Cabral Gold Announces Positive Prefeasibility Study on the Gold-in-Oxide Starter Operation at the Cuiú Cuiú Gold Project, Brazil with After-Tax IRR of 47.3%

Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – October 21, 2024) – Cabral Gold Inc. (TSXV: CBR) (OTC Pink: CBGZF) (“Cabral” or the “Company“) is pleased to announce a positive Prefeasibility Study (“PFS”) on the development of near-surface gold-in-oxide material at the Cuiú Cuiú gold district in Brazil. The PFS, which was led by Ausenco do Brasil Engenharia Ltda. (“Ausenco”) confirms the Cuiú Cuiú gold-in-oxide starter project provides a high return and a low capital entry point to mine gold at the prospective Cuiú Cuiú District.

Highlights

• Base Case after-tax IRR of 47.3% and after-tax NPV₅ of US$25.2 million for an initial 720,000 tonne / yr starter operation using open-pit mining of oxidized gold mineralization and heap-leach processing, and assuming a gold price of US$2,250 / oz
• In the case of the current Spot Gold¹ price – US$2,710/oz, the IRR increases to 82.6% and the after-tax NPV₅ to US$49.3 million
• The PFS has a 4.5-year mine life with strong cashflows in the early years and an 18-month payback²
• The initial in-pit resources have very favorable geometry due to the shallow and high-grade nature of the ore. The starter pit (planned for the first seven months) is expected to mine shallow, higher grades with a very good strip ratio, containing an estimated 418,000 tonnes of ore @ 1.38 g/t average gold grade³ with just 56,000 tonnes of waste
• Average annual gold production in the first 2 years of operation after commissioning is 19,700 ounces per year at an all-in sustaining cost (“AISC”) of US$1,003 / oz
• Low development Capex of US$ 37.4 million, including 10% allowance on most quantities and 20% Contingency
• Significant potential exists to add nearby resources of similar high-value oxidized mineralization with further step-out and infill drilling at the nearby Machichie and Machichie NE targets, where recent drilling returned 11m @ 33g/t gold

Beyond the attractive initial financial outcome, the project 1) provides future expansion options for gold-in-oxide production, 2) provides pre-stripping exposing the underlying primary gold mineralization reducing future strip-ratios and mining costs, 3) establishes an initial operating platform to more easily transition into primary ore production, and 4) generates cash to fund an aggressive and sustained drilling program aimed at expanding the oxide resources as well as the larger underlying primary ore resource base at Cuiú Cuiú. The company plans to immediately commence detailed engineering (“DE”) and financing activities with the objective of achieving an investment decision and financial close in Q2, 2025 with initial gold production targeted for mid-2026.

During the next six months the company plans to address further potential improvements identified in the course of the PFS and complete further shallow drilling which it expects will add new gold-in-oxide resources. These additions have the potential to materially increase the size, scope and mine life of the project.

Alan Carter, the President and CEO of Cabral commented,

The PFS confirms an economically attractive starter heap-leach and open-pit mining operation targeting the weathered gold-in-oxide mineralization at Cuiú Cuiú and outlines a pathway for funding the evaluation and drill testing of numerous targets within the Cuiú Cuiú district. With capital expenditures of just US$37.4 million and an average operating cash cost⁴ of $1,154/oz of gold, the initial gold-in-oxide project is expected to generate strong cashflows. This cash flow will be used to fund an aggressive program of drilling directed towards the company’s principal objective of expanding the much larger primary hard rock resource base and drill testing the numerous targets within the Cuiú Cuiú district.

The PFS has identified several areas that should further improve the projected financial returns. Meanwhile, further drilling could lead to significant growth of the gold-in-oxide resource base and hence the mine life. In particular, this may lead to additional Indicated resources from Machichie into the mine sequencing as well as the upgrading of Inferred resources at Central to the Indicated category for inclusion in the mine plan.

The company now plans to move forward with the completion of detailed engineering work, further resource drilling, modelling designed to grow the resource base and securing the necessary project financing, allowing for an investment decision during Q2 2025.

Overview

Cabral Gold has a 100% interest in the Cuiú Cuiú gold project which is located in Para State in northern Brazil, immediately adjacent to G Mining’s recently commissioned Tocantinzinho gold mine. Cuiú Cuiú was the largest producer of placer gold during the 1980’s Tapajos gold rush. The project area comprises an entire gold district.

In 2021, the company identified the economic potential of several oxide gold-in-oxide blankets directly overlying and resulting from the weathering of the higher-grade primary gold deposits at Cuiú Cuiú. An internal desktop study confirmed that these oxide resources could support the development of an initial simple and low-cost starter production base that could be developed in the short term based on the existing Trial Mining Licenses. Furthermore, this study suggested that such an operation could produce significant cash flows, which could allow the Company to self-fund an aggressive and sustained drill program aimed at significantly expanding the global resource inventory. Due to the strength of the business case, the Company proceeded directly to a PFS level study with a scope to assess short-term pathways to production that were aligned with Cabral’s financial capacity.

Resources have been determined for two main gold deposits, MG and Central, and three smaller gold deposits, JB, Central North, and the oxidized mineralization at PDM. In late 2022, SLR Consulting (Canada) Ltd. (“SLR”) calculated resources for the project which at that time comprised Indicated resources of 21.6Mt @ 0.87 g/t gold (604,000 oz) and Inferred resources of 19.8Mt @ 0.84 g/t gold (534,500 oz). In addition, three more significant gold discoveries (Machichie Main, Machichie NE and PDM primary basement) as well as over 50 other early-stage exploration targets had insufficient drill spacing to determine resources in 2022.

Economic Analysis

The gold-in-oxide project exhibits strong financial metrics across a range of gold price scenarios (Table 1). IRR’s highlight the potentially attractive returns and rapid payback of the project (Figures 1 and 2).

Table 1. Key results of PFS financial analysis and sensitivities to commodity prices

Figure 1. Graph showing gold produced and production costs by year

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Figure 2. Monthly gold production and project payback

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PFS – Detailed Results

The following tables (Tables 2 and 3) provide both key assumptions used to complete the financial analysis and the primary operational statistics for the project.

Table 2. Economic analysis summary

Table 3. Key assumptions

Resources

Overlying the primary gold mineralization at Cuiú Cuiú is an extensive zone of highly oxidized and weathered intrusive saprolite material (“Saprolite”). Above the Saprolite, gold is present in an erosional blanket of colluvium and other poorly consolidated sediments (“Blanket”). The PFS focuses on the Indicated Resources within the Saprolite and overlying Blanket, where the relatively soft or poorly consolidated material is easily excavated, and gold is highly amenable to heap leaching.

Drilling subsequent to the 2022 SLR estimate within oxidized mineralization has been used to determine an updated resource model for the PFS. This includes Central and MG 2023 infill and step-out drilling as well as infill and step-out drilling to determine an inaugural Machichie oxide resource, and existing inferred resources at PDM.

This resource estimates do not include resources in the primary zone of mineralization, which account for approximately 80% of the total resources at the Cuiú Cuiú project. The resource estimates were prepared based on drilling completed prior to March 2024 and do not include approximately 3,693m of RC drilling and 1,062m of diamond drilling completed since. As such, Cabral has elected to update resources and estimate reserves in the subsequent phase prior to construction decision.

Inferred Resources are not considered as part of the PFS study. Indicated and Inferred Resources across four known deposits are shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Indicated and inferred resources of oxide material only

Notes:

(1) All estimates of Mineral Resources have been prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43 – 101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”).
(2) The effective date is October 9, 2024.
(3) The independent and qualified persons (“QPs”) for the mineral resource estimate, as defined by NI 43-101, are Volodomyr Myadzel (P.Geo) Principal Geological Consultant of VMG Consultoria e Solucoes Ltda. (for MG and Central resources) and Walter Dzick (P.Geo) Principal Geological Consultant of Dzick Geosconsultants (for Machichie)
(4) Resources are pit constrained and presented undiluted. These mineral resources are not mineral reserves.
(5) Mineral Resources are reported at a 0.1 g/t Au cut-off grade and constrained within a $2000 pit shell.

Mining

The PFS contemplates open-pit mining using conventional methods. Initially, ore will be sourced from two mining areas. The Moreira Gomes (MG) pit accounts for approximately 84% of the run of mine (ROM) ore with the balance coming from the higher-grade Central Pit, approximately 6 km by road from the location of the ROM pad. Figure 3 shows the various material movement rates for each year.

Figure 3. Material movement schedule

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Pit designs were completed at a gold price of $2,000/oz with a key driver being to maximize IRR and margin and shorten payback and provide short-term cashflow to drive further development of the district.

The pit designs incorporated 5m bench heights and ramps of 10 m widths. Geotechnical test work supported inter-ramp angles of 70 degrees with total pit angle of 45 degrees (including ramps).

Mining will be done using an excavator in the overhand position, loading a fleet of 25 to 30-tonne trucks supported by a front-end loader. The oxidized resources occur within loose, weathered, blanket material which can be mined using a dozer ripper without need for drilling and explosives.

Mining activities will likely be outsourced to one of the many full-service contract miners operating in the Para State. Contract mining arrangements will include the provision of the entire mining fleet, including operating labor and relevant maintenance services. Cabral will provide the fuel required to operate the fleet from a mine site storage and dispensing facility.

Ore from the open pits will be delivered to a ROM pad within 200 meters from the exit of the MG pit.

Metallurgical results

Metallurgical test work was completed at Kappes Cassiday and Associates (KCA) in Reno NV on six samples of oxide material from the MG and Central deposits⁵. KCA ran a series of tests on each composite including coarse and fine milled bottle roll leach tests, compacted permeability tests, and column leach tests.

Gold extractions in the bottle-roll leach tests generally exceeded 90% with a maximum recovery of 98% achieved after 336 hours of leaching.

Column leach tests were conducted using material crushed to 100% passing 50 millimetres and agglomerated with 15 to 20 kg/t of cement. To simulate the height of the proposed leach pads, the material was loaded into 5-metre-tall, 8-inch (203 mm) diameter columns, which were then leached for 86 to 112 days with a cyanide solution.

In general, gold recoveries within the 5-metre columns were excellent, with the majority of ultimate leach extractions achieved within the first 40 days of the cycle. All MG ore types reported high gold extraction rates, all in excess of 90%, while Central Saprolite material reported lower but still robust gold extractions in the low – mid 70% range (Table 5). Based on these test results and our understanding of the ore types, Ausenco has determined the following heap leach recoveries for the different ore types based on a 60-day leach cycle, using on/off operation.

Table 5. Processing recoveries by ore type

Processing

An average of 2,000 tpd of mineralized material will be treated by the Cuiú Cuiú processing plant. The process plant will consist of a mineral sizer (MMD Sizer) fed from a ROM pad, producing an ore stream at an 80% passing size of 50 mm (2″). The Crusher discharge will be agglomerated using cement and barren leach solution and fed by portable conveyors to the on/off leach pads. There will be 4 leach pads each with a capacity of 59,178 tonnes at 5 meters of stacked ore height. One or two pads will be leaching at any open time at an irrigation rate of 12 L/h/m². Pads not being leached will be in the process of being prepared for leaching or being cleaned of spent ore. The leach cycles will average 60 days.

Pregnant leach solution (PLS) will be pumped to the carbon-in-column (CIC) circuit at an average flowrate of 215 m³/h, targeting a loaded carbon Au grade of 2,500 g/t, which will be processed in a 1.5 tonne capacity Adsorption/Desorption and Recovery (ADR) plant. The ADR plant will consist of acid wash column, elution column, carbon regeneration kiln, electrowinning cell, sludge filter press, sludge drying oven and smelting furnace.

Once the leach cycle is complete, the pads will be completely rinsed during a 14-day period, and if required, the solution will be detoxified using lime and hydrogen peroxide prior to initiating the rinsing process. The current flowsheet for the project is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Process flow sheet

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Access and Infrastructure

The Cuiú Cuiú project is located approximately 195 km southwest of Itaituba, a town on the Tapajós River. The Cuiú Cuiú village lies 60km North of the regional road BR-163, which is the main supply route for the world-scale Tocantinzinho Gold Mine. The Cuiú Cuiú access road will require an upgrade to an all-weather gravel road to accommodate year-round servicing of the mine using 20-25 tonne loads.

The Cuiú Cuiú township is serviced by a 1,000-meter-long unpaved airstrip maintained by the company. It provides air access to Itaituba, the project’s regional supply/service town.

Cabral’s main camp is located in the village of Cuiú Cuiú, adjacent to the project site. The village consists of 80 houses and, in 2022, had a population of up to 200 families. The PFS assumes the addition of additional lodging and other support facilities to accommodate an additional 60 workers during both the construction and production phases.

Power for the village and the project will be provided by a diesel generator bank. One of the benefits of a heap leach operation is the relatively low energy intensity and a lack of need to build grid connection infrastructure at this early stage.

Mining Permits

The Project is predicated on the current Trial Mining Licenses, which include a limit in ore processing of 300,000t/year project area. In late 2023, a request was made to increase the processing rate under the Trial Mining License to 500,000t/year. This request received a positive technical review⁷ and now awaits final approval through a vote from the Federal Directors of the ANM later in 2024 or early in 2025. Once granted, this Trial Mining License will be valid until November 2027.

Applications for the environmental license on the full mining license were made in December 2020, and SEMAS/PA is expected to finalise this application in early 2025. This will support the issue of the Preliminary Licence (LP) in late 2025 and, subsequently, the Installation Licence (LI) in late 2026 on the full mining license. This will allow for an increase in production volumes as proposed in the PFS production plan from 500,000t/year in 2026 to 720,000t/year in 2027.

Operating Costs

Operating costs were derived using key operating design parameters, unit cost assumptions and estimates for manning and indirect costs. Pricing for reagents and consumables was solicited from qualified local suppliers and reflects the expected pricing for the project.

Mining costs were based on offers received from suitably qualified Civil Engineering companies offering contract mining services. The proposals included a complete service, including equipment hire, operating staff, and mobilization and demobilization. Cabral will supply fuel to the mining fleet. The unitized cost of the complete service is estimated at US$4.15/tonne of material moved. Following a more detailed negotiation with preferred contract miners, a firm figure will be available in the next phase.

A detailed breakdown of the Mine’s operating costs is shown in Table 6.

Table 6. Operating costs breakdown

Capital Costs

The capital cost estimate was compiled based on the proposed plant design by Ausenco. Approximately 70% of the direct costs within the PFS capital cost estimate are based on supplier quotations.

A priority for the detailed engineering phase is finalizing these costs through detailed engagement and negotiation with preferred suppliers.

The total Initial capital cost estimate is US$37.4 million including a 10% allowance on all materials and a 20% Contingency on all direct and indirect Costs. A detailed breakdown of the initial capital costs is shown in Table 7.

Table 7. Capital costs breakdown

Upside Opportunities

A further key output of the PFS is the identification of several additional improvement / optimization opportunities that will be addressed through the DE phase. These opportunities have the potential to enhance the already attractive investment returns, increasing Life of Mine (LOM) and NPV₅. These opportunities are shown in Table 8.

Table 8. Opportunities for further improvements

The most prospective opportunity is to upgrade the existing Inferred Resources into the Indicated Category. The Central and Machichie deposits contain significant Inferred Resources and are considered the highest priority targets for adding to the current Indicated Resources for the project.

A drilling program is being planned to evaluate the potential for updating these Inferred Resources into the higher-confidence Indicated Resources in time for the finalization of the mine plan used in the development decision in 2025.

Project Sensitivities

Figures 9 and 10 show the sensitivities of project IRR’s and NPV₅ to key parameters including gold price, initial capital and total operating costs.

Table 9. After Tax Project IRR sensitivities according to key parameters

Table 10. After Tax Project NPV sensitivities according to key parameters

Next Steps

The Cabral Board has approved the commencement of the next phase of work which will include more detailed engineering on the project design and in-depth engagement with suppliers to formalize terms and pricing of some of the more important inputs to the project. In parallel, the Cabral exploration team will continue to drive growth of the global resource. This work will focus on upgrading the known Inferred Resources as well as additional drilling aimed at further testing a number of exploration targets including Machichie NE where recent drilling returned 11m @ 33g/t gold (see press release dated 30^th May 2024).

The Company intends to accelerate discussions with potential financiers who have expressed an interest in participating in the project. The current expectation is for an investment decision in Q2, 2025 and first production from this gold-in-oxide starter project in mid-2026.

Qualified Persons Statement

The PFS Study was authored by independent Qualified Persons and is in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. The following Qualified Persons (“QPs”) are responsible for the PFS Study and have reviewed the information in this news release that is summarized from the PFS Study in their areas of expertise:

• Robert Raponi (P. Eng), Principal Metallurgist with Ausenco Engineering) is responsible for project infrastructure, recovery methods, capital and operating costs relating to processing, and economic analysis.
• Scott Elfen (P. E.), Global Lead Geotechnical and Civil Services with Ausenco Engineering) is responsible for heap leach and tailings infrastructure, capital and operating costs relating heap leach and tailings infrastructure.
• Volodomyr Myadzel (P.Geo) Principal Geological Consultant of VMG Consultoria e Solucoes Ltda. , is responsible for the sample preparation, data verification and mineral Resource estimation at Central and MG
• Rodrigo de Brito Mello (P.Geo), Director and owner of RBM Serviços Técnicos Ltda, is responsible for the geological setting, deposit type, exploration, drilling, and adjacent properties.
• Bruno Tomaselli (Consulting Manager), of Deswick Brasil, is responsible for mining method and operating costs related to the mine.
• Walter Dzick (P.Geo) Principal Geological Consultant of Dzick Geosconsultants , is responsible for the sample preparation, data verification and mineral Resource estimation for Machichie

Brian Arkell, VP Exploration and Technical Services of Cabral Gold Inc., a QP as defined in NI 43-101, has reviewed this press release on behalf of the Company and has approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release. The PFS Study is summarized into a technical report that will be filed on the Company’s website at www.cabralgold.com and on SEDAR at www.sedarplus.ca in accordance with NI 43-101 within 45 days of this news release.

About Cabral Gold Inc.

The Company is a junior resource company engaged in the identification, exploration and development of mineral properties, with a primary focus on gold properties located in Brazil. The Company has a 100% interest in the Cuiú Cuiú gold district located in the Tapajós Region, within the state of Pará in northern Brazil. Two main gold deposits have so far been defined at the Cuiú Cuiú project which contains National Instrument 43-101 compliant Indicated resources of 21.6Mt @ 0.87 g/t gold (604,000 oz) and Inferred resources of 19.8Mt @ 0.84 g/t gold (534,500 oz) as per the 43-101 technical report dated October 12, 2022.

The Tapajós Gold Province is the site of the largest gold rush in Brazil’s history which according to the ANM (Agência Nacional de Mineração or National Mining Agency of Brazil) produced an estimated 30 to 50 million ounces of placer gold between 1978 and 1995. Cuiú Cuiú was the largest area of placer workings in the Tapajós and produced an estimated 2Moz of placer gold historically.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as such term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation (collectively “forward-looking statements”). The use of the words “will”, “expected” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied upon. The Company believes the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct.

¹ Spot Price based on 18^th October, 2024 trading price
² Period from Production startup, 30 months from investment decision
³ Delivered to ROM pad
⁴ All site operating cash costs plus gold selling costs and royalties
⁵ See Company Press Release re PFS Metallurgical results – 31 July 2024
⁶ Based on Ore tonnes
⁷ No167/2024/DIFIS-PA/GER-PA

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