Stillwater Critical Minerals Reports up to 0.396 g/t Rhodium in Drill Results from the Stillwater West PGE-Ni-Cu-Co + Au Project, Montana, USA

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / January 18, 2023 / Stillwater Critical Minerals Corp. (formerly Group Ten Metals) (TSXV:PGE)(OTCQB:PGEZF)(FSE:5D32) (the "Company" or "SWCM") is pleased to announce results of rhodium assays conducted on core from resource expansion drilling on its 100%-owned Stillwater West platinum group element, nickel, copper, cobalt, and gold ("PGE-Ni-Cu-Co + Au") project in Montana, USA, adjacent to Sibanye-Stillwater's world-class critical minerals mining operations.

These results, along with the integration of deposit models from South Africa's Bushveld complex, provide the Company and SGS Geological Services ("SGS") with the remaining components necessary to finalize an update of the Company's inaugural October 2021 resource estimate (the "2021 Resource"), which delineated five Platreef-style deposits totaling 1.1 billion pounds of nickel, copper and cobalt, and 2.4 million ounces of palladium, platinum, rhodium and gold (see Figure 1).

Rhodium intercept highlights from resource expansion drilling include:

• Widespread rhodium in drill results at potentially significant co-product grades including:
  • 0.122 g/t Rh over 7.2 meters in CM2021-01 starting at 304.8 meters;
  • 0.104 g/t Rh over 8.3 meters in CM2021-03 starting at 252.2 meters; and
  • 0.396 g/t Rh over 1.2 meters in CM2021-01 starting at 411.6 meters.
• Current results expand upon similar results in past campaigns which returned 0.103 g/t Rh over 7.9 meters in hole CM2020-05, and 0.100 g/t Rh over 6.1 meters in hole CM2007-02.
• Rhodium is mined solely as a co-product at grades that are often below 0.1 g/t. South Africa dominates global production, and there is very little mine supply in North America. Sibanye-Stillwater, adjacent to SWCM's Stillwater West project, is the primary US producer.
• Supply constraints have resulted in elevated rhodium prices since 2017. At its current spot price of more than USD 12,000/oz, 0.1 g/t rhodium equates to more than 0.6 g/t gold or palladium equivalent, and more than 1.2 g/t platinum equivalent.
• Rhodium has a high melting point, is highly corrosion resistant, and is critical in catalytic converters, along with platinum and palladium, for cleaner vehicle emissions.
• Complete results from the 14-hole expansion drill campaign, which consisted of wide step-outs at three of the five deposits defined by the 2021 Resource, are being incorporated into the updated block models by SGS. As shown in Table 1, results continue to demonstrate impressive grade and scale with wide intervals at successively higher grades contained within very wide bulk-tonnage grade intervals, including:
  • 13.2 meters of 2.31% Ni, 0.35% Cu, 0.115% Co, and 1.51 g/t 4E (Pt+Pd+Au+Rh) starting at 37.6 meters and within 400.8 meters of continuous mineralization in hole CM2021-05;
  • 44.1 meters of 0.57% Ni, 0.34% Cu, 0.045% Co, and 0.74 g/t 4E starting at 32.8 meters and within 367.6 meters of continuous mineralization in hole CZ2021-01; and
  • 50.2 meters of 1.05 g/t 4E plus 0.19% Ni and other values within 728.1 meters of continuous mineralization in hole CM2021-01.
• Metallurgical testing completed by AMAX confirmed recovery of rhodium along with palladium and platinum in preliminary bench-scale flotation testing at the CZ deposit area in the early 1970s.
• Past work previously reported by the Company included surface sample results of up to 5.78 g/t Rh at the HGR target in the Iron Mountain area, and 1.07 g/t Rh at Chrome Mountain in reconnaissance-scale rock sample programs (see June 11, 2020, news release).
• Early results for other rare Platinum Group Elements ("PGE") show potential for additional value from iridium, osmium, and ruthenium which often occur along with platinum, palladium, and rhodium at Stillwater West.

Table 1 - Final results from resource expansion drilling including recent rhodium assay results.