Perpetua Resources Launches Sustainability Roadmap

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Apr 06, 2022, 08:45 ET

BOISE, Idaho, April 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Perpetua Resources Corp. (Nasdaq: PPTA) (TSX: PPTA) ("Perpetua Resources" or "Perpetua" or the "Company") launched its Sustainability Roadmap ("Roadmap") today which outlines 13 goals to guide the Company as it advances the Stibnite Gold Project ("Project") towards development. The Roadmap provides additional transparency and accountability measures for stakeholders, including community members and employees to track how Perpetua's Environment, Social, and Governance ("ESG") commitments will be integrated as the Project advances. Each goal within the Roadmap is informed by the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals ("UNSDGs") to align Perpetua's path with global objectives to promote a more sustainable future.

"Our actions over the last decade demonstrate our deep commitment to building a company where responsible redevelopment of the historical Stibnite Mining District can bring environmental, social and economic benefits," said Laurel Sayer, President and CEO of Perpetua Resources. "Launching Perpetua's Sustainability Roadmap provides an additional level of transparency for all of our stakeholders as we advance the Stibnite Gold Project."

Perpetua Resources and the Stibnite Gold Project are uniquely positioned to demonstrate an industry-leading sustainability approach. The Project is designed to restore an abandoned mine area through reprocessing and safely storing millions of tons of legacy mine tailings, restoring river habitat and fish migration access, and improving wetlands. The Project can also support the clean energy transition as the only domestically mined source of the critical mineral antimony, which is an essential component in Ambri's long-duration storage batteries. Additionally, the Perpetua team has prioritized gender diversity with over 40% female employees and over 65% female senior leadership, led by CEO Laurel Sayer.

"Sustainability has always been at the forefront for Perpetua," said Sayer. "We began by prioritizing community partnerships, designing for environmental uplift and recruiting a diverse team that represents some of the best in the industry. Now, we are advancing our efforts by defining a path for responsible mineral development here at home."

The Company's vision to responsibly restore an abandoned mine site, produce critical minerals required for U.S. security and clean energy, and bring benefits to surrounding communities formed the foundation for the Roadmap. The goals were developed in alignment with Perpetua's ESG policy and broader sustainability strategy and support multiple UNSDGs.

Perpetua Resources' Sustainability Roadmap goals are:

Improve and protect water quality. Perpetua Resources' Plan of Restoration and Operation is designed to improve water quality at Stibnite to be better than it is today.
Conserve water. Conserving and reusing water are key to minimizing the impacts of the Stibnite Gold Project.
Limit our footprint. The Company has already reduced the footprint of its Project by 13% compared to the original design. Additionally, 51% of the footprint is on previously disturbed land. It is one of the only projects in North America that plans to reprocess previously mined material to restore a brownfields site.
Be a responsible link in the clean energy supply chain. Perpetua signed an agreement to supply a portion of the antimony produced at Stibnite to Ambri Inc, for the development of grid-scale storage batteries that can help decarbonize the U.S. energy grid.
Work with communities and regulators to refine environmental outcomes of the Stibnite Gold Project. Public and agency feedback has been essential in the design of the Project. Perpetua will use this feedback to identify ways to improve the social and environmental outcomes of our project.
Nurture connections with tribal communities and identify opportunities to collaborate. Perpetua is committed to continuing to work with tribal leadership, staff and their membership to ensure the Project honors and protects tribal treaty rights.
Foster an open and transparent relationship with local communities. The Stibnite Advisory Council, which was formed by the 2018 Community Agreement, is a vehicle for the Company to connect directly with the communities closest to our site throughout the life of the Project.
Create economic partnerships that sustain beyond the life of the mine. Perpetua Resources entered into a profit-sharing agreement to fund the Stibnite Foundation. This locally-run charitable endowment is designed to have a lasting impact by supporting local social, environmental and health programs.
Develop a diverse and inclusive team. The Company is committed to recruiting, building and retaining a diverse team.
Adopt a long-term Environment, Social and Governance reporting framework. Perpetua Resources will strive to align its ESG disclosure with the SASB reporting framework beginning with its 2021 sustainability report to be released later this year.
Disclose and report current and future GHG emissions. Perpetua plans to report annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through a certified third-party to ensure transparency in emissions reporting.
Set science-based GHG target. Once a Project design is approved by regulators, the Company will establish an anticipated baseline for GHG emissions and intends to develop targets based on feasible offsets, mitigations and reductions.
Protect our people and our communities. Perpetua will continue to implement best practices and set high safety and training standards to keep our people and our communities safe.

Perpetua Resources has published annual sustainability reports since 2013, detailing the Company's actions in communities and for the environment and will launch its ninth report later this year. These reports can be viewed on Perpetua's website at https://perpetuaresources.com/sustainability/. Perpetua Resources expects to set more specific and measurable ESG targets based on the final project design and anticipated outcomes once all permits for the Stibnite Gold Project have been issued.

Website: www.perpetuaresources.com

About Perpetua Resources and the Stibnite Gold Project

Perpetua Resources Corp., through its wholly owned subsidiaries, is focused on the exploration, site restoration and redevelopment of gold-antimony-silver deposits in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine district of central Idaho that are encompassed by the Stibnite Gold Project. The Project is one of the highest-grade, open pit gold deposits in the United States and is designed to apply a modern, responsible mining approach to restore an abandoned mine site and produce both gold and the only mined source of antimony in the United States. Further advancing Perpetua Resources' ESG and sustainable mining goals, the Project will be powered by the lowest carbon emissions grid in the nation and a portion of the antimony produced from the Project will be supplied to Ambri, a US-based company commercializing a low-cost liquid metal battery essential for the low-carbon energy transition. In addition to the company's commitments to transparency, accountability, environmental stewardship, safety and community engagement, Perpetua Resources adopted formal ESG commitments which can be found here.

Forward-Looking Information

Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking information" or "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "Forward-Looking Information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-Looking Information includes, but is not limited to, disclosure regarding possible events, next steps and courses of action including actions to be taken by government agencies and regulatory bodies; predictions regarding improvements to water quality and other environmental conditions at the site; reduction of the Project footprint and the anticipated benefits and other effects thereof; our and Ambri, Inc.'s ability to perform under the supply agreement, which agreement is subject to certain conditions, including identification of one or more refiners to transform our antimony concentrate into antimony metal, and mutual agreement on certain material terms, including volume and pricing; the Sustainability Roadmap and the goals outlined thereunder; and the Stibnite Gold Project and the success of such project. In certain cases, Forward-Looking Information can be identified by the use of words and phrases or variations of such words and phrases or statements such as "anticipate", "expect" "plan", "likely", "believe", "intend", "forecast", "project", "estimate", "potential", "could", "may", "will", "would" or "should". In preparing the Forward-Looking Information in this news release, Perpetua Resources has applied several material assumptions, including, but not limited to, assumptions that the current exploration, development, environmental and other objectives concerning the Stibnite Gold Project can be achieved and that its other corporate activities will proceed as expected; that the goals outlined in the Sustainability Roadmap are achievable; that we and Ambri will be able to agree on the terms of the Ambri agreement; and that general business and economic conditions will not change in a materially adverse manner and that permitting and operations costs will not materially increase. Forward-Looking Information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Perpetua Resources to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the Forward-Looking Information. Such risks and other factors include, among others, uncertainty surrounding input to be received from regulators and community stakeholders; those factors discussed in Perpetua Resources' public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and its Canadian disclosure record. Although Perpetua Resources has attempted to identify important factors that could affect Perpetua Resources and may cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in Forward-Looking Information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that Forward-Looking Information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on Forward-Looking Information. For further information on these and other risks and uncertainties that may affect the Company's business, see the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's filings with the SEC, which are available at www.sec.gov and with the Canadian securities regulators, which are available at www.sedar.com. Except as required by law, Perpetua Resources does not assume any obligation to release publicly any revisions to Forward-Looking Information contained in this news release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE Perpetua Resources Corp.