Aclara Resources Inc. announced the maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) for its regolith-hosted ion adsorption clay project located in the State of Goias, Brazil, known as the Carina Module. Highlights: The initial inferred mineral resource for the Project is estimated at 168 Mt with a grade of 1,510 ppm total rare earth oxide (TREO) and 477 ppm desorbable rare earth oxide (DREO). The average net smelter return (NSR) value of the resource is USD 32.3/t when using a cut-off value of USD 7.4/t. The deposit contains significant quantities of dysprosium (Dy), terbium (Tb), neodymium (Nd) and praseodymium (Pr), which are the rare earth elements critical to the production of permanent magnets used in electric vehicles and wind turbines.

Recovery of rare earths from the Project is fully compatible with the technology patented and successfully demonstrated on a pilot scale by Aclara in Chile, designed to minimize both cost and environmental footprint. The near-surface location of the deposit results in a very low strip ratio (<0.4) providing a positive backdrop for a low-cost mining operation. The 168Mt of inferred mineral resources at the Carina Module complements the 27.5 Mt of measured and indicated mineral resources, and 1.7 Mt of inferred mineral resources at Aclara's Penco Module in Chile.

Next Steps: Production of samples by processing the Project's ionic clays at Aclara's pilot plant in Chile during December 2023 and January 2024. Completion of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) in January 2024. Pursuit of additional resources through the completion of a reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign, which is already underway and scheduled to be completed in Second Quarter 2024.

Mineral Resource Statement: The mineral resource has been estimated using the results obtained from 201 auger drill holes (1,630 m) and 1,418 samples. At a 7.4 USD/t NSR cut-off the mineral resource stands at 168 million tonnes (Mt) in the inferred mineral resources category, @ 1,510 ppm TREO containing an average Dy and Tb grade of 42.1 ppm and 6.9 ppm, respectively. The mineral resource is reported in accordance with the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101).

Cut-off Determination & Selection: The MRE is pit-constrained using GEOVIA Whittle 2022 software, with an overall slope angle of 25° and a mining cost of USD 2.13/t. The MRE is reported at an NSR marginal cut-off cost of USD 7.4/t based on processing costs, plus royalties and general and administrative cost estimates. The NSR calculation uses recoveries that are based on preliminary metallurgical test work performed by the AGS Laboratory in La Serena, Chile. Selling prices for rare earth oxides: The price estimates in USD/kg used for pit optimization are La2O3 = 0.68, CeO2 = 0.69, Pr6O11 = 144.18, Nd2O3 = 150.75, Sm2O3 = 2.39, Eu2O3 = 27.45, Gd2O3 = 71.55, Tb4O7 = 1,789.25, Dy2O3 = 477.25, Ho2O3 = 137.25, Er2O3 = 59.10, Tm2O3= 0.0, Yb2O3 = 19.85, Lu2O3 =834.75, Y2O3 = 2.86.

Metallurgical recoveries: Obtained from the 1,432 drilling sample analyses performed by AGS Laboratory in La Serena, Chile, tested under conditions that carry out desorption at a pH of 4.0, plus a synthetic lixiviant solution designed to emulate the predicted concentrations of recycled salts generated in the closed-circuit process. Plant efficiency: Variable by element, ranging from 90.5 to 99.1% with an approximate average of 94%. Carbonate transportation and selling cost= USD 0.032/kg of carbonates.

Carbonate purity= 92.7% Aclara's Low Cost and Environmentally Friendly Production Process: Aclara's extraction process presents several attributes that are favourable from a cost and environmental perspective. Notably, this process refrains from employing energy intensive techniques such as blasting, crushing, or milling. REE rich clays will be extracted using mechanical excavation as opposed to explosives and will benefit from an average strip ratio of less than 0.4. Furthermore, it obviates the generation of tailings, thereby negating the need for a tailings storage facility.

The patented extraction process maximizes the recirculation of water within the process. The ionic clay feedstock demonstrates susceptibility to leaching via a common fertilizer (ammonium sulphate), and concurrently, it does not engender the concentration of radionuclides. All these attributes result in a low cost, low carbon footprint mining operation that is positioned very favourably when compared to other rare earths producers.

Auger Drilling Campaign Summary A total of 201 auger holes over a combined length of 1,630 metres were drilled between February and August 2023 and form the basis of the initial MRE covering approximately 1,400 hectares within the Project area. The average drill hole spacing across the mineralized area was 200 metres, with an area in the north east of the resource drilled to 100 metre centres for the purposes of confirming variogram parameters in this area. Reverse Circulation Drilling Campaign: The average drill depth of the MRE is 8.1 metres, which did not consistently reach the bottom limits of the lower Pedolith and Saprolite.

Over 70% of the auger drillholes indicated a high anomalous exchangeable fraction in the last interval, which suggested that the deposit remained open at depth. As a result, a 9,090-metre RC drilling campaign has been planned, which will reach the bottom limit of the saprolite zone and may result in the discovery of additional inferred mineral resources at depth of the deposit. The Company is currently executing the initial phase of the RC drilling campaign, which includes 1,500-metres within 56 drill holes.

As of the date of this news release, 47 holes had been completed measuring a total of 1,275 metres. The remaining 7,590 metres of the RC campaign will commence at end of First Quarter 2024 after receiving the suppression permits necessary to enter the remaining areas of the Project. The complete set of results of the RC drilling campaign are expected by the end of Second Quarter 2024.

Geology & Geological Interpretation: The dominant lithologies of the Project are pink porphyritic biotite granite composed of quartz, oligoclase, microcline, and annite as essential minerals. Leucogranite is the secondary lithology, characterized by quartz, albite, and microcline. The contact of the biotite granite and leucogranite is given by faults trending from NE to SW.

This fault event created a fracture zone where hydrothermal alteration is exhibited, giving rise to greisenized granites and gresisens. According to alteration and stratigraphic position, the regolith column in the Project area was subdivided into upper Pedolith (UP), lower Pedolith (LP), upper Saprolite (US), lower Saprolite (LS) and Saprock (SapRock).