Ramaco Resources Inc. Class A press release

Minera Alamos Announces Positive Preliminary Economic Assessment for The Cerro de Oro Gold Project

2022-10-03

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After-Tax IRR of 111% and sub-$30 million CAPEX

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - October 3, 2022) - Minera Alamos Inc. (TSXV: MAI) ("Minera" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the positive results of an independent Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for its Cerro de Oro Project (the "Project") in Zacatecas, Mexico. The PEA was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 _Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects_("NI 43-101") by Scott Zelligan, P.Geo., Lawrence Segerstrom, M.Sc.,CPG, Peimeng Ling, P.Eng., Alex Duggan, P.Eng. and Toren Olsen, PG. A Technical Report with the details of the PEA will be filed on SEDAR under the Company's profile within 45 days of the date of this news release. (Note to reader: Unless stated all currency references are in US dollars).

Highlights of PEA

Production highlights Average annual gold production approaching 60,000oz (~60,000oz to 70,000oz in Years 1 through 4). 8.2 year mine life based on initial mineable total of 59 Mt of mineralization (0.37 g/t Au) heap leached at an average rate of approximately 20,000 tpd -- +0.40 g/t Au in Years 1 through 4. 477koz of gold produced in loaded carbon/doré. LOM strip ratio of 0.3:1 (waste: mineralization)

Robust economics using metals prices of $1,600/oz Au LOM All-In Sustaining Cost (AISC) of $873/oz -- averaging $763/oz in Years 1 through 4. After-Tax NPV at 5% of $150.5M and IRR of 111%.

Low capital intensity project with rapid payback: Pre-production capital costs of $28.1M (includes 30% contingency). Payback period of 11 months. Used crushing plant already purchased reduces up-front capital requirements.

Significant Upside Mineralization appears open in multiple directions as well as to depth. Additional metallurgical testing to examine amenability of gold recovery from deeper sulphide zones of mineralization not accounted for in current resource calculations and mine plans (some early indications that material may prove to be leachable).

Updated Inferred Mineral Resource estimate containing 67 million tonnes of 0.37 g/t Au (790 koz of contained gold) based on an upward revision of the base case resource metal price to $1,700/oz.

"Leaning on our team's collective experience in mine building in Mexico with capital and operating costs informed by the recent construction and ramp up of the Santana gold mine, the Cerro de Oro PEA is a game changer for Minera as we strive to reach our initial target of a +100,000 oz/y gold producer," commented Doug Ramshaw, President. "Given the rampant inflationary pressures across the industry, it is a testament to Minera's smart and nimble business model that a new mine could be developed at Cerro de Oro for the low capital intensity presented in the PEA."

Table 1 - PEA Economic Parameters Summary

| Cerro de Oro PEA Study | Life-of-Mine | | Gold Price1 | $1,600/oz | | Mine Life | 8.2 years | | Total Mineralization Processed | 59.3M | | Total Waste Mined | 17.9M | | Strip Ratio (Waste/Mineral) | 0.30 | | Average Annual Tonnes Processed2 | 7,300,000 | | Average Daily Tonnes Processed2 | 20 ktpd | | Heap Leach Gold Grade3 | 0.37 g/t | | Gold Recovery | 68% | | Average Annual gold production (oz)2 | 58,400 | | Total Gold Recovered | 476,610 | | Pre-production Capital | $28,080,000 | | Sustaining Capital | $14,700,000 | | Average AISC 4 | $873/oz | | After-Tax NPV (5%) | $150,500,000 | | After-Tax IRR | 111% | | After-Tax Payback Period | 11 months | | Exchange Rate (MXP/USD) | 20 | | After-Tax NPV (10%) | $115,500,000 | | Net Cash Flows (undiscounted) | $200,000,000 |

Notes:

1. Base case price for gold was assessed using long term consensus pricing factoring in a modest discount against the average of available bank and brokerage firm estimates. 2. Life-of-Mine Averages exclude partial production in year 9 3. LOM average combined grade of run-of-mine ("ROM") and crushed material sent to leach pads 4. "AISC per ounce" is a non-GAAP financial performance measures with no standardized definition under IFRS; additional reference info at bottom of release

PEA Cautionary Note:

Readers are cautioned that the PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred resources that are considered too speculative to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that the PEA results will be realized. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. Additional work is needed to upgrade these mineral resources to mineral reserves.

Capital Cost Estimates

Total pre-production capital costs at the Cerro de Oro Project are estimated at $28.1 million. Sustaining capital costs over the LOM are estimated at $14.7 million for a total Project capital cost of $42.8 million. The pre-production capital cost estimate includes the construction of a stand-alone gold recovery (to carbon) facility, Phase 1 of the heap leach pad construction and all necessary site infrastructure to bring the mine into production.

Preliminary site layouts for the project were completed and included suitable areas for life of mine leach pad areas, required pond volumes and other infrastructure items in addition to the process plant and crushing operations. Cost estimates are primarily based on cost factors/data obtained from the company's recent project construction experience in Mexico including the Santana gold project completed in 2021. To reduce initial capital requirements all open pit mining operations and associated capital costs are the responsibility of an independent mining contractor. In addition, the company plans to utilize (with some modifications) an existing crushing plant purchased previously and personnel will stay in the local municipality eliminating the requirement for any significant mine site camp facilities.

Table 2 - Initial and Sustaining Capital Costs (CAPEX)

| Area | Initial ($US) | Sustaining ($US) | Total ($US) | | Preproduction technical work and engineering (geo tech drilling, etc.) | 1,500,000 | 1,500,000 | | | Infrastructure and Misc. Construction (excl. crushing) | 3,000,000 | | | | Process Plant | 3,400,000 | | | | Pad construction | 7,000,000 | 13,200,000 | 21,200,000 | | Pond construction | 2,700,000 | | | | Crushing and Stacking Refurbishment | 2,000,000 | | | | Substation, Misc. Power | 2,000,000 | | | | Contingency (30%) | 6,480,000 | | | | Total Project | 28,080,000 | 14,700,000 | 42,780,000 |

Operating Cost Estimates

The total unit operating cost for the Project is estimated at US$ 6.66/t of mineralised material (including general and administrative costs - "G&A"). Operating costs were developed based on first principles where possible including estimated staffing levels, reagent consumptions and power requirements. Unit costs and allowances for G&A, maintenance supplies, etc. are based on data from current Minera Alamos facilities (Santana gold project) and other similar heap leach operations in Mexico. Power requirements for the process operation (excluding crushing) were estimated based on operating equipment motor sizes and plant availability, and costs assume diesel generation with a delivered diesel fuel cost of US$1.10/litre (approx. US$ 0.30/kWh). Power for the crushing system is assumed to be taken from the nearby power grid at a price of US$ 0.13/kWh. An overall contingency of 20% was applied to the operating cost totals to account for additional cost items such as outside contractors, laboratory consumables, vehicle fuel requirements, etc.

All mine operating activities are assumed to be the responsibility of a third party mining contractor. Contractor rates include drilling, blasting and transportation of the waste/ore. Costs for the Company mine services group were prepared separately and included. LOM operating costs are summarized in Table 3 below. Actual annual costs in the economic models for the project will vary based on the proposed annual mine schedule and utilize the unit costs detailed below.

Table 3 - Operating Costs (OPEX)

| Area | US$/t mineralized material 1

| US$/t mined 2 | | Open pit mining3 | 2.90 | 2.23 | | Crushing 4 | 0.52 | 0.40 | | Processing | 2.29 | 1.76 | | G&A | 0.32 | 0.25 | | Contingency (20%) 5 | 0.63 | 0.48 | | All-in OPEX | 6.66 | 5.13 |

Notes:

1. "Mineralized Material" represents mined material estimated to generate positive cash flows 2. "Mined" means total tonnes mined (mineralized + waste) 3. Open pit mining cost is $2.00/t for waste and $2.30/t for mineralization. A cost of $0.30/t mineralization has been included in the base case mining cost for mineralization to account for a longer haulage route to the leach pads than to the waste dumps. 4. Crushing costs are calculated per tonne of mineralized material to leach pad (or mined) assuming 30% of mineralized material is crushed (crushing unit cost is estimated at $1.74/t of crusher feed material) 5. Contingency is applied to OPEX excluding mine contractor rates which are current

Mineral Resources

As part of the PEA an updated Cerro de Oro project Mineral Resource Estimate was completed to reflect a higher gold price of US$1,700/oz which is more reflective of the three-year trailing average price. This reflects a change in the "reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction" due to the current market conditions. Other than the change to the gold price assumption, the remainder of the estimate methodology remain identical to that utilized in the previous NI 43-101 report "Mineral Resource Estimate for the Cerro de Oro Project" by Scott Zelligan, P.Geo dated November 16th, 2020 that is currently available on SEDAR. The block model was constrained using an economic pit shell at the updated gold price resulting in the new and current Mineral Resource estimate as presented in Table 4.

Table 4 - Cerro de Oro Project, Estimate of Mineral Resources

| Resource Category | Material Type | Tonnes (t) | Au (g/t) | Au (oz) | | Inferred | Oxide | 67,000,000 | 0.37 | 790,000 |

Notes:

The independent and QP for the mineral resource estimates, as defined by NI 43-101, is Scott Zelligan, P.Geo. The effective date of the 2022 mineral resource estimate is September 28, 2022. A gold price of $1,700/oz was used in calculating the Mineral Resources. The estimate is reported for a potential open pit/heap leach scenario. The limits of the Resource-constraining pit shell assumed a mining cut-off based on a total operating cost (mining, milling, and general and administrative [G&A]) of $8.80/t stacked, a metallurgical recovery of 70%, and a constant open pit slope angle of 45°. Inferred resources are too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them. The gold cut-off grade applied to oxide mineralized material is 0.15 g/t Au These Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves as they do not have demonstrated economic viability. The Mineral Resource estimate follows CIM Definition Standards. Results are presented in-situ. Ounce (troy) = metric tonnes x grade / 31.103. Calculations used metric units (metres, tonnes, g/t). Rounding followed the recommendations as per NI 43-101. The number of tonnes has been rounded to the nearest million. The QPs of this Report are not aware of any known environmental, permitting, legal, title-related, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues that could materially affect the Mineral Resource estimate other than those disclosed in this NI 43-101 compliant Technical Report.

The Mineral Resource estimate has been wholly classified as Inferred. The estimate represents the oxidized portion of the Cerro de Oro deposit. Although drill spacing is locally sufficient for Indicated classification, there remain necessary revisions and updates to the geological logs; better definition of the limit between the oxides and fresh rock; understanding of mineralization controls; and bulk density measurements. The reported inferred resources are estimated with an average drilling grid of approximately 85m by 85m.

Table 5 shows the open pit constrained Mineral Resource sensitivity to the gold price. The reader should be cautioned that the figures provided in Table 5 should not be interpreted as a Mineral Resource statement. The reported quantities and grade estimates at different gold prices are presented for the sole purpose of demonstrating the sensitivity of the resource model to the selection of a reporting gold price. The gold price of $1,700/oz that was used to report the Mineral Resources (the base case) for Cerro de Oro is highlighted in bold. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Table 5 - Sensitivity of Mineral Resource to Gold Price

| Gold Price ($/oz) | Category | Tonnes (Mt) | Gold Grade (g/t) | Contained Ounces ('000s) | | 1,500 | Inferred | 54 | 0.40 | 690 | | 1,600 | Inferred | 60 | 0.38 | 740 | | 1,700 | Inferred | 67 | 0.37 | 790 | | 1,800 | Inferred | 73 | 0.36 | 833 | | 1,900 | Inferred | 78 | 0.35 | 865 |

Note:Mineral Resource is shown in bold.

Mining

The Cerro de Oro Project is planned as a conventional open pit operation that will utilize 100-t haul trucks and front-end loaders. Material will be drilled and blasted, before being loaded and hauled to a waste dump, crusher, or direct to the heap leach pad. Mining activities will be completed by a contractor who will supply all of the required mine equipment and personnel working under the supervision of the Company's technical staff.

Using a nested pit shell that is based on a gold price of $1,500/oz and the economic parameters applied to the resource estimate as a guide, a full open pit mine plan was completed. Upon completion of the ultimate pit designs a check was completed that considered both revisions to the Company's gold price forecast and its operating cost estimates for the Project. A LOM gold price of $1600/oz was selected for use in the final mine planning economics. Based on available metallurgical data for the project and an evaluation of the host rock lithologies it was assumed that the majority of mineralization mined will be placed directly on the heap leach as run-of-mine ("ROM") with approximately 30% of the mineralization reporting to the crusher for size reduction (equivalent to crushing cut-off grade of approximately 0.40-0.45 g/t Au).

The mine production schedule anticipates that mining starts at the beginning of year 1 following the completion of all required earthworks activities such as road, dump and starter leach pad construction. Due to the low LOM strip ratio (0.30:1) and the size of the mineralization the PEA did not adjust the planned mining physicals to account for mining losses or dilution (magnitude of losses likely similar to dilution). Mine planning efforts going forward will be aimed at cut-off grades and the smoothing of the mining activities later in the mine life that may provide additional economic upside for the project. Over the life of mine of 8.2 years a total of 59Mt of mineralization grading 0.37 g/t gold (~700koz of contained gold) are anticipated to be mined.

Table 6 - Cerro de Oro Mine Production Schedule

| Year | Total Processed (tonnes) | Processed Head Grade Au (g/t) | Contained Gold (ounces) | Total Mined Material (tonnes) | Strip Ratio (Waste t: Mineral t) | | 1 | 6,540,000 | 0.44 | 93,400 | 7,230,000 | 0.11 | | 2 | 6,650,000 | 0.41 | 87,300 | 8,500,000 | 0.28 | | 3 | 7,500,000 | 0.41 | 99,000 | 10,000,000 | 0.33 | | 4 | 7,510,000 | 0.42 | 100,800 | 10,730,000 | 0.43 | | 5 | 7,200,000 | 0.32 | 73,800 | 10,500,000 | 0.46 | | 6 | 7,740,000 | 0.37 | 91,300 | 10,520,000 | 0.36 | | 7 | 7,500,000 | 0.32 | 76,900 | 10,740,000 | 0.43 | | 8 | 7,500,000 | 0.27 | 65,000 | 7,800,000 | 0.04 | | 9 | 1,160,000 | 0.36 | 13,400 | 1,160,000 | - | | | 59,300,000 | 0.37 | 700,900 | 77,180,000 | 0.30 |

Notes:

1. Processed totals include mineralization sent direct to the leach pad (41.5 million tonnes) and material sent to the crusher before stacking on the heap leach pad (17.8 million tonnes). 2. Total mined material values include all production from the open pit mine (mineralization + waste) for noted intervals.

Pit bench heights were selected at 5m intervals in order to provide good ore/waste selectivity although use of larger bench heights in zones of primarily waste and on final open pit walls should be considered as part of future optimization studies. Overall average pit slopes with the benches/ramps in place range between approximately 30-43 degrees in the north pit and 34 - 38 degrees in the south pit.

It is assumed that all drilling/blasting/loading/hauling operations at the Project are planned to be completed via an open pit mining contractor. Mining costs were developed for the project utilizing recent Mexican cost information for similar heap leach operations and as part of the Company's recent work at its Santana mine. Contractor availability in northern Mexico is currently high and rates are competitive. An additional cost was applied to the mineralized material to account on average for longer hauls to the heap leach pads over the mine life. Mine planning and supervision activities will be performed by Company personnel and these costs are excluded from contractor rates.

Processing

The process flowsheet for the Cerro de Oro project is similar to that utilized by the Company at their recently constructed Santana gold heap leach project. Metallurgical testwork completed to date on samples from the Cerro de Oro deposit indicate that the gold mineralization is well disseminated throughout the host rock and that the oxide mineralization responds positively to cyanidation. Residual gold contents following leaching in multiple series of bottle roll tests (conventional and coarse particle) appear to trend towards a typical range of ultimate values near 0.10 g/t Au. Leach kinetics were generally rapid in nature with low to moderate reagent consumptions (lime and cyanide). A limited number of column tests have been completed resulting in leach extractions consistent with those observed from bottle roll studies. Additional studies have been recommended to better define leaching parameters and any variability that may exist between the different mineralized zones and lithologies.

The process design for the Cerro de Oro gold project includes crushing of high grade material to less than 3/4-7/8" (30-35% of total with remaining low grade sent to leach pad as run-of-mine), a heap leaching pad, solution ponds and carbon column recovery of gold from pregnant leach solutions. The current design excludes carbon desorption and gold refining facilities as gold-loaded carbon will be shipped off-site for final dore production. The overall plant design was based on a nominal rate of 7,000,000 tonnes per year of mineralized material stacked to the leach pad at an average grade of 0.4 g/t Au. Sufficient excess capacity is included in the design to allow for expected annual variations in mine production around these nominal values. Base case leach solution flow rate to the carbon column recovery area was set at 800 m3/h with allowances to expand to 1,200 m3/h to accommodate increases in annual production rates and/or an expansion in the overall project resources.

The overall Cerro de Oro gold recovery facilities consist of the following unit operations and support facilities:

Low grade run-of-mine material leach pad loading via direct truck dump Two stage crushing (jaw and cone) and screening operations for higher grade mine material with conveyor/stacker transport to leach pad Lined heap leach pad area sufficient to handle current life-of-mine resource (40-50% constructed initially as Phase 1 with subsequent expansions) Lined leach solution ponds adjacent to the leach pad - barren, pregnant and emergency overflow solution capacity Four trains of 4 stage carbon in columns with area to expand to six trains All required process pumping and loaded and barren carbon handling Reagent preparation and storage facilities Metallurgical laboratory (necessary production samples only) Utilities including water supply system (surface wells) and diesel power generation