Osino Resources receives environmental clearance certificate for Twin Hills

Osino Resources announced that the Namibian Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism has issued an Environmental Clearance Certificate for the Twin Hills Gold Project which is valid for three years and renewable on a three yearly cycle. Twin Hills’ most recent technical study, a pre-feasibility study released in September 2022, outlines a 13-year open-pit mine life with an average annual gold production rate of 169koz per annum at all-in sustaining costs of US$930/oz in the 10 years of operation. This is based on 2.15 Moz in reserves. Following extensive stakeholder engagement and environmental baseline studies in 2021 and early 2022, the Namibian Ministry of Mines and Energy and Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism thoroughly reviewed the Project’s Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and Environmental Management Plan and found no material flaws in the scope and assessment of the project. Included in the assessment and the management plan are provisions that any archeological finds must be reported to the National Heritage Council for review, guidance and management. Following the discovery of some historical grave sites within the Twin Hills Project area, Osino conducted a field review and documentation of the burial sites as an addendum to the archeological baseline study. Following this, an additional reconnaissance fieldwork program was carried out in the area to confirm that no other graves exist. All documents have been submitted to NHC for review and it is anticipated that the graves will have to be relocated, with consent from the descendants. As per the Environmental Management Act, 2007, the proposed mining project triggers listed activities under Namibia’s EMA. Such activities require an environmental clearance certificate. In 2020 Osino appointed an independent environmental consulting firm as the Environmental Assessment Practitioner in accordance with EMA 2007 Regulation 3 to conduct an environmental and social impact assessment and apply for the required environmental clearance certificate. The MME is the competent authority for the proposed Project, and accordingly, the application was submitted to MME to carry out their designated functions. Once an ECC is issued, the certificate becomes effective from the date endorsed and remains effective for a period not exceeding three years as per the EMA 2007. ECCs are eligible for renewal every three years. The issuance of the ECC is one of three outstanding conditions for the conclusions of a full mining license for the Twin Hills gold project, to be issued by Namibia’s MME. The process has been further described in a news release dated 31 October 2022. As stated earlier, once the conditions relating to grave relocations have been met, the first of the three main conditions to the issuance of the full and unconditional mining license will be achieved. The two remaining conditions are the sale of a 5% local Namibian minority equity participation and the fulfilment of certain affirmative action and poverty alleviation measures which are customary under Namibian law. As previously reported, the Osino team have been preparing to apply for site-specific secondary permits which are operationally specific. The timeframes for approvals of these secondary permits generally vary between three to six months, and the application process has been initiated. It is planned to commence with early works early in the second half of 2023. The initial permits to be applied for include road and river relocation/diversion, vegetation removal, water abstraction, wastewater discharge and accessory works permits, amongst others. The Company also announces it has engaged Stockhouse Publishing and Hybrid Financial to provide investor relations and marketing services and other assistance to support the Company’s investor relations strategy, and to help build awareness and gain exposure with investors. Stockhouse is a marketing and media platform targeting retail investors and is based in Vancouver, BC. Osino has agreed to pay Stockhouse C$100,000 for a 12-month term with the first payment of C$25,000 used for the first two months and last month of the term and the subsequent payments made quarterly. Hybrid is a leading Investor Relations firm based in Toronto, ON. Osino has agreed to pay Hybrid an initial one-time capital markets advisory services fee of C$90,000 and a monthly fee of C$15,000 over the 12-month term. Both Stockhouse and Hybrid are arm’s length parties to the Company and, to the Company’s knowledge, do not currently own any securities of the Company, but may purchase securities of the Company from time to time for investment purposes.