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10 Innovation Excellence Awards 2021

‘As an exploration and development company, our primary and ongoing goal is to remain proactive in developing and enhancing our responsible mining efforts to positively benefit all our key stakeholders and shareholders’: Jose Vizquerra, CEO of O3 Mining Inc.

‘As an exploration and development company, our primary and ongoing goal is to remain proactive in developing and enhancing our responsible mining efforts to positively benefit all our key stakeholders and shareholders’: Jose Vizquerra, CEO of O3 Mining Inc.

O3 Mining Inc., an Osisko Group company, is a gold explorer and mine developer on the road to produce from its highly prospective gold camps in Québec, Canada. It is well-capitalized and owns 100% interest in all its properties in Québec. The company is focused on delivering superior returns to its shareholders and long-term benefits to its stakeholders. The company trades on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX.V: OIII) and OTC Markets (OTCQX: OIIIF).

O3 Mining was founded in 2019 and is based in Toronto, Ontario.

Interview Excerpt: Jose Vizquerra

Q. Tell us about the history of the company and its transformation over the years.

We are a company on the road to produce from our highly prospective gold camps in Québec, Canada. Since its inception, O3 Mining has raised over C$100M to advance its exploration projects and has acquired properties for a total value of roughly C$50M to consolidate a key region in the Val-d’Or gold camp in Québec. These initiatives have allowed us to move closer to our goal of becoming a multi-million-ounce, high-growth gold producing company, with over 137,000 hectares of prospective ground. Our projects host 2.4 million gold ounces of M&I resources at 1.22 g/t Au and 1.5 million gold ounces of inferred resources at 2.27 g/t Au.

Marban is our flagship project, and we aim to build on last year’s Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) by initiating the Pre-Feasibility Study this year. We believe there is a lot more gold that we can bring into the existing resources by expanding the existing deposits and drilling other nearby targets which have the potential to grow the mining operation we are planning. We are focused on converting, expanding and making new discoveries.

To the east, at our Alpha project, we have a strong pipeline of targets ranging from grassroots areas to deposit delineation and expansion, which we are drilling simultaneously. Alpha is an exciting project due to its significant land position in the heart of the Abitibi district. It is located in a great geological setting and through artificial intelligence, we have been able to identify over 25 new targets. With a purchase option agreed on the Aurbel mill in 2020, O3 Mining has the opportunity to develop a relatively low-cost mining operation once we have defined and delineated sufficient resources and completed economic studies on them.

In January, O3 Mining divested its Garrison project for C$50 million to Moneta Porcupine to form a strategic partnership and help create a leading exploration and development company in Ontario. O3 now owns approximately 27% of Moneta Porcupine and will continue to unlock value for its shareholders while maintaining exposure to its development potential as the company focuses its resources on advancing its core assets in Québec.

The company benefits from the support, previous mine-building success and expertise of the Osisko team as it grows towards becoming a gold producer at its multi-million-ounce deposits in Québec.

 Q. What are your focus areas? Please share an overview.

Our main objective for 2021 is to complete our previously announced 250,000 metre drilling program in Québec. Drilling at Marban has focused on expanding mineralization in and outside of the proposed PEA pit areas, as well as discovering new mineralization for an underground mining scenario. An 80,000 metre drill program is being executed this year and there will be up to eight drill rigs testing for Potential Economic Material (“PEM”), as well as aiming to convert resources from Inferred to Measured and Indicated, to ultimately become part of Marban’s maiden mineral reserve.

Drilling at Alpha is at an earlier stage than at Marban and has focused on grassroots exploration, deposit delineation, and resource expansion. A 56,000 metre program is being executed this year and there will be up to three drill rigs testing for new discoveries using its PEM drilling strategy as well as focusing on deposit delineation and expansion of the current resource.

As an exploration company, our primary and ongoing goal is to remain proactive in developing and enhancing our responsible mining efforts to positively benefit all our key stakeholders. As O3 advances towards its vision to become a best-in-class gold producer, we continue to implement sustainable practices as a fundamental part of our business strategy.

Please give us a better understanding of your company and its uniqueness.

O3 Mining operates in a world-class gold district where more than 30Moz of gold has been produced. Using innovative and sustainable techniques, we have defined 2.5Moz of gold in less than one year and implemented the second-largest drilling program in Québec as we aim to find more.

Q. What are your upcoming events on the list? How are they different from the previously organized events?

We are proud to have released O3 Mining’s first ESG report and we expect to obtain the ECOLOGO certification this year. Through O3 Mining’s rapid growth, we have implemented procedures and best practices across all ESG pillars to ensure the health and safety of our employees, subcontractors, and communities, minimize our impacts on the environment, build strong and trusting relationships with different stakeholders, including First Nations, and manage our business with elevated governance standards. We are highly committed to bringing value to our shareholders and to bringing prosperity, job creation, and opportunities to local businesses, and other long-term benefits to the regions of Val-d’Or and Malartic.

The Leader at the Helm of O3 Mining Inc.

Jose Vizquerra, serves as the CEO, President and a director of O3 Mining Inc. Prior to his appointment at O3 Mining, Mr. Vizquerra was Executive Vice President of Strategic Development for Osisko Mining Inc. Mr. Vizquerra joined Osisko Mining from Oban Mining Corporation, where, as President and CEO, he played a leading role in the combination of Oban, Corona Gold Corporation, Eagle Hill Exploration Corporation, and Ryan Gold Corporation to form Osisko Mining. Through ambitious drilling and prudent capital raising, Osisko Mining has become the highly-valued proponent of the world-class Windfall gold project. Prior to that, Mr. Vizquerra was head of business development for Compañia de Minas Buenaventura. Previously, he was a production and exploration geologist at the Red Lake gold mine in Ontario.

Mr. Vizquerra currently serves as a director of Moneta Porcupine and as an advisor to the Discovery Metals Corporation and Palamina Resources boards. The Young Mining Professionals recognized Mr. Vizquerra as one of their Young Mining Professionals of the year with the 2019 Peter Munk Award.

Mr. Vizquerra has completed the General Management Program (GMP-20) and the Advance Finance Program (AFP-21) at the Wharton School of Business. He holds an M.Sc. in Mineral Exploration from Queens University and a B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from UPC Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas. Mr. Vizquerra is a Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101.

“Our projects in Québec host 3.9 million gold ounces at 1.62 g/t Au in M&I and inferred resources”

 “As O3 advances towards its vision to become a best-in-class gold producer, we continue to implement increasingly sustainable practices as a fundamental part of our business strategy.”

  For More Info_ www.03mining.com


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