Marimaca Copper Corp. announced results of the Phase 6 Metallurgical testing program (the ?Phase 6 Program? or the ?Program?) for the Company?s flagship Marimaca Oxide Copper Project (?the MOD?

or ?the Project?), located in northern Chile. The Phase 6 program was designed to evaluate leaching conditions to optimize acid consumption, recoveries and leaching efficiency to be incorporated into the ongoing Definitive Feasibility Study (?DFS?). Program Overview: Phase 6 Metallurgy comprised of a set of leaching tests in five 1m high, 6-inch diameter columns.

The sample set consisted of green oxides comprised 50% brochantite/atacamite and 50% chrysocholla with a total sample size of 240kg which was crushed at P90 ½?, consistent with previous metallurgical test-work phases. The sample was subjected to separation by sieving, in the ½?, ¼?, 10 and -10 Tyler meshes, and then, from each granulometric fraction, a sample size was taken as required to form the program design cut under the standardized ?cut by mono size? technique.

Process seawater used in the column tests was sourced from the counterparty to Marimaca?s water option agreement to accurately represent the industrial process water that will be used at the Marimaca operation (see Water Option press release dated November 7, 2022). The leaching conditions were focused on variables to optimize acid consumption. The two variables controlled were acid dosing in curing step, and the Leaching Ratio (m3 irrigate solution/tonne ore).

The head grade of the ore, the grade of ripios resulting from leaching, the initially acidified seawater, the pregnant leaching solution (?PLS?) and the raffinate solutions were each characterized by the elements for which the evolution of impurities was monitored. The evolution of impurities was quantified by determining the concentration in the PLS solutions of the following elements: FeT, Al, Mg, Mn, Na, Cl- and SO4= and Cu. Cu was removed from the PLS solutions by solvent extraction (SX), at the end of each leaching cycle.

Column Tests: Results were evaluated from two leaching cycles over five columns. In both irrigation cycles, the tests operate in a closed circuit with a volume of irrigation solution equivalent to 10 days of operation, which, at an irrigation rate of 10 L/h/m2 is equivalent to a leaching rate of 0.93m3/to (approximately) for each cycle and 1.86 m3/t in total. Column 1 (C-1) and Column 2 (C-2) were leached with seawater and acid in the first cycle, then the PLS obtained was treated by solvent extraction and the raffinate produced was used for the second leaching cycle.

The PLS from the second cycle of each column (C-1 and C-2) was then treated by solvent extraction (SX) and both raffinate solutions produced were mixed and used as the leaching solution for Column 3 (C-3). The post-SX raffinate of the C-3 PLS was used to leach Column 4 (C-4) and similarly for C-4 to Column 5 (C-5). Following the irrigation cycle in each column, the solution contained inside the column was allowed to drain, and the ripios were washed by passing a seawater solution at pH 3 at an irrigation rate of 10 L/h/m2 for 24 hours.

The drained volume was measured and analyzed for the same elements considered in the analysis of the PLS solutions. Following drainage of the washing stage, the ripios were unloaded from the respective columns and the wet and dry weights were recorded. A subsample equal to a quarter of the total ripios sample was sent for chemical assays following separation.

Results: Acid Consumption: Acid consumption was measured by both total acid consumption (CAB) and net acid consumption (CAN). CAN reflects acid consumed only by the gangue minerals (carbonate, aluminium, total iron, magnesium) given raffinate is recirculated with the acid consumed by copper post the SX stage. Geomet 6 was designed to evaluate the optimization of acid consumption by evaluating three variables: acid curing rate (20kg/t), acid concentration (10gpl) and leaching ratio (1.86m3/t).

Results of the column test acid consumption. Average CAB was 36.91kg/t while average CAN was 30.63kg/t.