Local Municipalities Support Chvaletice Manganese Project with Approval of Land Rezoning and Land Access Agreement
VANCOUVER, March 23, 2022 - Euro Manganese Inc. (TSX-V and ASX: EMN; OTCQX: EUMNF; Frankfurt: E06) (the "Company" or "EMN") is pleased to announce that the Village of Trnavka council has approved the rezoning of land underlying the Chvaletice Manganese Project deposit (the "Project"). In addition, terms for a land access agreement have been approved for the Project land owned by the local Municipality of Chvaletice.
Approval for Rezoning of Land Underlying the Project
The Village of Trnavka ("Trnavka"), on which approximately 85% of the Project's tailings are located, has formally approved the rezoning of such land for mining use. Trnavka is the closest residential area and lies just to the east of the Project. The rezoning demonstrates continued support from Trnavka, which previously sold the Company a 2.96-hectare strip of land adjacent to the Project's tailings hosted deposit.
The remaining area of the underlying land falls under the authority of the Municipality of Chvaletice ("Chvaletice"), which lies just to the west of the Project. The Municipality previously voted unanimously to approve the initiation of the rezoning process under its municipal land use plans. This process is progressing, and the Company anticipates that the rezoning of the Chvaletice land underlying the Project's tailings deposit to be formally approved for mining by the end of calendar 2022.
Approval of Land Access Agreement Terms from Chvaletice
The Company is also pleased to report that the Municipality of Chvaletice has approved land access agreement terms via rental of the land owned by Chvaletice, granting the Company access to approximately 19% of the total land area required for the Project and approximately 15% of the total tailings area.
Material terms with Chvaletice include the rental of the land for the earlier of a 40-year period or upon remediation of the land at an annual rental of CZK 7.46 million (approximately CAD$420,000), adjusted for inflation based on the average annual Czech consumer price index for the 12 months of the previous calendar year. The land rental arrangement is subject to final contracts formalizing the land rental from Chvaletice, which the Company expects to be completed in the second quarter of calendar 2022.
Discussions are progressing with the remaining landowners to enter land access agreements for the remaining Project area. To date, the Company has received consent from all necessary landowners to conduct exploration activities and to access the site. Additionally, the Company has acquired, has agreed to acquire, or has options to acquire all the land required for its intended high-purity manganese processing plant site.
EMN's President and CEO, Dr. Matthew James, commented:
"We are grateful for the continued support of our neighbouring communities, Chvaletice and Trnavka. Our team has worked hard to ensure that local community residents are well-informed, and that meaningful opportunities are created for them to participate in the evaluation and planning of the Chvaletice Manganese Project. Our goal remains to build long-term, respectful, and collaborative relationships, while ensuring that the Project fits seamlessly into the environmental, social, and economic fabric of the region.
"Additionally, we continue to move our discussions forward with the remaining landowners related to land access agreements for the Chvaletice Project area."
About Euro Manganese Inc.
Euro Manganese Inc. is a speciality chemicals company whose principal focus is advancing the development of the Chvaletice Manganese Project, in which it holds a 100% interest. The Company's goal is to become a leading, competitive and environmentally superior primary producer of high-purity manganese products in the heart of Europe, serving the electric vehicle battery industry, as well as other high-technology applications. The proposed Project entails re-processing a significant manganese deposit hosted in tailings from a decommissioned mine, strategically located in the Czech Republic, within the European Union. At the same time as the Project produces high-purity manganese it will be remediating the tailings area, which is a longstanding source of groundwater pollution.
Authorized for release by the CEO of Euro Manganese Inc.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) or the ASX accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contact:
Euro Manganese Inc.
Dr. Matthew James
President & CEO
+44 747 229 66 88
Fausto Taddei
Vice President, Corporate Development
& Corporate Secretary
+ 1-604-681-1010 ext. 105
Media inquiries:
Ron Shewchuk
Director of Communications
+1-604-781-2199
E-mail: info@mn25.ca
Website: www.mn25.ca
Company Address: #709 -700 West Pender St., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6C 1G8
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, its projects, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may", "would", "could", "will", "intend", "expect", "believe", "plan", "anticipate", "estimate", "scheduled", "forecast", "predict" and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such forward-looking information or statements relate to future events or future performance about the Company and its business and operations, which include, without limitation: the rezoning of the Chvaletice lands underlying the Project's tailings; the conclusion of agreements formalizing the Chvaletice land rental arrangements; the Company's ability to secure the remaining land surface rights; and the Company's ability to finance the full-scale, commercial development of the Project. Further, it should be noted that no production decision has been made with respect to the Project and that such a decision will only be made based on completion of a positive feasibility study, permitting and financing having been secured.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements. Forward-looking statements and information involve significant risks and uncertainties, should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indicators of whether or not such results will be achieved. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements or information, including, but not limited to, the factors discussed under "Risks Notice" and elsewhere in the Company's MD&A, as well as the inability to obtain regulatory approvals in a timely manner; the potential for unknown or unexpected events to cause contractual conditions to not be satisfied; unexpected changes in laws, rules or regulations, or their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of parties to contracts with the Company to perform as agreed; social or labour unrest; changes in commodity prices; and the failure of exploration programs or studies to deliver anticipated results or results that would justify and support continued exploration, studies, development or operations.
Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Subject to applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this news release. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of the factors set forth in the "Risks Notice" section and elsewhere in the Company's MD&A for the year ended September 30, 2021 and its Annual Information Form.
