MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 24, 2026--
Lomiko Metals Inc. (Lomiko) (TSX-V: LMR, OTC: LMRMF, FSE: DH8C) (“Lomiko" or “The Company”) is pleased to announce positive results from the Preliminary Feasibility Study (“PFS”) on its 100%-owned La Loutre Project in south-eastern Quebec. The PFS was completed by DRA Global (“DRA”) in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”).
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Lomiko Metals Inc. has delivered a Positive Preliminary Feasibility Study for La Loutre Graphite Project with a pre-tax NPV of CAD$797.5M with 30.3% IRR; after-tax NPV of CAD$617.4M with 24.7% IRR at US$1,524/t Cg.
The probable mineral reserves were prepared in accordance with NI43-101 using a 1.50% Cg cut-off grade of 46.8 Mt at an average grade of 4.79% Cg for a contained in-situ graphite quantity of 2.24 Mt.
Highlights of the PFS (all figures are stated in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated):
Gordana Slepcev, CEO and director, Lomiko, commented: “We are pleased to announce a significant milestone for the Company and a positive Pre-Feasibility Study at our La Loutre natural flake graphite Project that reinforces its position as a large and robust North American undeveloped graphite project in Canada and North America. Since the original PEA was published in 2021, we have completed significant engineering work to better define the project footprint and resource base, resulting in the updated resources, declaration of reserves, development of project infrastructure, and design plans for the project with the aim of minimizing the footprint and creating a compact, environmentally responsible, and sustainable project. At the same time, this study demonstrates the strong economic leverage the Project possesses, and clearly demonstrates the potential for La Loutre to be a large economic driver in southern Quebec and Canada with the mine life spanning for 28 years delivering hundreds of jobs and careers in the region, significant contracting opportunities for regional and Indigenous businesses and more than $4.7 billion in revenue, as well as generational opportunities for local residents and the Indigenous community in the area.
Lomiko looks forward to working with its partners in the MRC of Papineau region, including the local municipalities as well as the surrounding First Nations community of Kitigan Zibi First Nation. We will also continue to work closely with the Quebec, Federal and U.S. governments to advance the La Loutre Project.”
Overview
The La Loutre Graphite Project is located in the Nominingue-Chénéville Deformation Zone in south-central Quebec. The Property consists of one large contiguous block of 42 mineral claims totaling 4,528 hectares (45.3 km2) and is located approximately 117 km northwest of Montréal in southern Québec, 230 km southwest of the Nouveau Monde Matawinie Project and 100 km southeast of the Imerys Graphite & Carbon Lac-des-îles mine.
The responsibilities of the engineering consultants are as follows:
Financial Analysis
The size distribution was derived from the lock cycle testing (LCT) on the master composite by SGS Canada Inc. and confirmed as part of the PFS process design work. Lone Star Tech Minerals - USA (Lone Star) provided pricing information based on Mesh Size as part of the detailed marketing study Lone Star performed for the purposes of the PFS. As part of the marketing study report, Lone Star also provided the long-term exchange rate projections until 2030 at US$1.00 = CAD$1.42.
Table 1: Graphite Price Forecast
Description of Economic Valuation
The economic analysis was performed assuming an 8% discount rate. This analysis shows a projected pre-tax NPV of CAD$797.5 M, an internal rate of return IRR is 30.3 % and a payback period of 3.1 years. On an after-tax basis, an NPV of CAD$ 617.4 M, an IRR of 24.7 %, and a payback period of 3.2 years is expected.
Table 2: Summary of Project
Sensitivity
A sensitivity analysis was conducted on the base case pre-tax and after-tax NPV and IRR of the project, using the following variables: metal price, total capex (initial + sustaining), total operating costs and exchange rate. The tables below provide a summary of the sensitivity analysis.
Table 3: Pre-Tax NPV (8%) Sensitivity
Table 4: Pre-Tax IRR Sensitivity
Table 5: Post-Tax NPV (8%) Sensitivity
Table 6: Post-Tax IRR Sensitivity
Mineral Resource
The mineral resource is estimated from a drill hole database containing 190 drill holes consisting of 28,243 metres of drilling and 17,343 m of sampled drilled core.
The total Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) is summarized in Table 7, with the base case cut-off of 0.95% graphite highlighted. The requirement of ‘reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction’ has been met by having resources constrained by optimized pit-shell designs and by applying a cut-off grade based on reasonable inputs amenable to potential in-pit extraction scenarios. The cut-off grade is based on a processing cost of CDN$16.2/tonne, and General and Administrative Costs of CDN$4.11/tonne and a USD:CAD exchange rate of 1.35 as summarized in the notes below.
These mineral resource estimates include inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Table 7: Mineral Resource Estimate (effective date February 19, 2026)
Notes to accompany the Mineral Resource Estimate:
Mining
The mine plan includes 46.8 Mt of mill feed and 112.1 Mt of waste over the 28-year project life. Mine planning is based on conventional open pit methods suited for the project location and local site requirements. Owner-operated open pit mining is planned to commence prior to mill start-up, and continue for 28 years to pit exhaustion, with low-grade stockpile supplementing mill feed forward the end of mine life.
Mining operations are scheduled over a ten-month operating year, with a planned two-month shutdown during the summer season.
The subset of Mineral Resources contained within the designed open pits, summarized in Table 8 at a 1.5% Cg cut-off grade, forms the basis of the mine plan and production schedule.
Table 8: PFS Mine Plan Production Summary
The economic pit limits are determined using MineSight™ Lerchs-Grossmann algorithm. La Loutre deposit comprises the Battery (BAT) zone and the Electric Vehicle (EV) zone. The La Loutre deposit comprises the Battery (BAT) and Electric Vehicle (EV) zones, each planned as a single open pit with five mining phases. Pit designs are based on varied pit slope recommendations from KP for 10 metre bench heights, in a single or double-bench configuration, with bench face angles between 60° and 75°, and with berm widths between 7 and 11 metres. Pit-constrained resources used for mine scheduling are summarized in Table 9.
Table 9: PFS Mine Plan Pit Sequencing
Mining will commence in the EV pit, with development of the Battery pit beginning in Year 5. EV pit Phases 1 to 3 are fully mined by Year 4, allowing Battery pit waste to be used for backfilling starting in Year 5. Mining in the EV and Battery pits then proceeds in parallel until Year 23, after which mining continues solely in the Battery pit, with waste disposed into the exhausted EV pit through the end of the 28-year mine life. Final reclamation includes rehandling waste rock and filtered tailings from the northeast (NE) and east (E) waste disposal facilities (WDFs) back into the pits.
The processing plant will be supplied at an average rate of 1,733 ktpa (4,750 tpd). Cut-off grade optimization is applied during the first five years, with low-grade ore (1.5–2.99% Cg) stockpiled between the two pits near the haul road, while ore grading above 3.0% Cg is delivered directly to the mill or to a small stockpile near the crusher. These stockpiles provide operational flexibility and help maintain consistent mill feed throughout most of the mine life.
Waste rock and filtered tailings will be managed through a combination of surface storage and in-pit backfilling. A waste rock and co-disposal facility is located north of the EV pit within the NE WDF, with overburden stockpiled between the EV pit and the NE WDF. Battery pit waste will be partially backfilled into the EV pit, with remaining waste co-disposed in the E WDF and overburden hauled to the overburden stockpile north of the EV pit. All facilities will be reclaimed into the excavated pits as part of the closure plan.
Mining operations are scheduled for 303 operating days per year with two 12-hour shifts per day, including a planned shutdown during July and August. During this period, stockpile reclaim will supply the crusher, allowing the mill to continue operating at full production.
The mining fleet includes diesel-powered production and grade-control drills, a 12 m³ hydraulic excavator, a 13 m³ wheel loader, and 100-t rigid-frame haul trucks, supported by ancillary equipment. In-pit dewatering systems will manage groundwater, surface water, and precipitation, with routine maintenance conducted in the field and major repairs completed at workshops near the processing plant.
The total Mineral Reserves are summarized in Table 10 and are reported at a base-case cut-off grade of 1.50% Cg. All Mineral Reserves are classified as Probable and are derived from Indicated Mineral Resources following the application of appropriate modifying factors.
Table 10: Mineral Reserves Statement (effective date February 19, 2026)
Notes to accompany the Mineral Reserves:
Milling and Processing
The La Loutre Process Plant employs standard flotation technology to produce graphite concentrates. The plant includes crushing, grinding, classification, flotation, tailings thickening and filtration, graphite concentrate filtration, drying and screening separation into the product sizes and placement of graphite concentrate into 1 tonne bags for shipment and sale.
The plant is expected to treat 1.73 Mt of feed per year at an average throughput of 4,750 t/d. The mill design availability is 8,059 hours per year or 92%, with an operating throughput of 215.1 t/h.
The plant has been designed to realize an average recovery of 93.0% of the graphite at a concentrate grade of 97% Cg over the life of the project based on metallurgical test work completed by SGS Lakefield in 2021 and the process design work as part of the PFS. Graphite product split is estimated to be 24% plus 80 mesh (177 microns), 45% minus 80 mesh (177 microns) plus 200 mesh (74 microns), and 31% minus 200 mesh (74 microns).
Water Management
The current water management involves minor diversions during culvert placements for haul roads. Little to no other diversion is required for other infrastructure due to the placement of the tailings and waste rock outside of permanent flowing stream areas or water bodies.
The processing involves filtering the tailings to low moisture contents and recycling the water back into the processing circuits. Commissioning and makeup water, when required, will be sourced from any contact water runoff, and if necessary, surface fresh water will make up the difference. Water from the WDFs is expected to be minimal other than rain, snow runoff, and infiltration, ultimately collected at the base of the piles and routed through collection ponds for final discharge or recirculation.
Contact water will be managed as per the description in the waste management section, and will involve sedimentation to clarify the water for ultimate discharge or use in process make-up water.
Waste Management
Filtered tailings and waste rock generated during mining will be managed and co-disposed as follows:
Each WDF and portions of the backfilled pits above original ground will be constructed with a waste rock shell. The inner portion of each WDF and backfilled pit will primarily contain filtered tailings. The waste rock will provide erosion protection and dust control during construction and at closure.
The WDF contact water will be managed to provide time for sedimentation prior to ultimate discharge or use in process make-up water. Underdrains will be installed at select locations along the foundation to collect and convey any seepage to perimeter ditches surrounding the WDFs. Perimeter ditches, which will also collect runoff from the WDF slopes and noise bunds, will convey water by gravity to collection ponds. Water collected in the collection ponds will be pumped to discharge points near natural waterbodies.
The open pit, noise bunds, and overburden piles will utilize a sedimentation pond in the vicinity of the pits before being conveyed to the lake discharge locations. Monitoring stations will ensure quality continues to meet criteria and environmental objectives.
Capital and Operating Costs
The total pre-production capital cost for the La Loutre Graphite Project is estimated at CAD$504.6M, including allowances for indirect costs and contingencies of CAD$60.2M and CAD$53.5M, respectively. Sustaining capital costs are estimated at CAD$252.1M as shown in Table 11. Operating costs are estimated at CAD$26.47 per tonne milled as per Table 12.
Table 11: Capital Costs Cost
Table 12: Operating Costs
Graphite Production
Projected graphite concentrate production averages for the first 20 years @97,000tpa and then production drops to @39,000tpa in years 20-28 as Battery Zone depletes. The average is 79.6 kt/a per year over the 28-year LOM.
Next Steps
The results of the PFS indicate that the proposed Project has technical and financial merit using the base case assumptions. It has also identified additional field work, metallurgical test work, trade-off studies, and analysis required to support more advanced mining studies. The QPs consider the PFS results sufficiently reliable and recommend that the La Loutre Project be advanced to the next stage of development through the initiation of a FS and working towards completion of an Environmental Impact Study for the Project while continuing to explore the geological potential of the La Loutre property.
Department of War Technology Investment Agreement
The work on the prefeasibility study and baseline data collection was supported by an award made via Title III of the U.S. Defense Production Act of 1950 (“DPA Title III) and announced in May 2024, with a total of US$8.35M awarded to complete Phases 1, 2, and 3. This work on the Pre-Feasibility and baseline data collection completed Phase 1 – pre-feasibility study and baseline data collection.
Qualified Person
All technical information, not pertaining to the PFS, in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Mike Petrina, P.Eng., who is a "qualified person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). He is an independent Consultant working for the Company.
The PFS has been prepared by DRA. The contributors to the report are Qualified Persons (“QP”) under National Instrument 43-101 and are independent of Lomiko for the purposes of the NI 43-101. The technical content of the PFS and this press release has been reviewed and approved by: Colin Fyfe, P.Eng., Danielle Demers, P.Eng. ing., David Sims, P.Geo. (B.C.), Géo, Denys Vermette, P.Geo. (Qc), Georgi Doundarov, P.Eng. PMP, CCP, M.Sc., Jessica Breault, ing, Jordan Zampini, P.Eng., Kerrine Azougarh, P.Eng., Marina Iund, P.Geo. M. Sc., Oliver Peters, P.Eng.
About Lomiko Metals Inc.
The Company holds mineral interests in its La Loutre graphite development in southern Quebec. The La Loutre project site is within the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg (KZA) First Nation’s territory. The KZA First Nation is part of the Algonquin Nation, and the KZA traditional territory is situated within the Outaouais and Laurentides regions. Located 180 kilometers northwest of Montreal, the property consists of one large, continuous block with 76 mineral claims totaling 4,528 hectares (45.3 km2).
The Company also holds interest in seven early-stage projects in southern Quebec, including Ruisseau, Tremblant, Meloche, Boyd, Dieppe, North Low, and Carmin, covering 328 claims in total on 7 early-stage projects covering 18,622 hectares in the Laurentian region of Quebec and within KZA territory. The grades presented below for the Laurentides graphite portfolio were press-released on January 7th, 2025. ( https://lomiko.com/news/lomiko-metals-encounters-up-to-27-9-graphite-at-its-laurentides-early-stage-projects-including-the-discovery-of-four-new-zones-at-the-ruisseau-project-spanning-over-3-kilometres-long/ )
The Yellow Fox Property is located approximately 10 km southwest of the Town of Glenwood NL, and south of the Trans-Canada Highway. The Property occurs within NTS map sheets 02D/14 and 15 with excellent access along several logging and skidder roads originating from Glenwood.
This property is on the same trend as the past-producing antimony mine, Beaver Brook, which is located 25km southwest of the property. Yellow Fox is an early-stage exploration property prospective in antimony, gold, and silver, where historic works returned samples anomalous in gold (Au), antimony (Sb), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), and silver (Ag). The trenching exposed the rocks, resulting in grab samples to 59.43g/t Au, 11.10% Sb, 7.00% Zn, 72.90g/t Ag, and 5.50% Pb in arsenopyrite-stibnite veins within altered monzogranite. (See Metals Creek assessment report at https://gis.geosurv.gov.nl.ca/geofilePDFS/Batch2016/002D_0779.pdf ) Lomiko QP relied on the information provided by Metals Creek. Metals Creek QP is Wayne Reid, P.Geo. is registered in Newfoundland.
For more information on Lomiko Metals, review the website at www.lomiko.com.
About DRA
DRA Global Limited (DRA) is an international multi-disciplinary engineering, project delivery and operations management group, predominantly focused on the mining, minerals and metals industry. DRA has an extensive track record spanning four decades across a wide range of commodities. DRA’s teams have deep expertise in the mining, minerals and metals processing industries, as well as related non-process infrastructure such as, water, and energy solutions. DRA covers all major mining centres with offices across Africa and the Middle East, North and South America, and Asia-Pacific.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on expectations, estimates, projections and interpretations as at the date of this news release. The information in this news release about the transaction; and any other information herein that is not a historical fact may be "forward-looking information". Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, interpretations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "interpreted", "management's view", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking information and are intended to identify forward-looking information. This forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions and estimates of management of the Corporation, at the time it was made, involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the companies to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, risks relating to the restart of operations; further steps that might be taken to mitigate the spread of COVID-19; the impact of COVID-19 related disruptions in relation to the Corporation's business operations including upon its employees, suppliers, facilities and other stakeholders; uncertainties and risk that have arisen and may arise in relation to travel, and other financial market and social impacts from COVID-19 and responses to COVID-19. Although the forward-looking information contained in this news release is based upon what management believes, or believed at the time, to be reasonable assumptions, the parties cannot assure shareholders and prospective purchasers of securities that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking information, as there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, and neither the Corporation nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any such forward-looking information. The Corporation does not undertake, and assumes no obligation, to update or revise any such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information contained herein to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required by law.
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 news release.
On Behalf of the Board,
“Gordana Slepcev” Chief Executive Officer
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