Canadian Premium Sand Inc. Announces Decision to Focus on Solar Glass Manufacturing Supported by Market Analysis and Technical Report

Canadian Premium Sand Inc. (“CPS” or the “Company”) (TSXV: CPS) is pleased to announce that it has decided to focus its future manufacturing operations on the North American patterned solar glass market. This decision is based on an in-depth analysis of various end market segments for glass manufacturing and is supported by the Company’s NI 43-101 compliant Technical Report (the “Technical Report”) which was completed for the Company’s Wanipigow Sand Deposit (the “Deposit”) by APEX Geoscience Ltd, effective October 14, 2021.

Rationale:

• The Company’s high-purity, low-iron silica sand deposit is ideally suited for solar glass manufacturing as reflected in the Company’s Technical Report;

• The patterned solar glass market offers exposure to strong solar panel installation growth in North America that is estimated by the Solar Energy Industries Association to increase by 21% on a compound annual basis between now and 2030;

• The growth rate for North American patterned solar glass demand is further supported by the domestic industry’s effort to onshore the solar panel manufacturing supply chain from Asia Pacific sources which supply 100% of current patterned solar glass requirements;

• CPS management discussions with domestic solar panel manufacturers have illustrated a need for a reliable local supply of high-quality solar glass to accommodate both current production and future growth plans;

• The Company’s wholly-owned silica sand deposit offers the opportunity for CPS to be the first integrated manufacturer of patterned solar glass in North America;

• CPS believes that its planned facility will be positioned to offer significant manufacturing and logistical cost savings while demonstrating an industry-leading, low-carbon footprint using up to 99% renewable electricity.

“We are extremely excited about the decision to focus our development activities on the solar glass market given its attractive growth profile and its suitability to maximize the value of our high-purity, low-iron sand resource,” stated Glenn Leroux, President, and CEO of CPS. “As we finalize the details of our Front End Engineering Design process, we expect to be in a position to announce our plans regarding facility size, configuration, and expected economics prior to year-end 2021.”

Highlights of the Technical Report:

• The Technical Report validates the Company’s previous technical findings that illustrated a large, high-quality sand resource at the Deposit;

• The Technical Report describes the Company’s recent lithological mapping work and geochemical and beneficiation testing undertaken to identify an initial sweet spot, the (“Main Glass Sand Resource”) that contains high-purity silica sand which can be mechanically beneficiated to high feed sand quality levels of 99.5% SiO₂ and 100 ppm Fe₂O₃ making it well suited for use in specialty glass products such as glass for solar panels;

• The Technical Report demonstrates a global (in-situ) Inferred Resource of Wanipigow Lower Black Island Formation silica sand (LBI sand) of 7.25 million tonnes in the Main Glass Sand Resource area (mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability);

• The Technical Report also identifies a future Exploration Target area containing similar LBI sand as the Main Glass Sand Resource area with an Inferred Resource Estimate of between 19.06 million tonnes and 23.3 million tonnes (the potential quantity of the exploration target is conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further test work and/or marketing research will result in the exploration target being delineated as a mineral resource).

Technical Disclosure:

Trial beneficiation test work referenced in the Technical Report conducted by CM.project.Ing showed that separation of the 35-120 mesh sand together with enhanced attrition scrubbing and desliming followed by grain size classification, density separation, and magnetic separations can mechanically beneficiate the Wanipigow LBI sand to high feed sand quality levels of 99.5% SiO₂ and 100 ppm Fe₂O₃ thereby satisfying the specifications for use in specialty glass products including solar panels. With chemical beneficiation, the silica content can be increased to 99.7% SiO₂ and the iron content can be further lowered to 60 ppm Fe₂O₃.

The Technical Report was prepared in accordance with Canadian Institute of Mining and Mineralogy and the disclosure rule, National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”). The Wanipigow glass sand resource estimate is fully contained within the LBI sand sub-member that occurs within a portion (surface area of 3.49 km²) of the overall Deposit. Additional regions within the Deposit that comprise distinct, clean, high silica LBI sand were assessed as a future exploration target.

The 3-D geological model utilized information from 93 vertical drillholes to define the geological units and 744 gradation analyses that form the ‘assay’ file used to calculate the Wanipigow glass sand resource estimate. The 3-D geological model in the Main Glass Sand Resource area is defined by 5 out of 93 vertical drillholes. A total of 230 samples out of the 744-gradation analyses were collected within the LBI sand sub-member, including 48 LBI samples in the Main Glass Sand Resource area. In the 3-D geological model, the thickness of the LBI sand unit varies from 9.1 m to 15.85 m and averaged 7.9 m.

The resource is calculated using a block model with a size of 20 m by 20 m in the horizontal direction and 2 m in the vertical direction. The block model was used to calculate the Wanipigow glass sand resource estimate of the different percentages of silica sand retained on the various screen sizes. Ordinary Kriging (OK) was used to estimate the size fraction values at each parent block that lies within the LBI sand wireframe.

A nominal in-situ sand bulk density of 1.878 g/cm3 was applied to the LBI sand unit. The resource estimation of the individual LBI sand size fractions was completed and reported using a lower cutoff of mesh-sizes that are greater than or equal to 35-mesh (<500 µm) and less than or equal to 120-mesh (<125 µm).

This Inferred Wanipigow Glass Sand Resource Estimate predicts a total (i.e., global) LBI sand Inferred Resource of 7.25 million tonnes (Table 2). Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Table 2 The Inferred Resource Estimate for the Wanipigow Main Glass Sand Resource reported for the LBI sand geo-unit as a total (global) volume and tonnage:

	Volume (m3)	Metric tonnes
Inferred Resource	3,861,000	7,250,000

Note 1: Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Note 2: The weights are reported in metric tonnes (1,000 kg or 2,204.6 lbs).

Note 3: The Wanipigow estimation of the individual sieve size fractions was completed and reported using a lower cutoff of mesh-sizes that are greater than or equal to 35-mesh and less than or equal to 120-mesh fraction.

With respect to unequivocal waste rock, the overburden overlying the LBI Main Glass Sand Resource area has an estimated volume of 6,180,900 m³ for a total weight of 11.73 million metric tonnes. The density of the overburden was taken from compacted in-situ material bulk density tests on 13 samples that average 1.897 g/cm³.

In addition to the main glass sand resource area, a future exploration target was evaluated at the Deposit by depicting those clean LBI sand drill intersections in other parts of the Deposit. The exploration target was calculated in the same way the Wanipigow Main Glass Sand Inferred Resource Estimate was, and by applying a plus or minus percentage of 10%, to define an exploration target of between 19.06 million tonnes and 23.30 million tonnes.

The potential quantity of the exploration target is conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further test work and/or marketing research will result in the exploration target being delineated as a mineral resource.

The technical information relating to the mineral resource in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Roy Eccles, P. Geol. of APEX Geoscience Ltd. who is independent of CPS and a “qualified person” under NI 43-101. The Technical Report is available for review under the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About Canadian Premium Sand Inc.
The Company is evaluating the potential for sustainable manufacturing of high clarity solar glass through a Company-owned facility in the greater Winnipeg area that utilizes the high-quality silica sand from its wholly-owned Wanipigow silica sand deposit. The Company is a reporting issuer in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Its shares trade on the TSXV under the symbol “CPS”.

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

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Glenn Leroux
President and Chief Executive Officer
glenn.leroux@cpsmail.com

Original article: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/10/18/2315803/0/en/Canadian-Premium-Sand-Inc-Announces-Decision-to-Focus-on-Solar-Glass-Manufacturing-Supported-by-Market-Analysis-and-Technical-Report.html