Ascot Reports First Quarter 2024 Results

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ascot Resources Ltd. (TSX: AOT; OTCQX: AOTVF) (“Ascot” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the Company’s unaudited financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2024 (“Q1 2024”), and also to provide a construction update on the Company’s Premier Gold Project (“PGP” or the “project”), located on Nisga’a Nation Treaty Lands in the prolific Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia. For details of the unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three months ended March 31, 2024, please see the Company’s filings on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca).

All amounts herein are reported in $000s of Canadian dollars (“C$”) unless otherwise specified.

Q1 2024 AND RECENT HIGHLIGHTS

• On May 7, 2024, the Company announced a $5,000 non-brokered flow through private placement (the “Offering”), the proceeds of which will be used to fund the 2024 exploration program at the PGP. The Offering will consist of 6,024,096 common shares of the Company, which qualify as "flow-through shares" within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the “FT Shares”), at a price of $0.83 per FT Share. The closing of the Offering is expected to occur in one or more tranches in or around late-May to mid-June 2024, and is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the acceptance of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
• Rock was introduced into the grinding circuit of the mill on March 31, 2024, and first gold-bearing ore was introduced to the mills on April 5, 2024. On April 20, 2024, first gold was poured as a part of the commissioning process. Commissioning of the processing plant at PGP is ongoing, with commercial production anticipated in Q3 2024. Two gold pours have been completed using gold recovered from the gravity circuit. Another pour from gold recovered from the carbon-in-leach (“CIL”) circuit is anticipated imminently.
• On February 20, 2024, the Company closed its previously announced financing package for a total of US$50 million from Sprott Resource Streaming and Royalty Corp. and its affiliates (“SRSR”) and Nebari Credit Fund II, LP (“Nebari Credit Fund II”), as described in the Company’s news release dated January 22, 2024. $13,700 of the above proceeds were used to buy back two existing 5% NSR royalties on various PGP property claims on March 15, 2024.
• On February 20, 2024, concurrently with the above-noted financing package, the Company closed its previously announced bought deal private placement financing, under which the Company issued a total of 65,343,000 common shares of the Company (the “Common Shares”) at a price of $0.44 per Common Share, for gross proceeds of $28,751.
• At the end of Q1 2024, overall construction excluding mine development was 98% complete compared with 86% complete at the end of 2023. A few remaining commissioning activities in the mill are underway. The tailing storage facility was completed and signed off by the engineer of record at the end of March 2024.
• The new water treatment plant began operations in February 2024. The high-density sludge plant has been successfully commissioned and water is being treated and discharged into the environment. The moving bed bio-reactor (“MBBR”) is complete and media have been loaded into the tanks.
• As of April 30, 2024, underground development totaled approximately 2,710 metres at Big Missouri and 150 metres at Premier.