Ascendant Resources Announces the Appointment of Mr. Joao Barros as President

• Seasoned Mining Veteran With Focused Expertise of Iberian Pyrite Belt to Take Lagoa Salgada Property Through Bankable Feasibility Study and Development

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TORONTO, May 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ascendant Resources Inc. (TSX: ASND) ("Ascendant" or the "Company”) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Joao Barros to the position of President, Ascendant Resources, where he will continue to oversee the exploration and development efforts at the Lagoa Salgada VMS project (“Lagoa Salgada”), located on the prolific Iberian Pyrite Belt in Portugal. Mr. Barros is a Civil Engineer with an MSc in Geology with more than 17 years of experience tied to the mining industry in Portugal.

Mr. Barros is currently President of Ascendant Portugal and President of Redcorp – Empreendimentos Mineiros, Lda., the joint venture company in which Ascendant has its investment and is earning an 80% interest in Lagoa Salgada. Mr. Barros has been instrumental in the advancement of the Lagoa Salgada project under Ascendant’s direction. Mr. Barros has a strong technical background having significant senior mining management experience with the exploration and development of numerous polymetallic VMS, gold and tungsten operations in Portugal.

Ascendant is currently moving towards Feasibility and development at Lagoa Salgada and is anticipating three key milestones in the coming months:

• End May: New 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate following latest drilling program
• End June: PFS Quality Metallurgical Testwork Report
• End July: New 43-101 PEA to include North & South zones
  

Ascendant also announces the resignation of Chris Buncic as CEO of the company effective April 30, 2021. Mark Brennan, Executive Chairman will assume CEO responsibilities in the interim.

Alonso Sotomayor, currently Corporate Controller, will be named Interim CFO following the resignation of Rohan Hazelton effective April 30, 2021.

Mark Brennan, Executive Chairman commented, “We are thrilled to have Joao join us at Ascendant. Joao comes from an esteemed family steeped in the recent history of mining in Portugal. His depth of experience in mining project management, having built several operations in Portugal over the past two decades, will add tremendous strength to Ascendant’s management team. We are grateful for his guidance and contributions to our exploration success thus far at Lagoa Salgada, and we have the greatest confidence in our continued success under his direction in Portugal.”

He continued, “The Company would like to thank Chris for his efforts to transition the focus of Ascendant from its operation of the complex El Mochito mine to the very exciting prospect of developing the potentially world class Lagoa Salgada project. We would also like to thank Rohan for his discipline and versatility in keeping a stable ship while the very difficult market environment of lower zinc prices during 2020. We hope that the development of the Lagoa Salgada project will be a testimony of their efforts.”

Ascendant is also pleased to announce that it has retained Hybrid Financial Ltd. The service provided by Hybrid to the Company is a database of Registered Financial Professionals in North America. Hybrid is not promoting the specific purchase or sale of securities. It provides its database, technology, and call center services to enable the issuer to disseminate its information to Financial Professionals only. Hybrid provides its services directly to the Company.

Hybrid has agreed to comply with all applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Exchange (the “TSX”) in providing the Services.

Hybrid has been engaged by the Company for an initial period of 6 months starting November 23, 2020 (the “Initial Term”) and then shall be renewed automatically for successive 3 month periods thereafter, unless terminated by the Company in accordance with the Agreement. Hybrid will be paid a monthly fee of $22,000 plus applicable taxes, during the Initial Term.

Hybrid Financial connects issuers to the investment community across North America. Using a data driven approach, Hybrid provides its clients with comprehensive coverage of both American and Canadian markets. Hybrid Financial has offices in Toronto and Montreal.

About Ascendant Resources Inc.
Ascendant is a Toronto-based mining company focused on the exploration and development of the highly prospective Lagoa Salgada VMS project located on the prolific Iberian Pyrite Belt in Portugal. Through focused exploration and aggressive development plans, the Company aims to unlock the inherent potential of the project, maximizing value creation for shareholders.

Lagoa Salgada contains over 12.8 million tonnes of M&I Resources and 10.3 million tonnes in Inferred Resources and demonstrates typical mineralization characteristics of Iberian Pyrite Belt VMS deposits containing zinc, copper, lead, tin, silver and gold. Extensive exploration upside potential lies both near deposit and at prospective step-out targets across the large 10,700ha property concession. The project also demonstrates compelling economics with scalability for future resource growth in the results of the Preliminary Economic Assessment. Located just 80km from Lisbon, Lagoa Salgada is easily accessible by road and surrounded by exceptional Infrastructure. Ascendant holds a 21.25% interest in the Lagoa Salgada project through its 25% position in Redcorp - Empreendimentos Mineiros, Lda, (“Redcorp”) and has an earn-in opportunity to increase its interest in the project to 80%. Mineral & Financial Investments Limited owns the additional 75% of Redcorp. The remaining 15% of the project is held by Empresa de Desenvolvimento Mineiro, S.A., a Portuguese Government owned company supporting the strategic development of the country’s mining sector. The Company’s interest in the Lagoa Salgada project offers a low-cost entry to a potentially significant exploration and development opportunity, already demonstrating its mineable scale.

The Company's common shares are principally listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "ASND". For more information on Ascendant, please visit our website at www.ascendantresources.com.

Additional information relating to the Company, including the Preliminary Economic Assessment referenced in this news release, is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

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

For further information please contact:

Nick Campbell
Manager, Corporate Development
Tel: 905 630 0148
[email protected]

Forward Looking Information
     
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" (collectively, "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All information contained in this news release, other than statements of current and historical fact, is forward-looking information. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "budget", "guidance", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "strategy", "target", "intends", "objective", "goal", "understands", "anticipates" and "believes" (and variations of these or similar words) and statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" "occur" or "be achieved" or "will be taken" (and variations of these or similar expressions). Forward-looking information is also identifiable in statements of currently occurring matters which may continue in the future, such as "providing the Company with", "is currently", "allows/allowing for", "will advance" or "continues to" or other statements that may be stated in the present tense with future implications. All of the forward-looking information in this news release is qualified by this cautionary note.

Forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding the exploration activities and the results of such activities at the Lagoa Salgada Project, the ability of the Company to advance the Lagoa Salgada Project to a Preliminary Economic Assessment, and the ability of the Company to fund the exploration with funds from operations. Forward-looking information is based on, among other things, opinions, assumptions, estimates and analyses that, while considered reasonable by Ascendant at the date the forward-looking information is provided, inherently are subject to significant risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other factors that may cause actual results and events to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. The material factors or assumptions that Ascendant identified and were applied by Ascendant in drawing conclusions or making forecasts or projections set out in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, the success of the exploration activities at Lagoa Salgada Project, the Company advancing the project to a Preliminary Economic Assessment, the ability of the Company to fund the exploration program at Lagoa Salgada with funds from operations , and other events that may affect Ascendant's ability to develop its project; and no significant and continuing adverse changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets.