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Ascendant Resources Inc (TSX:ASND) acquires 50 per cent ownership of Lagoa Salgada VMS Project

Mining
TSX:ASND
25 May 2022 15:00 (EDT)

Source: Ascendant Resources Inc.

Ascendant Resources (ASND) has increased its ownership interest in Portugal’s Lagoa Salgada VMS project.

Ascendant has spent US$9 million on the project and has made a US$1 million payment to the optionor, Mineral & Financial Investment AG, as required under the original earn-in agreement.

Ascendant intends to satisfy the conditions to increase its stake in the project to 80 per cent by year end.

“We are thrilled by the outcomes of the development work conducted at Lagoa Salgada since our acquisition,” said Mark Brennan, Ascendant’s Executive Chairman.

“On the exploration front, the yield of tonnage to resources has been exceptional, suggesting significant resource growth still to come, and on the technical front we are seeing better results than initially expected across the board,” he added.

Effective May 25, 2022, M&FI and Redcorp – Empreendimentos Mineiros, Lda have confirmed cumulative development expenditures at Lagoa Salgada in excess of US$9 million.

Additionally, a US$1 million payment to M&FI has been completed. As such, Ascendant now holds an effective 50 per cent interest in the project.

As per the earn-in agreement, the company has the option to earn an additional 30 per cent, totalling an 80 per cent effective interest in the project, by completing a feasibility study by December 22, 2022 and making a final payment of US$2.5 million to M&FI.

As previously reported, the feasibility study has commenced following the completion in August 2021 of a NI 43-101 preliminary economic assessment entitled “NI 43-101 Technical Report and PEA for the Lagoa Salgada Project,” which is available on the company’s website and SEDAR.

The PEA highlights a low capital-intensive project (Capex US$132 million) with an after tax NPV8 per cent of $246 million and an IRR of 55 per cent at conservative long term metal prices.

Ascendant is a Toronto-based mining company focused on the exploration and development of the highly prospective Lagoa Salgada VMS project located on the Iberian Pyrite Belt in Portugal.

Ascendant Resources Inc. was down 10.204 per cent, trading at $0.22 at 2:37 PM ET.

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