions for the conclusions of a full mining license for the Twin Hills gold project, to be issued by Namibia's MME. The process has been further described in a news release dated 31 October 2022.
As stated earlier, once the conditions relating to grave relocations have been met, the first of the three main conditions to the issuance of the full and unconditional mining license will be achieved. The two remaining conditions are the sale of a 5% local Namibian minority equity participation (under negotiation) and the fulfilment of certain affirmative action and poverty alleviation measures which are customary under Namibian law.
Secondary License Approvals
As previously reported, the Osino team have been preparing to apply for site-specific secondary permits which are operationally specific. The timeframes for approvals of these secondary permits generally vary between three to six months, and the application process has been initiated.
It is planned to commence with early works (road relocation, ground preparations, camp construction) early in the second half of 2023. The initial permits to be applied for include road and river relocation/diversion, vegetation removal, water abstraction, wastewater discharge and accessory works permits, amongst others.
Engagement of Investor Relations and Marketing Service Providers
The Company also announces it has engaged Stockhouse Publishing Ltd. ("Stockhouse") and Hybrid Financial Ltd. ("Hybrid") to provide investor relations and marketing services and other assistance to support the Company's investor relations strategy, and to help build awareness and gain exposure with investors. Stockhouse is a marketing and media platform targeting retail investors and is based in Vancouver, BC. Osino has agreed to pay Stockhouse C$100,000 for a 12-month term with the first payment of C$25,000 used for the first two months and last month of the term and the subsequent payments made quarterly. Hybrid is a leading Investor Relations firm based in Toronto, ON. Osino has agreed to pay Hybrid an initial one-time capital markets advisory services fee of C$90,000 and a monthly fee of C$15,000 over the 12-month term. Both Stockhouse and Hybrid are arm's length parties to the Company and, to the Company's knowledge, do not currently own any securities of the Company, but may purchase securities of the Company from time to time for investment purposes.
Granting of Restricted Stock Units ("RSUs")
The Company also announces that it has awarded an aggregate of 405,090 restricted share units ("RSUs") to certain officers, directors, and consultants. The RSUs vest 12 months after the date of grant and are granted pursuant to equity compensation plans which have been approved by the shareholders of the Company and accepted by the TSX Venture Exchange. All grants of RSUs are subject to applicable regulatory requirements and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange.
Qualified Person's Statement
David Underwood, BSc. (Hons) is Vice President Exploration of Osino Resources Corp. and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this news release and is a registered Professional Natural Scientist with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (Pr. Sci. Nat. No.400323/11) and a Qualified Person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.
About Osino Resources
Osino is a Canadian gold mine developer and explorer focused on the fast-tracked development of our PFS-stage Twin Hills Gold Project ("Twin Hills") in central Namibia. Since its grassroots discovery by Osino in August 2019 the Company has completed more than 250,000m of drilling at Twin Hills and in September 2022 released a pre-feasibility study ("PFS") which outlines a 13-year open-pit mine life with an average annual gold production rate of 169koz per annum at all-in sustaining costs of US$930/oz in the 10 years of operation. This is based on 2.15 Moz in reserves.
Osino also has a commanding ground position of approximately 8,000km2 located within Namibia's prospective Damara sedimentary mineral belt, mostly in proximity to and along strike of the producing Navachab and Otjikoto Gold Mines. The Company has an active exploration program targeting gold mineralization that fits the broad orogenic gold model.
Our core projects are favorably located north and north-west of Namibia's capital city Windhoek. By virtue of their location, the projects benefit significantly from Namibia's well-established infrastructure with paved highways, railway, power and water in close proximity. Namibia is mining-friendly and lauded as one of the continent's most politically and socially stable jurisdictions.
Further details are available on the Company's website at https://osinoresources.com/
On Behalf of The Board of Directors
Heye Daun, President & CEO
CONTACT INFORMATION
Osino Resources Corp.
Leily Omoumi
VP, Corporate Development
[email protected]
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, statements regarding the use of proceeds from the Company's future plans or prospects of the Company, including prospects for economic recoverability of mineral resources. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to business, market and economic risks, uncertainties and contingencies that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Other factors which could materially affect such forward-looking information are described in the risk factors in the Company's most recent annual management's discussion and analysis which is available on the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The Company does not undertake to update any forward- looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
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