STRATEGIC MINERALS REPORTS SECOND QUARTER 2022 FINANCIAL RESULTS

TORONTO, Aug. 11, 2022 /CNW/ - Strategic Minerals Europe Corp. (NEO: SNTA) (FRA: 26K0) (OTCQB: SNTAF) ("Strategic Minerals" or the "Company"), a company focused on the production, development, and exploration of tin, tantalum and niobium, announces the results for the three months ended June 30, 2022. Strategic Minerals' second quarter 2022 ("Q2 2022") financial statements and MD&A have been filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). Unless otherwise indicated, all currency amounts are in U.S. dollars.

Q2 2022 Highlights

• On May 23, 2002, the Company was granted a definitive concession on Section C of the Penouta Mine – allowing the Company to fully develop the open pit mine for 30 years and renewable for up to 75 years.
• $4.7 million of revenue – an increase of $3.0 million or 175.8% from the same period in 2021.
• 67.4% profit before expenses and other as a percentage of revenue was achieved, compared to 66.7% in the prior year.
• Cassiterite sales increased by 76% to 141 tonnes compared to 80 tonnes in Q2 2021, with further gains expected from the plant improvements made in Q1 2022 and additional production from the deployment of Section C of the Penouta Mine.
• Tantalite and columbite sales were 24 tonnes compared to 28 tonnes for the same period in 2021 – and an increase from 5 tonnes in Q1 2022 when production was temporarily reduced to allow for the commission of a new primary crushing plant.
• Net income of $0.8 million, compared to a net loss of $0.2 million in Q2 2022, reflecting higher cassiterite sales, enhanced efficiencies and increased prices year over year.

Operational and Financial Summary for the Quarter ended June 30, 2022

Description	Units	Actual
		Q2 2022	Q2 2021	% Change
Total Concentrate Production	Tonnes	181	107	69.2 %
Tin Concentrate Sold	Tonnes	141	80	76.3 %
Tantalite Concentrate Sold	Tonnes	24	28	(14.3 %)
Revenue	$'000	4,688	1,700	175.8 %
Profit before expenses & other	$'000	3,158	1,134	178.6 %
Adjusted EBITDA^1	$'000	1,208	345	249.7 %
Net Income (Loss) Per Share	$	0.003	(0.001)	443.9 %

¹This is not a standardized financial measure and may not be comparable to similar financial measures of other issuers. See "Use of Non-IFRS Financial Measures" below for the composition and calculation of this financial measure.

"The achievement in the second quarter of increasing revenue by almost two times and adjusted EBITDA by 2.5 times reflects the successful application of our strategy to optimize and transform the Penouta mine," said Jaime Perez Branger, CEO of Strategic Minerals. "Based on the solid production and levels of efficiency we are seeing, we remain confident that these positive trends will continue. We expect to maintain production levels of 75 to 90 tonnes of concentrate per month for the rest of 2022 and position Strategic Minerals as the key ethical supplier of the metals that support the new green economy."

Operational and Financial Performance

During the second quarter of 2022, the Company consolidated the transition to open pit mining at Penouta and the commissioning of the new primary crushing plant, increasing its primary concentrate production to 181 tonnes, 3.8 times the production of the first quarter of 2022 and 1.7 times the production of the second quarter of 2021. In June, production of primary concentrate reached 72.2 tonnes, the largest volume for a single month. Further improvements in the second quarter included the installation of eight shaking tables and a Falcon gravimetric concentrator to increase the gravimetric process capacity and recovery of metallic minerals.

Quality of concentrate improved during the second quarter. Production consisted of 153 tonnes of cassiterite concentrate with 71.4% tin content and 28 tonnes of tantalite/columbite concentrate with 23.0% tantalite content and 25.0% columbite content.

Revenues for Q2 2022 were 2.8 times the revenues of Q2 2021, reaching $4.7 million. During the first half of the year, revenues totalled $5.8 million, 2.9 times the revenues of the first half of 2021. The Company's average sale price increased due to the mix of sales, higher international prices of metals during the period, and higher content of tin, tantalite and columbite in its produced concentrates.

Adjusted EBITDA reached $1.2 million or 25.8% as a percentage of sales for the second quarter, an increase of $0.9 million or 249.7% from the same period of 2021 ($0.3 million or 20.3% as a percentage of sales). Operating expenses related to the start of the crushing plant and blasting material from the open pit during the first quarter of this year, combined with expenses related to adjustments to operations and hiring of additional and more qualified personnel, resulted in negative adjusted EBITDA of $0.09 million for the first half of the year, which favourably compares to the negative adjusted EBITDA of $0.25 from the same period of 2021.

At the end of the period, cash and cash equivalents were $1.5 million compared to $2.2 million on December 31, 2022, reflecting the increase in cash used in operations, debt repayment and the commissioning of new equipment.

At the end of Q2 2022, the Company had a deficiency in working capital of $0.33 million compared to a working capital surplus of $0.64 million at the end of 2021. This was primarily attributable to the transition to open pit mining, commissioning the new primary crushing plant and fulfilling financial commitments, including the first annual installment of the government grant received from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation in January 2019.

Outlook

Strategic Minerals focuses on increasing production, reducing unitary costs, reinvesting profits to achieve organic and sustainable growth, and looking for new external financing opportunities to expand production, improve recovery levels and initiate downstream projects. The most prevalent strategic project underway is the full exploitation of Section C at the Penouta Project.

The granting of a definitive concession on Section C of the Penouta Mine, allows the Company to exploit the mineral resources for 30 years, renewable for up to 75 years. The Company now intends to fully develop the open pit mine to exploit cassiterite (tin), tantalum and niobium and the industrial minerals in the mine, such as quartz, feldspars and micas.

Production increased every month during 2022, bringing the Company close to reaching its guidance targets set at 75-90 tons of concentrate per month for the second half of the year. The total concentrate production of 42.8 tonnes in April, 66.7 tonnes in May and 72.2 tonnes in June demonstrates the sequential progress achieved in Q2 2022.

Concentrate quality improved during the second quarter of 2022 as production consisted of 153 tonnes of cassiterite concentrate with 71.2% tin content and 28 tonnes of tantalite/columbite concentrate with 23.0% tantalite content and 25.0% columbite content. The Company's target is to maintain this trend during the second half of the year.

The Company's average sale price increased due to the mix of sales, the higher content of tin, tantalite and columbite in its concentrates, and favourable international prices of metals during the period. As of the date of this release, international prices of minerals have decreased due to intensified fears of a global recession, inflation pressure on the leading economies and the continuation of the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

About Strategic Minerals Europe Corp.

Strategic Minerals' wholly-owned subsidiary, Strategic Minerals Spain, S.L. ("SMS"), produces, identifies, explores, and develops mineral resource properties critical to the green economy, predominantly in Spain. SMS holds permits and a license for the Penouta Project, which allows the Company to produce and conduct exploration, and an investigation permit at the Alberta II Project, allowing it to conduct exploration work already underway. SMS is the largest producer of tin and tantalum in the European Union and has been recognized within the EU as an exemplary company of good practices in the circular economy. The Company is well-positioned as a major producer of sustainable and conflict-free tin, tantalum, and niobium and is exploring for lithium. Strategic Minerals is a "reporting issuer" under applicable securities legislation in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario.

Additional information on Strategic Minerals can be found by reviewing its profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information:

This news release contains "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Strategic Minerals to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements are described under the caption "Risks Factors" in the Company's Annual Information Form dated March 29, 2022, which is available for view on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements contained herein, including but not limited to the Company's ability to optimize and expand production, the increase in demand in the new green economy, the ability of to continue to meet working capital requirements, its ability to increase the quality of the concentrate, and the Company's expectation that it will reach a production level of between 70 and 90 tonnes of concentrate per month by the end of the second quarter of 2022, are made as of the date of this press release and Strategic Minerals disclaims, other than as required by law, any obligation to update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, results, future events, circumstances, or if management's estimates or opinions should change, or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Strategic Minerals' operations could be significantly adversely affected by the effects of a widespread global outbreak of a contagious disease, including the recent outbreak of illness caused by COVID-19. It is not possible to accurately predict the impact COVID-19 will have on operations and the ability of others to meet their obligations, including uncertainties relating to the ultimate geographic spread of the virus, the severity of the disease, the duration of the outbreak, and the length of travel and quarantine restrictions imposed by governments of affected countries. In addition, a significant outbreak of contagious diseases in the human population could result in a widespread health crisis that could adversely affect the economies and financial markets of many countries, resulting in an economic downturn that could further affect operations and the ability to finance its operations.

RECONCILIATION OF NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES

This announcement refers to the following non-IFRS financial performance measures:

Adjusted EBITDA

Adjusted EBITDA represents earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, and amortization ("EBITDA"), adjusted to exclude share-based payments and RTO transaction costs. Adjusted EBITDA provides insight into our overall business performance (a combination of cost management and growth) and is intended to provide additional information for the reader as we believe certain investors could use this information to evaluate the Company's underlying performance of its core operations and its ability to generate cash flow and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. These measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to other issuers.

($ thousands)	Three Months ended June 30, 2022	Three Months ended June 30, 2021
Revenue	4,688	1,700
Changes in inventories of finished goods & work in progress	(26)	(151)
Raw materials and consumables used	(574)	(169)
Supplies	(930)	(246)
Other operating expenses	(1,433)	(571)
Employee expenses	(614)	(424)
Other income (expense)	97	207
Adjusted EBITDA	1,208	345

SOURCE Strategic Minerals Europe Corp.

regarding Strategic Minerals, please contact: Elena Terrón, Corporate Secretary, Strategic Minerals Europe Corp., [email protected]; Craig MacPhail, NATIONAL Capital Markets, [phone], [email protected]