Yenipazar

Location
Yozgat Province, Türkiye

Operator
Virtus Madencilik

Commodity
Gold-Silver-Zinc-Copper-Lead

Royalty
6-10% NPI

The Yenipazar polymetallic VMS deposit in central Türkiye is currently owned and being advanced by Virtus Madencilik (“Virtus”), a private Turkish company that is partly owned by Trafigura Ventures B.V. EMX holds a net profits interest (“NPI”) royalty that is set at 6% until US$165 million in revenues are received, after which the NPI converts to a 10% interest. The Yenipazar Royalty was acquired by EMX in 2021 as part of the SSR royalty portfolio transaction.   

The Yenipazar polymetallic VMS deposit was discovered in the late 1990’s by YAMAS, a predecessor of Alacer and SSR Mining. Aldridge Minerals Inc. (“Aldridge”), a public Canadian corporation formerly listed on the TSX-V, formed a JV with Alacer in 2004 with the right to earn a majority interest in the project. Later modifications to the JV agreement in 2006 led to Aldridge acquiring a 100% project equity interest, with Alacer retaining the royalties which are now held by EMX.

The Yenipazar deposit remains open along strike to north of the current mineral resource. Drillholes that tested this extension returned grades higher than the average grades reported for the project’s reserves, including a drillhole that intercepted 17 m averaging 6.13% Pb, 7.78% Zn, 1.06% Cu, 1.79 g/t Au, and 118 g/t Ag. Significant exploration upside remains elsewhere on the property, as 90% of the land position is unexplored. There are at least 11 other occurrences on the property, at least one of which is coincident with historical geophysical anomalies.

Aldridge disclosed a historical feasibility study in 2013, which was updated in 2014 and filed on SEDAR. Aldridge encountered financial difficulties and ultimately was sold to Virtus, headed by Aldridge’s major shareholder, Ahmet Taçyildiz. Trafigura Ventures V B.V. owns a 30% interest in Virtus. Virtus recently updated the feasibility study for Yenipazar and is currently seeking project financing for development of the project. Historical resources for Yenipazar are summarized in the tables below.*

1. Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing, or other relevant issues.
2. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred resources in this estimate are conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these Inferred resources as an Indicated or Measured mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to an Indicated or Measured mineral resource category.
3. The mineral resources in this estimate are compliant with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines as prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions.
4. All resources are reported within an optimized pit shell.
5. The metal prices used to derive the data in the above tables were reduced for use in this study to Cu USD 2.90/lb, Pb USD 0.95/lb, Zn USD 0.90/lb, Au USD 1,250/oz and Ag USD 20/oz. Due to the more than 4 times NSR value over NSR cut-off, this reduction is not expected to materially affect the reserve tonnage and grades.

The foregoing are “Historical Estimates” within the meaning of NI 43-101. Source: Section 14 of the NI 43-101 pre-feasibility study technical report titled “Technical Report on the Yenipazar Optimization Study” prepared by Jacobs Minerals Canada Inc. and filed on SEDAR by Aldridge Minerals Inc. with an effective date of April 15, 2014. The qualified persons for the resource estimates are Eugene J. Puritcvh P Eng, and Fred H. Brown P. Geo. For further details on other parameters utilized in the estimates, the reader is referred to Section 14 of the Yenipazar Report. 

A qualified person has not performed sufficient work to classify the historical reserve estimates as current mineral reserves, and EMX is not treating the historical estimates as current mineral reserves. Significant data compilation, confirmation drilling, re-sampling, data verification and updating of metal prices, engineering assumptions, and economic parameters may be required by a qualified person before the historical estimates can be classified as current. The historical reserve estimates are considered to be reliable and relevant, and are presented for informational purposes to describe the extent and nature of mineralization on the project as presently understood. The historical reserve estimates should not be relied upon until verified.

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