Corporate Update on NioBay Activities

MONTRÉAL, Jan. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NioBay Metals Inc. (“NioBay” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: NBY) (OTCQB: NBYCF) is pleased to provide an update on its recent activities, including its application for authorization to add three years to the James Bay Niobium exploration project, the completion of its regional exploration program, and its progress in R&D projects.

James Bay Niobium Project
Following discussions with the Ontario Ministry of Mines, the Company has applied for an exploration permit for its James Bay Niobium project, in order to add three years to the current permit.

NioBay currently holds a mining lease which is valid until 2028. The first drilling campaign and the start of the second have demonstrated this project's strong potential with a preliminary economic study showing a NPV (8%) after tax of $1.0 billion and an IRR of 27.5% (see press releases dated: August 11, 2022 and October 13, 2020).

Completion of regional exploration work and results
The Company has completed a regional exploration program on 574 mining claims that it holds, which cover an area of 31,638.96 ha (316 km²) northwest of Lac Saint-Jean, on the Nitassinan of the Pekuakamiulnuatsh First Nation. The field work consisted of mapping, identifying and sampling outcropping zones on the various claims, with a view to finding critical and strategic minerals.

Following this field work, the Company identified zones of interest with potential targets for future drilling. Management is very pleased to have received some very interesting results indicating the presence of silver and gold, as well as critical and strategic minerals such as platinum, palladium, manganese, chromium, vanadium, titanium, magnesium and nickel from the Company’s following sites: North Crevier, Albanel 2, Isabelle and Blue.

Figure 1: Map of regional exploration campaign

NioBay research projects with UQTR, INRS, and the University of Waterloo
NioBay proudly continues its support of various Canadian universities by taking part in R&D work to develop the use of niobium and tantalum in various technologies that will help decarbonize our economy.

Current projects include:

• Development of Niobium-based Bipolar Plates for Proton-Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells (University of Waterloo)
• Development of a new Niobium-based porous transport layer for PEM water electrolysis (Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR))
• Valorization of Niobium and Tantalum for the Production of Low Carbon Intensity Fuels: Water Electrolysis and CO₂ Conversion into Value Added Products (Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS))