Azucar Reports Receipt of Order from Mexico’s Ministry of Economy regarding the El Cobre Project, Veracruz, Mexico

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Azucar Minerals Ltd. ("Azucar" or the "Company") (TSX-V: AMZ; OTCQB: AXDDF) reports that it has received a communication (“the “Communication”) from the Directorate General of Mining (“DGM”) within Mexico’s Ministry of the Economy (“Economia”) describing an injunction that has been placed on Economia by the First District Court of Veracruz (“First District Court”), in respect of twenty-four mineral concessions in Veracruz including mineral concessions (the “Concessions”) which cover the El Cobre project.

The three-page Communication indicates that in 2022 an amparo lawsuit was filed before the First District Court by thirty-three people (the “Plaintiffs”) relating to their rights to water and a clean environment amongst other things, as well as their right to be involved in decisions that may affect them. The lawsuit was brought against Mexico’s mining authorities and, based on the Communication, appears to allege that the Concessions have the potential to impact the above rights. According to the Communication, the Plaintiffs requested an injunction on the Concessions to ensure that their rights to a clean environment and information and participation will not be affected during the amparo lawsuit trial. The First District Court appears to have granted this injunction against Economia from taking further acts with respect to the concessions noted in the Communication.

In the Communication, Economia orders Azucar’s Mexican subsidiary, Minera Alondra, to suspend activities on six mineral concessions which cover the El Cobre project. The Company has been advised that Economia has no legal basis for this given that the First District Court injunction is directed at Economia as a party to the lawsuit, and not the Company which has not been notified of the lawsuit and therefore cannot directly be bound by decisions stemming from it until and unless the Company is formally summoned to the trial and receives notification of the order of injunction from the presiding Judge.

Azucar is not planning any fieldwork at El Cobre until such time as this situation is clarified, and the Company is currently seeking more information from Mexican authorities and will update shareholders as it becomes available. In the meantime the Company is continuing its desktop review of results from field work in 2022 in order to determine how best to advance El Cobre in the context of past results and the Amparo lawsuit announced today.