Vancouver, BC - Stillwater Critical Minerals (TSX.V: PGE; OTCQB: PGEZF; FSE: 5D32) (the 'Company' or 'SWCM') is pleased to report a 62% increase in the updated independent National Instrument 43-101 ('NI 43-101') mineral resource estimate (the '2023 Resource') for its 100%-owned Stillwater West platinum group element, nickel, copper, cobalt, and gold ('PGE-Ni-Cu-Co + Au') project in Montana, USA. The study, which was completed by SGS Geological Services ('SGS'), showed significant increases in tonnage and contained metal at both a bulk tonnage 0.20% nickel equivalent ('NiEq') cut-off ('Base Case') and a 0.35% NiEq higher grade bulk tonnage cut-off. A high-grade, selective mining component at a 0.70% NiEq cut-off is presented for the first time.
The Company will host a live webcast on January 31, 2023, at 10am PT | 1pm ET to discuss the Stillwater West project and the 2023 Resource.
2023 Resource Highlights
Base Case Inferred mineral resources of 1.6 billion pounds ('Blbs') of nickel, copper and cobalt and 3.8 million ounces ('Moz') palladium, platinum, rhodium, and gold ('4E') in a constrained model totaling 255 million tonnes ('Mt') at an average grade of 0.39% total estimated recovered NiEq (or 1.19 g/t Palladium Equivalent 'PdEq'). See detailed breakdown in Tables 1 and 2, below.
Significant increases in contained metals over the 2021 study at the Base Case 0.20% NiEq cut-off:
Tonnage: 255Mt (62% increase)
Palladium: 2.05Moz (56% increase)
Nickel: 1.05Blbs (52% increase)
Platinum: 1.26Moz (66% increase)
Copper: 499Mlbs (44% increase)
Gold: 395Koz (30% increase)
Cobalt: 91Mlbs (31% increase)
Rhodium: 115Koz (76% increase)
The selective mining high-grade component yielded 11.6Mt at 1.05% Total NiEq (or 3.24 g/t Total PdEq) as 0.56% Ni, 0.33% Cu, 0.03% Co with 0.54 g/t Pd, 0.27 g/t Pt, 0.15 g/t Au and 0.019 g/t Rh. Expansion of this high-grade component results from the addition of high-grade mineralization encountered in the 2021 drill campaign.
Sulphur grades of 1.13% to 6.16% indicate desirable high nickel tenor in sulphide, supporting effective recovery via conventional flotation techniques.
2.27Blbs of chromium has been inventoried. Chromium is defined by the US government as a critical mineral.
Deposits in the 2023 Resource are defined by 156 drill holes from a total of 230 holes drilled on the Stillwater West property and include all holes from the Company's three campaigns to date.
The 2023 Resource is contained within five deposits in the 9-kilometer central area of the project, all of which are open along strike and at depth. Multi-kilometer scale geophysical targets (Figure 1) and metal-in-soil anomalies indicate excellent expansion potential (Figures 2 to 4). Untested anomalies and earlier stage targets extend across much of the 32-kilometer-long Stillwater West project.
An NI 43-101-compliant technical report on the 2023 Resource for the Stillwater West project will be filed on Sedar.com within 45 days.
Michael Rowley, President and CEO stated, 'We are very pleased with the expanded 2023 resource, which returned substantial increases in tonnage and contained metals while also increasing the high-grade component. Overall, these increases speak to the fantastic growth potential and under-explored nature of the Stillwater West project, and to our ability to rapidly increase resources in these wide-open deposits with targeted expansion drilling at low discovery costs. Our Stillwater West project, with its world-class endowment of eight critical minerals, is unique in the United States as a district-scale asset located in an active, producing district that has a long history of large-scale critical mineral production. The US government has recognized the importance of critical minerals to both economic and national security interests and is taking increasing action to secure domestic supply of these key metals at a time when we are advancing Stillwater West and demonstrating its potential. Our exceptional team, with multi-decades of experience at both Stillwater and in the parallel layered geology of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, is well-positioned to advance the asset. We look forward to continuing to build on our success and low discovery costs as we finalize our follow up expansion programs for 2023.'
Dr. Danie Grobler, Vice-President of Exploration, commented, 'The 2022 field season, with a renewed focus on geology and structure, has contributed to the understanding of the multi-target geometry and mineralization controls within the Ultramafic Series of the Stillwater Complex, as an analogue to the Platreef of the Bushveld Complex. Our advanced understanding of Platreef-style mineralization and ore mineralogy, and our collaboration with Professor Wolfgang Maier at Cardiff University United Kingdom, as well as key staff at the US Geological Survey, has increased our confidence in the stratigraphic and structural models guiding resource estimation. Enhanced continuity and a significant tonnage increase, as well as increased medium and higher-grade categories, is a direct result of this effort. Our 2023 exploration programs will be focused on expansion of these thick zones of mineralized pegmatoidal pyroxenite/peridotite and associated chromites, as well as broad zones of massive to net-textured sulphides near the base of the layered sequence. We are seeing similar metal distribution characteristics when compared to the Platreef, as well as sulfur contents in relation to distance from the footwall contact. Our direct application of the detailed controls to mineralization in the Platreef-style models is guiding us along an exciting path of discovery.'
About Stillwater West
Stillwater Critical Minerals is rapidly advancing the Stillwater West PGE-Ni-Cu-Co + Au project towards becoming a world-class source of low-carbon, sulphide-hosted nickel, copper, and cobalt, critical to the electrification movement, as well as key catalytic metals including platinum, palladium and rhodium used in catalytic converters, fuel cells, and the production of green hydrogen. Stillwater West positions SWCM as the second-largest landholder in the Stillwater Complex, with a 100%-owned position adjoining and adjacent to Sibanye-Stillwater's operating PGE mines in south-central Montana, USA1. The Stillwater Complex is recognized as one of the top regions in the world for PGE-Ni-Cu-Co mineralization, alongside the Bushveld Complex and Great Dyke in southern Africa, which are similar layered intrusions. The J-M Reef, and other PGE-enriched sulphide horizons in the Stillwater Complex, share many similarities with the highly prolific Merensky and UG2 Reefs in the Bushveld Complex. SWCM's work in the lower Stillwater Complex has demonstrated the presence of large-scale disseminated and high-sulphide battery metals and PGE mineralization, similar to the Platreef in the Bushveld Complex2. Drill campaigns by the Company, complemented by a substantial historic drill database, have delineated five deposits of Platreef-style mineralization across a core 12-kilometer span of the project, all of which are open for expansion into adjacent targets. Multiple earlier-stage Platreef-style and reef-type targets are also being advanced across the remainder of the 32-kilometer length of the project based on strong correlations seen in soil and rock geochemistry, geophysical surveys, geologic mapping, and drilling.
About Stillwater Critical Minerals Corp.
Stillwater Critical Minerals (TSX.V: PGE | OTCQB: PGEZF) is a mineral exploration company focused on its flagship Stillwater West PGE-Ni-Cu-Co + Au project in the iconic and famously productive Stillwater mining district in Montana, USA. With the recent addition of two renowned Bushveld and Platreef geologists to the team, the Company is well positioned to advance the next phase of large-scale critical mineral supply from this world-class American district, building on past production of nickel, copper, and chromium, and the on-going production of platinum group and other metals by neighboring Sibanye-Stillwater. The Platreef-style nickel and copper sulphide deposits at Stillwater West contain a compelling suite of critical minerals and are open for expansion along trend and at depth, with an updated NI 43-101 mineral resource update announced in January 2023.
Stillwater Critical Minerals' Black Lake-Drayton Gold project adjacent to Treasury Metals' development-stage Goliath Gold Complex in northwest Ontario is currently under an earn-in agreement with Heritage Mining and the Company also holds the Kluane PGE-Ni-Cu-Co project on trend in Canada's Yukon Territory.
Note 1: References to adjoining properties are for illustrative purposes only and are not necessarily indicative of the exploration potential, extent or nature of mineralization or potential future results of the Company's projects.
Note 2: Magmatic Ore Deposits in Layered Intrusions-Descriptive Model for Reef-Type PGE and Contact-Type Cu-Ni-PGE Deposits, Michael Zientek, USGS Open-File Report 2012-1010.
Contact:
Michael Rowley
President, CEO & Director
Email: info@criticalminerals.com
T: (604) 357 4790
Web: http://criticalminerals.com
Toll Free: (888) 432 0075
STILLWATER CRITICAL MINERALS CORP. 
