AEX Gold Inc. Reports Third Quarter Financial Results and Operational Update

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / November 24, 2021 / AEX Gold Inc. (AIM:AEXG)(TSXV:AEX), an independent gold company with a portfolio of exploration licences in Greenland, announces its unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements ("Financial Statements") for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. All figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.

The Financial Statements and the accompanying Management Discussion and Analysis are available on the Corporation's website at www.aexgold.com and will be filed under the Corporation's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com later today.

As previously communicated, the Nalunaq Project was put on hold in February 2021 due to unforeseen cost increases associated with the impacts of the COVID-19 global pandemic. As per the April 2021 announcement, the Corporation has been focussing on four elements to continue advancing and de-risking the Nalunaq Project:

• Conducting a third-party engineering study to optimize the Project costs and de-risk the Project schedule that will enable AEX to re-assess the execution methodology (self-execution vs. EPC) post completion;
• Conducting fully funded 'early works' infrastructure and a 20,000 to 30,000 metres exploration program to build upon the Nalunaq Resource;
• Continue to advance the EIA and SIA to obtain all permits;
• Regional exploration targeting both gold and Green/Strategic minerals through technical research, sampling and geophysical surveys.

Corporate and Operational Update

• Halyard Inc. ("Halyard") is on track to complete the engineering study focused on the process plant and surface infrastructure by end of Q4 2021. The engineering study is focused on de-risking the Nalunaq Project cost and schedule through additional and improved trade-off studies and advancing engineering to feasibility level
• Over 9,000 metres of diamond drilling have been completed so far in the Valley Block, with 90% of drill holes reaching target depth and intersecting the main vein. The drilling target for the full year has been reduced to 10,000 to 15,000 metres, and four winterised drilling rigs continue to operate on site until mid-December.
• The new 50 person winterised exploration camp has been completed and will give the Corporation the ability to restart site activities in early 2022.
• In addition to this, the bridge over the Kirkespir River, which connects the camp to the Nalunaq site, has been expanded and improved to provide reliable access between the exploration camp and the historical mine site all year round.
• A condition assessment of the bulkhead was conducted in early November 2021 to confirm the design parameters and the quality of construction after which a remediation plan will be developed. The assessment included non-destructive pile integrity and ultrasound tests to determine the bulkhead thickness as well as an unconfined compressive strength test of cored concrete samples. The final report will be issued in December 2021.
• Procurement completed prior to the February 2021 delay announcement has been reconciled to the overall project cost estimate and all major process plant components were taken delivery of in October and moved to storage locations in Montreal and Denmark. Critical fleet such as the fuel truck, multi-purpose truck, industrial snow blower, personnel bus, ambulance and crane have been delivered to site for usage during this and future field seasons.
• The Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA") and Social Impact Assessment ("SIA") are being advanced with no material update at this phase.
• Further exploration activities, mine planning, mine infrastructure and mine development will be evaluated based on the outcomes of the 2021 drilling campaign. In preparation for this evaluation, representatives from mining contractors and an underground geotechnical engineering team have conducted technical visits to the former mine. One key observation has been that the ground conditions are considered as high quality.
• Exploration activities across the license portfolio continue with assistance from Goldspot and SRK. This has been targeting both additional gold resource potential as well as base, critical and strategic metals.
• Field activities have seen further gold exploration including targeted airborne geophysics on Vagar, Nanoq, Tartoq and on targets north east of Nalunaq in order to progress these to a drill ready status.
• AEX geologists have completed further assessment of the graphite hosting potential of the licence portfolio and have collected representative bulk samples from the Nørream target.
• The Saaqqa Platinum Element Group (PGE) hosting dyke system close to Nalunaq has also been revisited in 2021 with additional confirmation samples taken as well as ground geophysics for future drill sighting.
• Activities have also focused on the Corporation's Sava Iron-Oxide-Copper-Gold (IOCG) target with airborne geophysics, advanced geochemistry and alteration mapping having been completed. This target holds the potential to host copper, gold, and Rare Earth Element (REE) mineralisation.
• On 6 October 2021, the Corporation received approval for a new mineral exploration licence in the Kobberminebugt region of South Greenland covering an area of approximately 266 km 2 . This licence area hosts the former producing Josva copper mine which will be the focus for AEX's further exploration due diligence. AEX consider this to be an extension of the IOCG belt that also hosts the Sava target and is believed to be similar to belts in Northern Sweden.

Management Update

James Gilbertson was appointed as Vice President - Exploration on September 13, 2021 and will oversee all of the Corporation's exploration activities. James has been working with AEX as a consultant for the past six years and will now join the Corporation on a full-time basis. James has over 20 years of experience in mineral exploration and resource development with 17 years as a Principal Exploration Geologist, and until recently, as Managing Director of SRK Exploration.

Q3 2021 Financial Highlights

• The Corporation had a strong cash balance of $37.9 million as at September 30, 2021 ($61.9 million at December 31, 2020), with no debt, and total net working capital of $34.5 million ($61.4 million at December 31, 2020).
• Capital asset purchase commitments, net of deposits on order as at September 30, 2021 was $0.9 million. These decrease from the prior quarter relates predominantly to the receipt of major process plant components and surface mobile vehicles. Available liquidity, net of commitments as at September 30, 2021 was $37.0 million.
• Construction in progress increased by $6.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 (zero at December 31, 2020), primarily resulting from the purchase of major process plant equipment and mobile surface vehicles, deposits on orders, and preliminary surface infrastructure in advance of future project development activities.
• Exploration and evaluation expenses during the quarter was $4.2 million (Q3 2020: $2.9 million), predominantly on the Nalunaq Property.
• General and administrative expenses during the period were $3.0 million (Q3 2020: $1.1 million), the result of increased headcount that was relative to Q3 2020 and severance costs associated with the departure of Martin Menard.

Selected Financial Information

The following selected financial data is extracted from the Financial Statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021.

Financial Results

Financial Position

Eldur Olafsson, CEO of AEX, commented:

"I am pleased to report a strong set of results, with the Company currently well capitalised and advancing on all our key workstreams.

We have made significant progress during the quarter across our entire licence area, both in terms of development at Nalunaq and our wider exploration opportunities.

Despite taking a cost conscious and disciplined strategic approach, we continue to be extremely excited by the wider exploration potential of our assets. The Board looks forward to being able to demonstrate the potential value of its non-gold, strategic mineral assets in due course."

Enquiries:

AEX Gold Inc.

Eldur Olafsson, Director and CEO
+354 665 2003
eo@aexgold.com

Eddie Wyvill, Investor Relations
+44 (0) 7713 126727
ew@aexgold.com

Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Nominated Adviser and Broker)

Callum Stewart
Simon Mensley
Ashton Clanfield
+44 (0) 20 7710 7600

Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Joint Broker)

John Prior
Hugh Rich
Dougie Mcleod
+44 (0) 20 7886 2500

Camarco (Financial PR)

Gordon Poole
Emily Hall
+44 (0) 20 3757 4980

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AEX Gold Inc: Unaudited Condensed Interim Consolidated Financial Statements for the three and nine Months Ended September 30, 2021

AEX Gold Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Financial Position
(Unaudited, in Canadian Dollars)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements.

AEX Gold Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Loss
(Unaudited, in Canadian Dollars)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements.

AEX Gold Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity
(Unaudited, in Canadian Dollars)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements.

AEX Gold Inc.
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(Unaudited, in Canadian Dollars)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements.

AEX Gold Inc.
Condensed Notes to the interim Consolidated Financial Statements
Three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020
(Unaudited, in Canadian Dollars)

1. NATURE OF OPERATIONS, BASIS OF PRESENTATION

AEX Gold Inc. (the "Corporation") was incorporated on February 22, 2017, under the Canada Business Corporations Act . The Corporation's head office is situated at 3400, One First Canadian Place, P.O. Box 130, Toronto, Ontario, M5X 1A4, Canada. The Corporation operates in one industry segment, being the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties. It owns interests in properties located in Greenland. The Corporation's financial year ends on December 31. Since July 2017, the Corporation's shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSX-V") under the AEX ticker and since July 2020, the Corporation's shares are also listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange ("AIM") under the AEXG ticker.

These unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 ("Financial Statements") were approved by the Board of Directors on November 23, 2021.

1.1 Basis of presentation

The Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IFRS") including International Accounting Standard ("IAS") 34, Interim Financial Reporting. The Financial Statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.

The Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the annual financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020, which have been prepared in accordance with IFRS. The accounting policies, methods of computation and presentation applied in these Financial Statements are consistent with those of the previous financial year ended December 31, 2020.

2. CRITICAL ACCOUNTING JUDGMENTS AND ASSUMPTIONS

The preparation of the Financial Statements requires Management to make judgments and form assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the Financial Statements and reported amounts of expenses during the reporting period. On an ongoing basis, Management evaluates its judgments in relation to assets, liabilities and expenses. Management uses historical experience and various other factors it believes to be reasonable under the given circumstances as the basis for its judgments. Actual outcomes may differ from these estimates under different assumptions and conditions.

In preparing the Financial Statements, the significant judgements made by Management in applying the Corporation accounting policies and the key sources of estimation uncertainty were the same as those that applied to the Corporation's audited annual financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020. Estimates and assumptions are continually evaluated and are based on historical experience and other factors, including expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances.

3. MINERAL PROPERTIES

4. CAPITAL ASSETS

4. CAPITAL ASSETS (CONT'D)

Depreciation of capital assets related to exploration and evaluation properties is being recorded in exploration and evaluation expenses in the consolidated statement of comprehensive loss, under depreciation. Depreciation of $122,672 ($157,513 for the nine months ended September 30, 2020) was expensed as exploration and evaluation expenses.

As at September 30, 2021, the Corporation had capital asset purchase commitments, net of deposit on order, of $939,016. These commitments relate to purchases of equipment, infrastructure and vehicles. The deposit on order mainly related to purchases of surface mobile equipment as well as components of the process plant that was taken delivery of in October 2021.

5. LEASE LIABILITIES

6. STOCK OPTIONS

An incentive stock option plan (the "Plan") was approved initially in 2017 and renewed by shareholders on June 9, 2021. The Plan is a "rolling" plan whereby a maximum of 10% of the issued shares at the time of the grant are reserved for issue under the Plan to executive officers and directors, employees and consultants. The Board of directors attributes the stock options and the exercise price of the options shall not be less than the closing price on the last trading day preceding the grant date. The options have a maximum term of ten years. Options granted pursuant to the Plan shall vest and become exercisable at such time or times as may be determined by the Board, except options granted to consultants providing investor relations activities shall vest in stages over a 12 month period with a maximum of one-quarter of the options vesting in any three-month period. The Corporation has no legal or constructive obligation to repurchase or settle the options in cash.

On June 9, 2021, the Corporation granted the CFO with 900,000 stock options exercisable at an exercise price of $0.59, with an expiry date of December 31, 2027. The stock options vested 100% at the grant date. Those options were granted at an exercise price equal the closing market value of the shares the previous day of the grant. Total stock-based compensation costs amount to $360,000 for an estimated fair value of $0.40 per option. The fair value of the options granted was estimated using the Black-Scholes model with no expected dividend yield, 75.85% expected volatility, 1.07% risk-free interest rate and 6.6 years options expected life. The expected life and expected volatility were estimated by benchmarking comparable companies to the Corporation.

6. STOCK OPTIONS (CONT'D)

Changes in stock options are as follows:

Stock options outstanding and exercisable as at September 30, 2021 are as follows:

7. EXPLORATION AND EVALUATION EXPENSES

8. GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATION

Further Information:

About AEX

AEX's principal business objectives are the identification, acquisition, exploration and development of gold properties in Greenland. The Corporation's principal asset is a 100% interest in the Nalunaq Project, an advanced exploration stage property with an exploitation license including the previously operating Nalunaq gold mine. The Corporation has a portfolio of gold assets covering 4,090km 2 , the largest portfolio of gold assets in Southern Greenland covering the two known gold belts in the region. AEX is incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act and wholly owns Nalunaq A/S, incorporated under the Greenland Public Companies Act .

Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, which reflects the Corporation's current expectations regarding future events and the future growth of the Corporation's business. In this press release there is forward-looking information based on a number of assumptions and subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Corporation's control, that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to the factors discussed under "Risk Factors" in the Final Prospectus available under the Corporation's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com . Any forward-looking information included in this press release is based only on information currently available to the Corporation and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Corporation assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect new circumstances or events. No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Inside Information

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the UK version of Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 on Market Abuse ("UK MAR"), as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, and Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 on Market Abuse ("EU MAR").

Qualified Person Statement

The technical information presented in this press release has been approved by James Gilbertson CGeol, VP Exploration for AEX Gold and a Chartered Geologist with the Geological Society of London, and as such a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101.

SOURCE: AEX Gold Inc.