Not for distribution to United States Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 08, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rio2 Limited ("Rio2" or the "Company") (TSXV:RIO, OTCQX:RIOFF, BVL: RIO)) today announces that its Chilean subsidiary, Fenix Gold Limitada ("Fenix Gold"), has received the formal Resolución de Calificación Ambiental (Environmental Qualification Resolution, or RCA) for its Fenix Gold Project (the "Project") located in the Maricunga Mineral Belt of the Atacama Region, Chile. The RCA has been issued following the approval of the Project's Environmental Impact Assessment previously announced on December 20, 2023. The receipt of the RCA now allows Fenix Gold to advance permitting activities for the Project. There are four principal Sectorial Permits required before construction can commence at the Project: 1) Mining Methods; 2) Process Plant; 3) Waste Dumps & Stockpiles; and 4) Closure Plan and work on these permits is well underway. The current timing for receipt of these principal permits is by the end of July 2024. Project Financing Update Following the announcement of the filing of an independent technical report dated October 16, 2023, entitled "NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Feasibility Study for the Fenix Gold Project" (the "Feasibility Study"), Rio2 has been working with its financial advisor, Endeavour Financial ("Endeavour"), to develop the optimum financing solution for the Project. The initial phase involved Endeavour reviewing the Feasibility Study technical and financial information and issuing a Project marketing document to prospective financiers to solicit interest in providing Project related debt financing. The Company is seeking to finance a substantial component of the initial capital costs by way of Project related debt. This initial phase is now complete and has resulted in a shortlist of institutions who will now move forward to the next phase. Prospective Project financiers include a mix of commercial banks, export credit agencies and specialist finance providers. Prospective financiers have been provided with additional information relating to the Company and Project through a virtual data room with the objective of obtaining formal expressions of interest ("EOIs"). Following receipt of EOIs, Endeavour and the Company intend to select a small group of preferred financiers to move forward into the detailed due diligence phase. The Project finance process is expected to take several months. The Company is targeting early Q2 2024 for receipt of EOIs followed by the selection of preferred financiers with due diligence progressing through Q2 2024, with the aim of completing the financing in Q3 2024. Once Project financing is secured, management's principal focus will be achieving the Project's construction timeline and budget objectives to produce doré as set out in the 14-month Project execution plan detailed in the Feasibility Study. The Company will provide updates on the financing process as it progresses. Mine Expansion Study Estimated resources for the Project (including mineral reserves constrained within a $1,650 pit shell), which remain open at depth and along strike, are 4.75 million oz. of gold in the measured and indicated category and 0.96 million oz. of gold in the inferred category constrained within a $1,800 pit shell. This large, mineralized resource coupled with the potential for resource growth through further drilling, provides an excellent opportunity to increase annual production and extend the mine life of the Fenix Gold mine. Rio2 is planning a two-stage development strategy for the Project, with the 20,000 tonnes per day Feasibility Study representing the first stage of production. Conceptually, the second stage will incorporate the expansion of ore mining from 20,000 tonnes per day to 80,000 – 100,000 tonnes per day, with industrial water and/or desalinated water being transported to site via a pipeline and Project power being sourced from the nearby grid with estimated annual gold production rising to more than 250,000 oz. per ...