Blackstone Minerals : Restarts Mining at Ta Khoa Nickel Sulfide Project

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9 December 2021

Blackstone Recommences Underground Mining at Ta Khoa

Bulk ore sample to support Ta Khoa piloting program

Blackstone Minerals Limited ("Blackstone" or the "Company") is pleased to inform investors that mining activities have recommenced at the Company's 90% owned Ta Khoa Nickel Project in northern Vietnam.

Using a combination of Australian and Vietnamese mining professionals and operators, Blackstone will:

• Complete ~1,000m of development through the Ban Phuc disseminated orebody generating nickel ore representative of the life of mine plant feed.
• Recommission the Ban Phuc Nickel Concentrator to produce two batches of Nickel Concentrate for use in the Ta Khao Refinery piloting programs.
• Deliver the first batch of concentrate to Perth for treatment by ALS Laboratories in the first phase piloting program.
• Process and store the second batch for use in the second phase pilot plant which will be built in Son La in 2022.

Figure 1 - Ta Khoa Management Team and the Underground Mining Contractor outside the Ban Phuc Portal

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9 December 2021

Scott Williamson, Blackstone's Managing Director, said:

"The recommencement of mining activity is an important milestone for the Company, and the speed at which approvals were secured is a testament to the expertise and relationships our team has on the ground in Vietnam. The mining program will provide significant quantities of disseminated ore which will be processed at the existing Ban Phuc Nickel Concentrator and subsequent pilot plants. The opportunity to treat this quantity of ore de- risks both the upstream and downstream business unit development strategies."

"Blackstone is committed to sustainable mining and looks forward to producing meaningful quantities of NCM Precursor from piloting in Vietnam, in parallel with our engagement and collaboration with potential partners and customers for our vertically integrated development strategy."

Mining Program

In December 2021, Blackstone was granted approval to recommence mining activities as part of our ongoing development of the Ta Khao Project. Approval was received to perform mining works that will involve completion of ~1,000m of lateral development.

Figure 2 - Planned Development Design

The development drive starts from the 1,270mRL level of existing Ban Phuc underground workings (approximately 130m below natural ground level, see Figure 2) and extends completely through the middle of the Ban Phuc disseminated sulfide resource. Multiple cross cuts extend from the main development drive to provide access to a wide distribution of ore zones.

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9 December 2021

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Figure 3 - First face marked out ready for drilling

Ban Phuc Nickel Concentrator

Ore produced from the mining program will be processed through the existing 450ktpa Ban Phuc concentrator. Blackstone has finalised studies to temporarily de-rate the existing plants capacity to suit the requirements of the pilot programs.

Blackstone has refurbished the Ban Phuc concentrator over the last six months. The crushing circuit was recommissioned in November 2021, with ore commissioning planned for the mill and flotation circuit in January 2022.

Figure 4 - Recommissioned Ban Phuc Crushing Circuit

The disseminated ore will be treated in multiple campaigns:

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9 December 2021

• The first parcel of ore will be treated in a semi-batch manner. Approximately 10 tonnes (t's) of 8% nickel concentrate will be shipped to ALS in Perth for use in the phase 1 piloting program.
• Following this first campaign, several larger campaigns will be used to test the milling and flotation performance of the Ban Phuc disseminated sulfide, and generate nickel concentrate for further large-scale piloting use. This concentrate will be bagged and stored in containers for treatment through the Phase 2 Pilot Plaint in Vietnam.
• Blackstone has also purchased an upstream pilot plant capable of treating 250kg/hr. During the main campaigns, Blackstone will also run multiple trials through this pilot facility to optimise flotation parameters for the DFS, as well as testing pilot versions of key process equipment.

Pilot Plant Phase 1

The phase 1 pilot program is being completed by ALS in Perth Western Australia. The pilot campaign will treat approximately 10t's of Ban Phuc disseminated sulfide concentrate, and 10t's of concentrate sourced from third party feed suppliers. The resulting 20t's of concentrate feed will average 10% nickel and will be fed through the following campaigns:

• Campaign 1 - MHP Production, four trials:

• 1. Trial 1: 25% Ban Phuc / 75% Third Party Blend
  1. Trial 2: 50% Ban Phuc / 50% Third Party Blend
  1. Trial 3: 75% Ban Phuc / 25% Third Party Blend
  1. Trial 4: Optimum Blend
• Campaign 2 - NCM Production, two trials
• Resulting Products:
• 1. 1t MHP

1. 1.5t NCM811

Pilot Plant Phase 2

Blackstone is in early discussions with EPCM Contractors for development of the Phase 2 Pilot Plant (PP2). PP2 will be built to a 1:25 scale version of a single Ta Khoa Refinery train and will process 1t per hour of concentrate. PP2 will be used to generate commercial quantities of NCM for alignment with customer specifications and for further de-risking of the commercial plant development plan.

Authorised by the Managing Director. For more information, please contact

Scott Williamson	Dhanu Anandarasa	Patrick Chang
Managing Director	Manager Corporate Development	Head of Corporate Development
[phone]	[phone]	[phone]
[e-mail]	[e-mail]	[e-mail]

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About Blackstone

Blackstone Minerals Ltd (ASX: BSX / OTCQX: BLSTF / FRA: B9S) is focused on building an integrated upstream and downstream battery metals processing business in Vietnam that produces Nickel: Cobalt: Manganese (NCM) Precursor products for Asia's growing Lithium-ion battery industry (refer Figure 4)

Figure 4 -Ta Khoa Project Snapshot

	Ta Khoa Nickel-Cu-
			UBU			90%
	PGE Project					interest
	Northern Vietnam

Third Party Multiple Feed Sources, Nickel in Concentrate

Feed Sources

	DBU
NCM Precursor Production	?

MULTIPLE CUSTOMERS

The Company owns a 90% interest in the Ta Khoa Nickel-Copper-PGE Project. The Ta Khoa Project is located 160km west of Hanoi in the Son La Province of Vietnam and includes an existing modern nickel mine built to Australian standards which is currently under care and maintenance (refer Figure 5). The Ban Phuc nickel mine successfully operated as a mechanised underground nickel mine from 2013 to 2016.

In October 2020, the Company completed a Scoping Study which investigated mining the Ban Phuc Disseminated nickel sulfide ore body (upstream) and the construction of a

200kpta downstream refinery (refer to ASX announcement of 14 October 2020, including for the full details of the Company's Mineral Resource Estimate at Ban Phuc).

Building on the outcomes of the Scoping Study, the Company has since completed a technically and economically robust Pre-feasibility Study for its Downstream Business Unit (DBU) which sees expanded downstream capacity. This is based on the Ta Khoa refinery being designed to process 400ktpa of nickel concentrate, supplied from the Ta Khoa Nickel - Cu - PGE mine as well as third party concentrate.

The Company is continuing to advance a PFS for the UBU. The UBU PFS will contemplate the option to mine several higher-grade massive sulfide vein (MSV) deposits, which has the potential to reduce initial upfront capital requirements for the UBU by enabling the Company to restart the existing Ban Phuc Concentrator (450ktpa).

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