Publication date
16 October 2017
Category
Uncategorized

MONTREAL, QC –(Marketwired – October 16, 2017) –

-Top Quartile Project at All-In Sustaining Costs of US$399/oz Au, net of By-Product Credits
-All-In Cost (CAPEX plus OPEX) at US$643/oz Au
-Annual Payable Gold Production of 219,000 Ounces for 15 Years
-After-Tax IRR of 15.3%

Falco Resources (TSX VENTURE: FPC) (“Falco” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the results of a feasibility study (the “Feasibility Study” ) prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”) for the Company’s Horne 5 Gold Project (“Horne 5 Project” or the “Project”) located in Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, Canada. Unless otherwise stated, all dollar amounts are quoted in U.S. dollars (“$”)*.

The Feasibility Study indicates that the Horne 5 Project represents a robust, high margin, fifteen year underground mining project with attractive economics in the current gold price environment. The Feasibility Study was prepared by BBA Inc., under the direction of Mr. Luc Lessard, P. Eng., President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, and its Vice-Presidents Messrs. Francois Vezina, P. Eng., Christian Laroche, P. Eng., and Mrs. Hélène Cartier, P. Eng. LLB, the Osisko Gold Royalties technical team, and included contributions from the geological and engineering teams at BBA Inc., InnovExplo Inc., Golder Associates Ltd., WSP Canada Inc., SNC-Lavalin Stavibel Inc., and Ingénierie RIVVAL Inc. At a gold price of $1,300/oz and using an exchange rate of C$1.00 = US$0.78, the Feasibility Study shows that the Horne 5 Project would generate an after-tax net present value (“NPV”), at a 5% discount rate, of $602 million and an internal rate of return (“IRR”) of 15.3% after-tax. In this scenario, the mine could become the next significant gold producer in Québec, with a production profile averaging 219,000 payable ounces annually over the life of mine, with an all-in sustaining cash cost of $399 per ounce net of by-product credits and all-in cost, CAPEX plus OPEX, estimated at $643 per ounce. The Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) study, which has been initiated by WSP Canada Inc., is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Mr. Luc Lessard, Falco’s President and Chief Executive Officer commented: “We are very pleased with the results of the Feasibility Study on the Horne 5 Project, which demonstrates the robust economics of bringing this world-class deposit back into production. The Feasibility Study firmly establishes the Horne 5 Project as one of the best undeveloped gold projects by value and margin in today’s gold-price environment. The Feasibility Study envisions a state-of-the-art operation with a high level of automation. The Horne 5 Project benefits from being situated in one of the world’s best mining jurisdictions, where a high level of underground mining expertise is readily available. We believe our advantageous location and the availability of existing infrastructure have the potential to positively impact the long term viability of the Horne 5 Project.”

The realized Project would have a significant impact on the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region, with the potential of generating over $6.6 billion of gross revenue and contributing approximately 500 permanent, well remunerated jobs.

FEASIBILITY STUDY HIGHLIGHTS

BASE CASE IS STATED USING GOLD PRICE OF $1,300 PER OUNCE, SILVER PRICE OF $19.50 PER OUNCE, COPPER PRICE OF $3.00 PER POUND, ZINC PRICE OF $1.10 PER POUND AND AN EXCHANGE RATE OF C$1.00 equal to US$0.78

--  NPV of $1,012 million at a 5% discount rate and an IRR of 18.9% before
    taxes and mining duties;
--  NPV of $602 million at a 5% discount rate and an IRR of 15.3% after
    taxes and mining duties;
--  Mine life of 15 years, with peak-year payable production of 268,000
    ounces, average life-of-mine ("LOM") annual payable production of
    219,000 ounces of gold and 235,000 ounces at steady-state;
--  Net payable gold recovery of 88.1%;
--  3,741,000 ounces of contained gold;
--  3,294,000 ounces of payable gold LOM;
--  1,007 million pounds of payable zinc LOM;
--  229 million pounds of payable copper LOM;
--  26.3 million ounces of payable silver LOM;
--  80,897,000 tonnes total ore material mined;
--  2.37 g/t AuEq average diluted gold equivalent grade;
--  1.44 g/t Au average diluted gold grade;
--  All-in Sustaining Costs* of $399/oz net of by-product credits, including
    royalties, over LOM;
--  All-in cost, CAPEX plus OPEX, is estimated at $643 per payable ounce;
--  C$41.00 per tonne milled total unit operating cost;
--  Pre-Production Construction costs of $801.7 million, including a $58.5
    million contingency and excluding $26.7 million of capital outlays to
    August 31st, 2017;
--  Payback period of 5.2 years pre-tax and 5.6 years post-tax;
--  Gross revenue of $6.6 billion and operating cash flow of $2.7 billion
    LOM;
--  Process plant commissioning in first half of 2021;
--  Full mine production in first half of 2022.

*All-in Sustaining Costs are presented as defined by the World Gold Council less Corporate G&A

SUMMARY ECONOMICS AT $1,300 GOLD PER OZ

Total LOM NSR Revenue ($M)                                          $6,617.4
Total LOM Operating Cash Flow ($M)                                  $2,691.7
Total LOM Pre-Tax Cash Flow ($M)                                    $2,162.4
Average Annual Pre-Tax Cash Flow ($M)                                 $205.4
LOM Income Taxes ($M)                                                 $784.7
Total LOM After-Tax Free Cash Flow ($M)                             $1,377.7
Average Annual After-Tax Free Cash Flow ($M)                          $146.1

Discount Rate                                                             5%
Pre-Tax NPV 5% ($M)                                                   $1,012
After-Tax NPV 5% ($M)                                                   $602
Pre-Tax IRR                                                            18.9%
After-Tax IRR                                                          15.3%
Pre-Tax Payback (Years)                                                  5.2
After-Tax Payback (Years)                                                5.6

ALL-IN CASH COSTS, INCLUDING SUSTAINING CAPEX

Mining Cost ($M)                                                      $795.3
Processing Cost ($M)                                                $1,290.3
Tailings & Water Management ($M)                                      $320.8
General & Administrative Cost ($M)                                    $180.5
Refining & Smelting ($M)                                              $493.5
Royalties ($M)                                                        $122.5
By-Product Credit ($M)                                            ($2,337.9)
Cash Cost ($/oz)                                                        $260
Sustaining ($M)                                                       $417.6
Closure ($M) (net of salvage value)                                    $32.9
TOTAL ($M)                                                          $1,315.4
All-in Cash + Sustaining Cost ($/oz)                                    $399

SENSITIVITIES

BASE CASE IN BOLD

Gold Price US$/oz     $1,100  $1,200  $1,250  $1,300  $1,400  $1,500  $1,600
Pre-Tax NPV 5% $M       $631    $822    $917  $1,012  $1,202  $1,392  $1,582
After-Tax NPV 5% $M     $365    $485    $544    $602    $718    $831    $944
Pre-Tax IRR            14.2%   16.6%   17.7%   18.9%   21.0%   23.1%   25.1%
After-Tax IRR          11.6%   13.5%   14.4%   15.3%   17.1%   18.7%   20.3%
Pre-Tax Payback          6.4     5.7     5.5     5.2     4.8     4.3     4.0
 Years
After-Tax Payback        6.8     6.1     5.8     5.6     5.2     4.8     4.5
 Years

FX: C$1.00:   US$      $0.87   $0.84   $0.81   $0.78   $0.75   $0.72   $0.69
Pre-Tax NPV 5% $M       $644    $758    $880  $1,012  $1,154  $1,308  $1,475
After-Tax NPV 5% $M     $373    $446    $522    $602    $689    $781    $881
Pre-Tax IRR            14.4%   15.8%   17.3%   18.9%   20.5%   22.2%   24.0%
After-Tax IRR          11.7%   12.9%   14.1%   15.3%   16.7%   18.0%   19.4%
Pre-Tax Payback          6.4     6.0     5.6     5.2     4.9     4.5     4.2
 Years
After-Tax Payback        6.7     6.3     5.9     5.6     5.3     4.9     4.6
 Years

OPPORTUNITIES TO ENHANCE VALUE

Although Falco considers the Feasibility Study results using the base case to be excellent, future trade-off studies are anticipated to evaluate alternate development scenarios that would be used to reduce the initial capital requirements and increase revenue in the early stage of the LOM. Items to be reviewed include: (1) the significant exploration potential for discoveries at depth and around the Horne 5 Project, and the possibility to increase resources and extend mine life as further definition drilling may convert some of the existing Inferred mineral resources to the Indicated or Measured mineral resource categories; (2) determining whether larger underground stopes can be implemented through continued geotechnical investigations, simulations and detailed mining studies; (3) determining whether the leach and carbon in pulp (“CIP”) circuits in the process plant should be replaced by carbon in leach (“CIL”) circuits, for which a trade-off study is recommended to select the circuit that has the best overall economics; and (4) determining whether the application of pre-assembled steel structures, pre-cast foundations and pre-fabricated buildings can reduce capital costs and shorten the on-site construction period.

FEASIBILITY STUDY DETAILS

CONTRIBUTORS

The independent Feasibility Study was prepared through the collaboration of a number of industry-recognized consulting firms, including BBA Inc. (“BBA”, Montreal, QC), Golder Associates Ltd. (“Golder”, Montreal, QC), InnovExplo Inc. (“InnovExplo”, Val d’Or, QC), WSP Canada Inc.(“WSP”, Rouyn-Noranda, QC), SNC-Lavalin Stavibel Inc. (“SNC-Lavalin”, Rouyn-Noranda, QC) and Ingénierie RIVVAL Inc. (“RIVVAL”, Deux-Montagnes, QC). These firms provided mineral resource estimates, design parameters and cost estimates for mine operations, processing facilities, major equipment selection, waste and tailings storage, reclamation, permitting, operating and capital expenditures. A summary of contributors to the Feasibility Study is included in the table below:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Consulting
  Firm or                          Area of Responsibility
  Entity
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

               - Metallurgical testwork analysis, processing plant design;
               - Process plant capital costs and operating costs;
               - Electrical and IT infrastructure design and costs (supply
 BBA           and on-site);
               - Market studies and contracts;
               - General and administration operating costs;
               - Financial Analysis and overall NI 43-101 integration.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
               - Current and historical geology, exploration, drilling,
               sample preparation and QA/QC, and data verification;
               - Geological modelling and mineral resource estimate;
               - Mineral reserves estimate;
 InnovExplo    - Underground mine design, underground infrastructure and
               material handling, ventilation, production scheduling,
               underground capital costs and operating costs, void
               evaluation;
               - Historical data review.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
               - Waste rock, tailings, mineralization and water geochemical
               characterization;
               - Water treatment plant design, capital and operating costs;
               - Underground high density sludge, slurry and paste backfill
               and slurry tailings distribution systems design and costs;
               - Surface tailings and waste rock management facility and
               water management designs and costs, including closure costs;
 Golder        - Surface tailings, reclaim and fresh water transport system
               design and costs;
               - Mine site water management infrastructure design and costs;
               - Rock mass characterization and rock mechanics input to
               underground mine design and ground control;
               - Hydrogeology input to underground mine design;
               - Geotechnical input for the surface infrastructure design.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
               - Environmental studies, permitting, mine closure
               requirements and Horne 5 Mining Complex closure costs;
               - Regulatory context, social considerations, and anticipated
               environmental issues;
 WSP           - Headframe and hoist room design and costs;
               - Shaft design and associated underground work and costs;
               - Ore handling system from underground mine (phase 1) to
               surface stockpile, design and costs;
               - Paste backfill plant design, capital and operating costs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
               - Existing infrastructure, municipal infrastructure and
               relocation, design and costs;
               - Site access road, security gate and light vehicle road
 SNC-Lavalin   design and costs;
               - First-aid and emergency services, costs;
               - Site utilities design and costs.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 RIVVAL        - Railway engineering design and costing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE

The mineral resources presented in the Feasibility Study are based upon an updated mineral resource estimate (the “current MRE”) effective as of July 25, 2017, prepared by Carl Pelletier, P.Geo, using available information. The main objective was to update the previous NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate for the Horne 5 deposit, which was prepared by InnovExplo and published in a report titled “Technical Report and Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Horne No. 5 Deposit”, dated November 7, 2016 (Pelletier et al., 2016) (the “November 2016 MRE”).

The current MRE is mainly based on changes made to the NSR parameters, supported by new assumptions concerning metal prices and net recoveries. Three additional DDH and 41 updated downhole surveys from the 2015-2016 confirmation drilling program were also used in the current MRE. No changes to the interpretation were deemed necessary. The mineral resource model for the current MRE is based largely upon the model generated for the November 2016 MRE (Pelletier et al., 2016).

The current MRE is compliant with CIM standards and guidelines for reporting mineral resources and reserves. The selected NSR cut-off of 55$/t allowed the mineral potential of the deposit to be outlined for an underground mining option. While the results are presented undiluted and in situ, the reported mineral resources are considered by the QP, as defined below, to have reasonable prospects for economic extraction.

The results of the current MRE at the base case cut-off of $55 NSR are presented in the table below. InnovExplo estimates that the Horne 5 deposit contains, based on an NSR cut-off of 55$/t, Measured Mineral Resources of 9,259,600 tonnes at 2.59 g/t AuEq (gold equivalent) for a total of 769,885 oz AuEq, Indicated Mineral Resources of 81,855,200 tonnes at 2.56 g/t AuEq for a total of 6,731,443 oz AuEq, and Inferred Mineral Resources of 21,500,400 tonnes at 2.51 g/t AuEq, for a total of 1,735,711 oz AuEq.

Mineral Resources Table(1)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Tonnes     AuEq       Au        Ag        Cu       Zn
Resource Category    (Mt)     (g/t)     (g/t)     (g/t)      (%)       (%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured             9.3       2.59      1.58      16.2      0.19     0.83
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated            81.9      2.56      1.55     14.74      0.18     0.89
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred             21.5      2.51      1.44     23.04      0.20     0.71
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Contained   Contained   Contained  Contained   Contained
Resource Category  AuEq (Moz)    Au (Moz)   Ag (Moz)   Cu (Mlbs)   Zn (Mlbs)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Measured              0.770       0.470       4.824       38.0       168.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated             6.731       4.070      38.796      325.4      1,599.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred              1.736       1.000      15.925       96.3       337.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(1)Please refer to the Mineral Resources Notes below.

MINERAL RESERVE ESTIMATE

The Mineral Reserves estimate for the Horne 5 Project was prepared by Mr. Patrick Frenette, P. Eng., an employee of InnovExplo Inc. (effective as of August 26th, 2017). The Mineral Reserves estimate stated herein is consistent with the CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves and is suitable for public reporting. As such, the Mineral Reserves are based on Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources, and do not include any Inferred Mineral Resources. Measured and Indicated mineral resources are inclusive of Proven and Probable reserves.

The Feasibility Study LOM and Mineral Reserves estimate were developed from the November 2016 MRE and do not consider the current MRE. Updated metal prices, exchange rates and recovery equations from the current MRE were used to calculate cash flows used to support the Mineral Reserve estimate. As of the date of this report, the QP, as defined below, has not identified any risks, legal, political or environmental, that would materially affect potential development of the Mineral Reserves other than the third party approval previously mentioned.

Statement of mineral reserves (as of August 26, 2017)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Category        Tonnes (Mt)  NSR ($)   Au (g/t)  Ag (g/t)  Cu (%)   Zn (%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Proven              8.4       91.72      1.41     15.75     0.17     0.75
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Probable           72.5       92.56      1.44     13.98     0.17     0.78
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 P&P                80.9       92.41      1.44     14.14     0.17     0.77
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.  The QP, as defined below, for the Mineral Reserve estimate is Mr.
    Patrick Frenette (InnovExplo).
2.  Estimated at $2.15/lb Cu, $1.00/lb Zn, $1,300/oz Au and $18.50/oz Ag,
    using an exchange rate of C$1.00:US$0.77, cut-off NSR value of
    C$55.00/t. Metallurgical recoveries and other parameters for the
    November 2016 MRE are shown in Chapter 6 of the Feasibility Study.
3.  Mineral Reserve tonnage and mined metal have been rounded to reflect the
    accuracy of the estimate and numbers may not add due to rounding.
4.  Mineral Reserves presented include both internal and external dilution
    along with mining recovery. The external dilution is estimated to be
    2.3%. The mining recovery factor was set at 95% to account for
    mineralized material left in the margins of the deposit in each block.

CAPITAL AND OPERATING COSTS SUMMARY

Capital Costs ($M)                       Pre-Production Sustaining Total(1)
Mining (includes development                     $200.4     $253.6   $454.0
 contingency)
Mineral Processing Plant                         $296.0      $10.2   $306.1
Electrical and Communication                      $14.2       $1.8    $16.0
Project Infrastructure                            $76.9       $3.7    $80.6
Tailings and Water Management                     $53.0     $148.4   $201.4
Indirects                                         $65.9         --    $65.9
Owner's Costs                                     $36.8         --    $36.8
Site restoration (net of salvage value)              --      $32.9    $32.9
Subtotal                                         $743.2     $450.5 $1,193.7
Contingency                                       $58.5         --    $58.5
Total Capital Costs (2)                          $801.7     $450.5 $1,252.2
Capital Cost per Payable Oz Au ($/oz)              $243


CAPEX per Oz ($/oz)                                $243
OPEX per Oz ($/oz)                                 $399
All-In Cost per Oz ($/oz)                          $643



(1) Totals may differ due to rounding.
(2) Excludes $26.7 million in outlays to August 31st, 2017 (sunk costs).



Operating Costs                                                  C$/t Milled
-  Mining                                                            C$12.60
-  Processing                                                        C$20.45
-  Tailings & Water Management                                        C$5.08
-  General & Administration                                           C$2.86
Total Operating Costs                                                C$41.00

MINING

The underground deposit is located at a depth of approximately 600 metres to 2,300 metres below surface. The existing Quemont #2 shaft, which extends to a depth of approximately 1,200 metres, would need to be rehabilitated. The shaft would provide for the hoisting of mineralized material and waste, services personnel and materials, and the supply of ventilation to the underground workings in development stage. As previously stated, the access to and use of the Quémont #2 shaft by Falco is contingent upon entering into a license agreement with the owner of such infrastructure.

The mine has been designed to have low operating costs through the use of large, modern equipment, gravity transport of mineralized material through raises, shaft hoisting, minimal mineralized material and waste re-handling, and high productivity bulk mining methods. The mine is designed to employ state-of-the-art technology. Highly automated and using remote control equipment, the mine would be able to operate 21-tonne loaders to transport muck to the ore pass systems. The underground crushing facility would be fed by two ore pass systems. The crushed mineralized material would then be transported via two 250-metre conveyors and transferred to a 600-metre conveyor leading to the shaft loading point, where it would be hoisted to the surface using 43.5-tonne skips on a continuous basis. For servicing the mine, the shaft would have a double-deck service cage of 2.4 metres by 4.0 metres and a double-deck auxiliary cage. Paste backfill would be used to fill the extracted stopes and strengthen stability of the adjacent stopes and avoid or minimize dilution.

The Company expects to use transverse long hole as the primary mining method and will favor the minimization of dilution over mineral resource recovery. The Company believes that the mineral resource dilution will be below 3%.

PROCESSING

A Semi-Autogenous-Ball milling (“SAB”) facility on surface will be used to process an average of 15,790 tonnes per day of mineralized material at steady-state. The facility would also include a flotation and thickening section, divided in three circuits and dedicated to recovering copper, zinc and pyrite concentrates. The copper and zinc circuits would have their concentrate filtered to reduce humidity to 9%. Both concentrates would be stored directly in trucks and railcars, awaiting shipment. The pyrite concentrate will require a finer liberation to achieve improved gold recovery by cyanide leaching, resulting in the requirement to regrind from the primary grind size of 55 microns to the targeted P80 of 12 microns. The resulting reground pyrite concentrate would then be leached along with the pyrite flotation tailings in separate leaching circuits, followed by CIP circuits. Thickeners would be used to maximize water and cyanide recovery, and the Caro’s acid cyanide destruction method would be applied to reduce the cyanide content of the two leach streams. Both pyrite tailings and pyrite concentrate streams from flotation would be used as paste backfill in the new mine workings; excess volumes will be disposed of in existing historical openings, until the old mine openings are filled. Water liberated in the underground workings from the consolidated tailings would be recovered, recycled and pumped back to the process plant.

Gold, zinc, copper and silver metal would be recovered. The process plant would produce two concentrates and doré bars. The copper concentrate would have an estimated 16% copper content as well as payable gold and silver, and the zinc concentrate would have an estimated 52% zinc content. No precious metal will be payable in the zinc concentrate. The payable gold recovery is estimated to average 88.1% over the LOM and estimated payable recoveries average 75.8% for copper, 72.9% for zinc and 71.5% for silver. Copper and zinc concentrates have been analyzed and are considered to be free of deleterious elements and are expected to be readily marketable to both smelters and traders.

The process plant facility would include a wet laboratory, mill offices, a mill dry and a maintenance shop.

SURFACE INFRASTRUCTURE

The Horne 5 Project, located within the industrial park and former mine infrastructure (Quemont and Horne Mines) of the City of Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, a mining community of over 41,500 people, benefits from great infrastructure. As important as the physical infrastructure in the Rouyn-Noranda region is the high level of underground mining expertise that is readily available in the region. The Company believes its advantageous location has the potential to positively impact the long term viability and attractiveness of employment at the Horne 5 Project, given that employees and contractors could work in the community they live in, a rare opportunity in the mining industry.

The Horne 5 Project is located 1.1 km from route 101 and 4.0 km of the Trans-Canada Highway, with all services readily available at site. The Horne 5 Project is also located less than 700 meters from the operating Horne custom copper smelter, which treats both copper concentrates and precious metal-bearing recyclable materials as its feedstock to produce 99.1% copper anodes. Development of the future mine would be done on the former Quemont mine site, the surface rights for which were acquired by Falco. Acquisition of land adjacent to the currently proposed mine site would likely be necessary for some of the new infrastructure. Electric power would be supplied to the site at a voltage level of 120 kV, originating from the nearby Hydro-Québec, Rouyn-Noranda substation, approximately 1 km away.

The Horne 5 Project envisions the following key infrastructure items to support the mine to be constructed: site access road, on-site parking area, process plant and paste backfill plant, maintenance shop and warehouse, mine office building and dry, administration building, headframe and shaft house, hoist room, 120kV sub-station and railway spur lines and storage area.

As previously stated, the access to and use by Falco of surface rights and infrastructure not owned by it may, in some instances, be contingent upon entering into a license agreement with the owner of such surface rights. The conduct of activities on the Horne 5 Project, including pre-production dewatering activities, will be subject to Falco securing licenses from the owner of such infrastructure, some of which are located on the mining concession CM-243, the ownership of which remains with a third party.

Indirect costs such as owner’s costs; engineering, procurement and construction management; temporary facilities for construction; freight for process and major electrical equipment; pre-operational verifications; commissioning support; vendor representatives; capital spares; one year operating spares; commissioning spares; first fills; and temporary power for construction are estimated at $102.7 million. An additional $58.5 million has been budgeted as contingency for specific direct and indirect costs.

ENVIRONMENT AND SITE RESTORATION

Environmental baseline studies were initiated in 2016 and have continued throughout 2017 to support the permitting process and the project timeline.

The Horne 5 Project will require a provincial decree and federal authorisations. The project is subject to a provincial impact assessment, including public hearings, as forecasted production is over the 2,000 tonnes per day threshold outlined in the applicable regulation. The Project will also be subject to a federal impact assessment study. The Company has already submitted an application for a certificate of authorization under Sections 22 and 31.75 of the Environmental Quality Act to be issued by the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Environment and the Fight against Climate Change, to support the dewatering and sludge management strategy.

During the dewatering stage, which is expected to last 25 months, high density sludge from the water treatment will be stored in the old Donalda and Quemont underground mine openings. Tailings produced during the operations will be stored in old underground openings either in the form of slurry or paste backfill during the first two years of operations. Paste backfill will continue to be produced throughout the entire life of mine. The remainder of the tailings produced will be stored at surface in a tailings management facility. The Company has identified an old tailings management facility located at approximately 11 km from the City of Rouyn-Noranda, a site already impacted by historical mining activities, to serve for the surface storage of tailings for the Horne 5 Project. Discussions for the acquisition of the site are ongoing. Two pipelines, 18 km in length, will transport the tailings from the Quemont site to the surface tailings management facility. Waste rock that is not used for underground mining operations will be used as construction material at the tailings management facility.

A closure and rehabilitation plan for the sites has been developed in accordance with the Mining Act of Québec. Site restoration costs were estimated at $68 million, less $35.1 million of equipment salvage value, resulting in a restoration cost (net of salvage value) of $32.9M. The site restoration cost estimate for the Horne 5 Project is based on the dismantling of the mine buildings and the restoration of the tailings management facilities. The Company intends to dismantle all buildings that would have served its mining operations. Given the proximity of the site to the city and the existence of very little infrastructure of this type in Rouyn-Noranda, these buildings could be reused or modified for other uses. This cost estimate includes the cost of site restoration as well as post-closure monitoring. In accordance with the regulations, the Company intends to post a bond as a guarantee against the site restoration cost.

The conduct of the foregoing activities remains subject to Falco obtaining the required licenses from the owner of the infrastructure. For greater certainty, such license will include a complete indemnity relating to the restoration and rehabilitation of such infrastructure.

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

The Company is committed to taking a

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