Aclara Provides Update on Permitting and Development Strategy for the Penco Module Project in Chile

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / September 25, 2023 / Aclara Resources Inc. ("Aclara" or the "Company") (TSX:ARA) provides an update on its Chilean Penco Module (the "Project") permitting and development strategy following the previously announced receipt of notice from the Environmental Service Assessment ("SEA") of its decision to terminate the review of the Company´s application for an environmental impact assessment ("EIA") of the Project based on the identification of six previously undisclosed "naranjillo" trees, considered "vulnerable species", within the Project area. Five of these naranjillo trees were found near an existing access road that would require modification and one naranjillo tree was found in a local "native forest" within the deposition zone known as Jupiter.

EIA Application

Aclara has revised its permitting strategy with the primary aim of addressing concerns associated with native forests whilst expecting to minimize any substantial impact on the Project's development timeline. The revised strategy will also afford the Company with the opportunity to integrate technical enhancements into the Project. To effectively implement the revised strategy, the Company is proposing to undertake the preparation and submission of two EIAs, which will collectively cover the full life of mine of the Project. Chilean regulations allow for the submission of a project to SEA in two or more stages provided that they are at the same regulatory review level, as would be the case in respect of the two EIAs.

The Company is currently preparing an initial EIA ("EIA 1"), which will cover approximately the first five years of life of mine of the Project and will encompass three extraction zones (Victoria Norte, Luna and Maite), one deposition zone (Neptuno) and the production facilities of the Project. The production of these three zones will be operationally balanced with the deposition zone and EIA 1 is expected to cover the payback period of the initial capex of the Project. EIA 1 aims to largely reduce the Project´s exposure to native forests as well as address the observations received from the evaluation services. The Company expects to file EIA 1 during Q1 2024.