Clean Air drills 27.9 m of 3.39 g/t Pt, 4.67 g/t Pd

Jul 15, 2020

2020-07-15 09:25 ET – News Release

Mr. Abraham Drost reports

CLEAN AIR METALS ANNOUNCES NEW DRILL RESULTS FROM THE ESCAPE LAKE INTRUSION AT THUNDER BAY NORTH, INCLUDING 27.9M OF 3.39PPM (G/T) PLATINUM AND 4.67PPM (G/T) PALLADIUM, 1.67% COPPER, 0.90% NICKEL

Clean Air Metals Inc. has released new assay results from the drilling campaign currently under way at the company’s 100-per-cent-owned Thunder Bay North project.

A webinar discussion of the results will be hosted by Executive Chairman Jim Gallagher and CEO Abraham Drost at 1pm ET Thursday, July 16, 2020.

The results of four new holes from the Escape Lake Intrusion portion of the Project comprise follow-up intercepts from those previously announced on June 17 and June 29, 2020 and are part of a 20,000m Phase 1 and 2 drill program.

The new tranche of assays includes Drill Hole ELR20-004 which intersected 27.9m of 3.39ppm (g/t) Platinum, 4.67ppm (g/t) Palladium, 1.67 per cent Copper and 0.90 per cent Nickel from 391.6m-419.5m downhole.

Previously reported Drill Hole ELR20-003 (June 17, 2020) returned an assay interval of 78.9m of 1.66ppm (g/t) Platinum, 2.17ppm (g/t) Palladium, 0.8 per cent Copper and 0.41 per cent Nickel from 359.5m-438.4m, including 20.0m of 3.3ppm (g/t) Platinum, 4.49ppm (g/t) Palladium, 1.54 per cent Copper and 0.84 per cent Nickel from 395.5m-415.5m downhole.

Abraham Drost, CEO of Clean Air Metals stated that “the newest drill core assays were obtained by Drill 1 from the southern portion of the Escape Lake Mineralized Zone. Hole ELR20-004 has delivered the highest platinum, palladium and copper, nickel grades to date at Escape Lake. We look forward to results next month from the newly added Drill 2 on the northern limits of Escape Lake Zone discovery area.”

Phase 1 drilling by the Company is part of a 15-20 drillhole program of 500-600m each, nominally on 50m centers designed to outline the full extent of Escape Lake Zone mineralization (see Figure 1). Phase 2 drilling announced by the Company on June 29, 2020, has now added a second drill to help complete several 50m-spaced sections of holes on the north end of the Escape Lake mineralized zone, before continuing north to test the strike extension and mineral tenors of the known magma conduit. Total contracted drilling commitment is 20,000 metres to date.

Table 1 New (Highlighted) Assay Results from Holes ELR20 004-007 – Escape Lake Zone, Thunder Bay North

All intercepts are estimated to be 95 per cent of true width based on drill hole inclination

Mineralized intervals calculated at 1 ppm Pt+Pd cutoff

The Escape Lake Zone mineralization is located at a depth of approximately 400m within the Escape Lake Intrusion. The southern contact of the intrusion appears to be controlled by the east-west trending Escape Lake Fault, a deep seated splay off the Quetico Fault Zone sub-province boundary fault. The objective of the ongoing program is to define the magnitude of the Escape Lake Mineralized Zone and the full strike length of the mineralized area as a precursor to future calculation of a mineral resource estimate of the Escape Lake horizon.

Investor Update Webinar

Please join Abraham Drost, CEO, and Jim Gallagher, Executive Chairman, TOMORROW, July 16 th, 2020 at 1:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) to discuss the initial results from the Company’s ongoing drill program, followed by a question and answer period.

Date: Thursday, July 16, 2020

Time: 1:00 pm (EST)

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Questions may be asked during the webinar, or can be emailed in to [email protected]. A replay will be made available on the Clean Air website.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control

Clean Air Metals uses ALS Global (“ALS”), a well-established and recognized mineral assay and geochemical analytical services company. The Thunder Bay laboratory holds ISO-9000 accreditation; the Vancouver facility holds ISO-17025 registration.

Quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) statistical checks were performed on original, ALS-certified analytical data for all 8 holes in Table 1. Selected core intercepts from historic (RT) holes in Table 1 were relogged and resampled and compared with historic data. Mr. Andrey Zagoskin, P.Geo., Ontario, a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and employee of the Company, led the validation exercise and has approved Table 1 assay results.

All NQ-sized drill core is cut with a diamond-tipped saw blade with half of the core submitted to ALS for sample preparation and analysis. Core samples from selected intervals are individually bagged and tagged, gathered up in larger sealed poly bags and shipped to the sample prep facility in Thunder Bay, ON under custody of Clean Air Metals’ personnel at all times. Sample preparation is completed at the ALS sample preparation facility located in Thunder Bay, ON and analysis is completed at the primary ALS assay laboratory located in Vancouver, B.C.

Clean Air Metals follows a documented quality control procedure for its core assay sampling program consisting of the insertion of blind blanks, duplicates, and certified Palladium-Platinum and Copper-Nickel standards into the sample stream. The insertion procedure results in a minimum of 11 per cent to 12 per cent control sample frequency depending on the length of the sampled interval.

Gold, platinum, and palladium are analysed using fire assay (FA) with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) finish. Samples with grades above the optimal ICP-MS detection limits are analysed using an optical emission spectroscopy method (ICP-OES).

Also, 33 elements of each sample, including copper, nickel, silver, chromium, cobalt, and sulphur, are analyzed by a multi-element analytical method using the atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) technique following four-acid digestion of the sample. When samples have grades above the optimal detection limits for this analytical method, they are re-analysed using a high-grade method consisting of either ICP-AES or atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) techniques.

Historic Estimate

The Escape Lake Intrusion and magma conduit which is the Company’s present focus in Phase 1 drilling (Table 1), appears to be a standalone, separate twin structure to the Current Lake Intrusion (‘Current Lake’) and magma conduit on the Thunder Bay North Project on which there exists a historic estimate of 9.8 million Tonnes (Indicated). The Historic Estimate is from Open Pit and Underground sources (Table 2).

The estimate of the Current Lake Deposit at the Thunder Bay North Project is considered by Clean Air Metals to be historic in nature. No Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 has completed sufficient work for the Company to classify the historic estimate of the Current Lake Deposit as current and the Company is not treating the historic estimate as current. The Company’s QP has verified the data but no resampling of core or any other tests on the analytical procedures has been performed by the Company to-date. Confirming the historic estimate at Current Lake and tradeoff studies on possible underground mining methods will be a concurrent priority for Clean Air Metals.

Thunder Bay North Open Pit Historic Estimate

The open pit Historic Estimate is reported at a cut-off grade of 0.59 g/t Pt-Eq within a Lerchs-Grossman pit shell optimized on Pt-Eq. The strip ratio (waste: ore) of this pit is 9.5:1. The platinum-equivalency formula is based on assumed metal prices and overall recoveries. The Pt-Eq formula is: Pt-Eq g/t = Pt g/t + Pd g/t x 0.3204 + Au g/t x 0.6379 + Ag g/t x 0.0062 + Cu g/t x 0.00011 + Total Ni g/t x 0.000195 + Total Co g/t x 0.000124 + Rh g/t x 2.1816. The conversion factor shown in the formula for each metal represents the conversion from each metal to platinum on a recovered value basis. The assumed metal prices used in the Pt-Eq formula are: Pt US$1,595/oz, Pd US$512/oz, Au US$1,015/oz, Ag US$15.74/oz, Cu US$2.20/lb, Ni US$7.71/lb, Co US$7.71/lb and Rh US$3,479/oz. The assumed combined flotation and PlatsolTM process recoveries used in the Pt-Eq formula are: Pt 76 per cent, Pd 75 per cent, Au 76 per cent, Ag 55 per cent, Cu 86 per cent, Ni 44 per cent, Co 28 per cent and Rh 76 per cent. The assumed refinery payables are: Pt 98 per cent, Pd 98 per cent, Au 97 per cent, Ag 85 per cent, Cu 100 per cent, Ni 100 per cent, Co 100 per cent and Rh 98 per cent.

Thunder Bay North Underground Historic Estimate

The underground Historic Estimate is reported at a cut-off grade of 1.94g/t Pt-Eq. The Pt-Eq formula is: Pt-Eq g/t = Pt g/t + Pd g/t x 0.2721 + Au g/t x 0.3968 + Ag g/t x 0.0084 + Cu g/t x 0.000118 + Sulphide Ni g/t x 0.000433 + Sulphide Co g/t x 0.000428 + Rh g/t x 2.7211. The assumed metal prices used in the Pt-Eq formula are: Pt US$1,470/oz, Pd US$400/oz, Rh US$4,000/oz, Au US$875/oz, Ag US$14.30/oz, Cu US$2.10/lb, Ni US$7.30/lb and Co US$13.00/lb. The assumed process recoveries used in the Pt-Eq formula are: Pt 75 per cent, Pd 75 per cent, Rh 75 per cent, Au 50 per cent, Ag 50 per cent, Cu 90 per cent, and Ni and Co in sulphide 90 per cent. The assumed smelter recoveries used in the Pt-Eq formula are Pt 85 per cent, Pd 85 per cent, Rh 85 per cent, Au 85 per cent, Ag 85 per cent, Cu 85 per cent, Ni 90 per cent and Co 50 per cent. Ni and Co in sulphide were estimated by linear regression of MgO to total Ni and total Co respectively. The regression formula for Nickel in sulphide (NiSx) is: NiSx = Ni – (MgO per cent x 60.35 – 551.43). The regression formula for Cobalt in sulphide (CoSx) is: CoSx = Co – (MgO per cent x 4.45 – 9.25).

COVID Policy

Clean Air Metals has adopted COVID-19 avoidance and personal protection measures for its geological staff, drilling contractor and service suppliers. Personnel are required to maintain physical distance, use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), self-monitor and self-isolate or elect to work from home. Management had previously eliminated plans for a camp setup to service a planned diamond drill campaign on the Escape Lake Project. The Company is aware of Thunder Bay Health Unit guidelines that provide for “mandatory” self-isolation for returning overseas and inter-provincial travel. The guidelines previously also “strongly recommended” self-isolation after travel into the Northwest region from other areas of the Province. Mineral Exploration and Development has been deemed an essential service in the Province of Ontario

The Company has procured the services of a locally staffed and serviced diamond drilling contractor to complete the Phase 1 and Phase 2 diamond drilling programs.

Mr. Allan MacTavish, P.Geo. a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and an employee of the Company, has reviewed and approved all technical information in this press release.

Clean Air Metals and its wholly-owned subsidiary Panoramic PGMs (Canada) Ltd. acknowledge that the Escape Lake and Thunder Bay North Properties are on the traditional territories of the Fort William First Nation, Red Rock First Nation and Biinjitiwabik Zaaging Anishnabek, signatories to the Robinson-Superior Treaty of 1850.

We seek Safe Harbor.

https://www.cleanairmetals.ca/