Maritime Delivers Robust Economics for Updated Hammerdown Project Resource: After-Tax NPV5% of $111.3M, IRR 50.5% and 1.5 Year Payback

2020-02-29

TSXV - TSX Venture Exchange · Uranium · Rare Earth Elements · Gold · Canada

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - February 29, 2020) - Maritime Resources (TSXV: MAE) ("Maritime" or the "Company") is pleased to announce results from a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") completed for the Hammerdown gold project ("Hammerdown", or the "Project"), including the satellite Orion deposit, located in the Baie Verte mining district of Newfoundland and Labrador near the towns of King's Point and Springdale. The PEA was prepared in accordance with Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-101 _Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects _("NI 43-101").The PEA provides an updated resource estimate and a base case assessment of developing the Project as a combined open pit and underground ramp-access mine (the "Combined Project")with an on-site gold pre-concentration plant and mineral processing through the Nugget Pond mill gold circuit. The PEA replaces the April 2017 Pre-feasibility Technical Report that was filed on SEDAR which is no longer current. A current PEA Technical Report will be filed on SEDAR under the Company's profile within 45 days of the date of this news release. All financial figures are presented in Canadian dollars (C$) unless otherwise noted.

Hammerdown PEA Highlights and life-of-mine plan ("LOM") include*:

• After-tax NPV5%of $111.3M and 50.5% IRR (pre-tax NPV5% $191.8M and 75.4% IRR) at base case gold price of US$1,375/oz Au

• At US$1,500/oz gold the Project returns after-tax NPV5%of $154.1M and 65.1% IRR (pre-tax NPV5% $261.7M and 95.6% IRR)

• LOM total gold production of 521,500 oz, averaging 57,900 oz annually

• Average annual gold production of 69,500 oz in the first 5 years

• LOM cash costs of US$802.55/oz Au and LOM All-in sustaining costs ("AISC") of US$938.80/oz Au

• Pre-production capital expenditures of $57.2M

• After-tax payback period of 1.5 years with base case pricing

The foregoing PEA highlights are based on the following:

1. Exchange Rate (US$/C$) of $0.75

2. Cash costs are inclusive of mining costs, processing costs, on-site general and administrative("G&A") costs, treatment and refining charges and royalties

3. AISC includes cash costs plus estimated corporate G&A, sustaining capital and closure costs

*Cautionary Statement: The reader is advised that the PEA summarized in this press release is preliminary in nature and is intended to provide only an initial, high-level review of the Project potential and design options. Readers are encouraged to read the PEA in its entirety, including all qualifications and assumptions. The PEA is intended to be read as a whole, and sections should not be read or relied upon out of context. The PEA mine plan and economic model include numerous assumptions and the use of Inferred Resources. Inferred Resources are considered to be too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves and to be used in an economic analysis except as allowed for by NI 43-101 in PEA studies. There is no guarantee that Inferred Resources can be converted to Indicated or Measured Resources, and as such, there is no guarantee the Combined Project economics described herein will be achieved. The PEA will replace the 2017 pre-feasibility study technical report.

Maritime's President and CEO, Garett Macdonald, commented: "As a result of the extensive technical and environmental studies completed over the past 9 months, which included the updated mineral resource model for Hammerdown, an evaluation of open pit mining methods together with underground mining at both the Hammerdown and Orion deposits, and introducing pre-concentration technology to reduce dilution entering the mill feed, we completed a redesign of the project to better capture the value that this unique asset has to offer. Nearly 20 years ago, the former Hammerdown mine was one of the highest-grade gold mines in Canada with a LOM grade of 15.7 gpt Au and operated when gold prices averaged US$320/oz. Today, with gold prices above US$1,500/oz and the benefit of these important design elements we can evaluate gold deposits with lower cut-off grades and mining methods that unlock value to maximize economic returns. Our project concept envisions a combined open pit and underground operation at Hammerdown and, for the first time, has included the satellite Orion deposit ("Orion") into the project's design. Together, the Combined Project has the potential to produce an average of 57,900 ounces annually during a 9 year mine life, recovering 521,500 ounces in total. Run of mine (ROM) mineralization would be sorted on site and processed at the Nugget Pond mill with separate crushing and grinding infrastructure to decouple the gold circuit from the current base metals operations. The PEA demonstrates the potential to develop the Project with a low $57.2M initial capital cost with high operating margins. Strong project after-tax economics are indicated by a NPV5%of $111.3M, an IRR of 50.5% and a 1.5 year payback at base case gold pricing of US$1,375/oz. The first 5 years are especially strong with an average of 69,500 oz produced annually contributing approximately $130M of undiscounted cash flow. At a gold price of US$1,500/oz the project returns a NPV5%of $154.1M, a IRR of 65.1% with a 1.3 year payback. Hammerdown is a brownfield site and benefits from significant local infrastructure and a skilled local work force. Exploration potential at both Hammerdown and Orion is considered excellent with the primary targets being the offset of the Hammerdown deposit and the down dip extension of Orion."

Table 1. PEA Parameters and Outputs - Base Case US$1375/oz Au, $0.755 FX, 5% Discount

| After-tax NPV5%($M) | 111.3 | | After-tax IRR (%) | 50.5 | | After-tax payback (years) | 1.5 | | LOM tonnes processed (Mt) | 2,138,000 | | LOM Au grade Au (gpt) | 7.82 | | LOM Au mill recovery (%) | 97.0 | | LOM Au production (oz) | 521,500 | | Average annual Au production (oz) | 57,900 | | Pre-Production Capital ($M) | 57.2 | | LOM Sustaining Capital ($M) | 84.8 | | LOM AISC (US$/oz) | 938.80 | | Mine life (years) | 9.0 |

Table 2. All-In Sustaining Costs

| Area | LOM ($M) | | Open pit mining | 168.34 | | Underground mining | 214.16 | | Crushing, pre-concentration | 50.57 | | Mineral processing incl. haulage | 106.37 | | Water management | 3.86 | | General & administrative | 10.35 | | Surface handling | 2.14 | | Total operating costs | 555.79 | | Refining & smelting | 1.20 | | Royalties | 8.33 | | Sustaining capital, incl. closure | 84.83 | | Total costs | 650.15 | | LOM Au ounces recovered | 521,500 | | All-in sustaining cost (US$/oz) | 938.80 |

Sensitivities

After-tax economic sensitivities to gold prices and discount rates are presented in Tables 3 and 4, illustrating the effects of varying gold price and discount rates as compared to the base-case. Additional project sensitivities will be presented in the Technical Report that will be filed on SEDAR under the Company's profile within 45 days of the date of this news release.

Table 3. Sensitivity to gold price

| Gold Price (US$/oz) | $1,225 | $1,375 | $1,500 | $1,650 | | After-Tax NPV5% ($M) | 58.9 | 111.3 | 154.1 | 204.4 | | After-Tax IRR (%) | 31.4 | 50.5 | 65.1 | 81.5 | | After-Tax Payback (Years) | 1.8 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.2 |

Table 4. Sensitivity to discount rate at base case pricing assumptions

| Discount Rate (%) | 5.0% | 7.0% | 10.0% | 12.0% | | After-Tax NPV ($M) | 111.3 | 99.5 | 84.3 | 75.5 |

PEA Overview

The PEA considers open pit and underground mining at both the Hammerdown and Orion deposits with pre-concentration of the mineralized material through a sorting plant and haulage to an offsite mill for gold doré production. The mine will be contractor operated with the Company providing technical oversight plus management of the sorting and process plant at the Nugget Pond mill gold circuit operations. The sorting plant is designed to produce 700 tpd of product feed that would be processed at the Nugget Pond mill gold circuit. A mine life of 9 years is expected for the Project. The PEA leverages Hammerdown's extensive existing infrastructure including all-weather access roads, 3,700 metres of underground development and grid power within 2 km of the Project site. The PEA is derived from the Company's updated resource estimate (February 29, 2020) outlined in the Technical Report. The effective date of the PEA is February 29, 2020.

The PEA was prepared through the collaboration of the following firms: WSP Canada Inc. (Sudbury, ON) ("WSP"), AGP Mining Consultants Inc. (Toronto, ON) ("AGP"), Halyard (Toronto, ON), Canenco Consulting Corp.. (Vancouver, BC), SRK Consulting UK (Cardiff, UK), and GEMTEC Consulting Engineers and Scientists (St. John's, NL). These firms provided Mineral Resource estimates, mine design and cost estimates for mine operations, process facilities, major equipment selection, waste rock and tailings storage, reclamation, permitting, and operating and capital expenditures.

Mineral Resource Estimate

The Company's updated Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE"; effective date of February 29, 2020) was completed by WSP and forms the basis for the PEA. A summary of the MRE is highlighted in Tables 5 and 6.

Table 5. Hammerdown and Orion Pit Constrained Mineral Resource Summary

| Resource Classification | Cut-off | Deposit | Tonnes | Gold (g/t) | Gold oz | | Measured | 1.0 g/t | Hammerdown | 284,600 | 11.75 | 107,500 | | Indicated | 1.0 g/t | Hammerdown | 739,100 | 8.17 | 194,100 | | Measured & Indicated | 1.0 g/t | Hammerdown | 1,023,700 | 9.16 | 301,600 | | Inferred | 1.0 g/t | Hammerdown | 538,400 | 4.89 | 84,700 | | Inferred Intervein | 1.0 g/t | Hammerdown | 321,700 | 4.18 | 43,200 | | Indicated | 1.0 g/t | Orion | 698,400 | 2.96 | 66,400 | | Inferred | 1.0 g/t | Orion | 483,400 | 5.04 | 78,300 | | Total Measured | 1.0 g/t | Hammerdown & Orion | 284,600 | 11.75 | 107,500 | | Total Indicated | 1.0 g/t | Hammerdown & Orion | 1,437,500 | 5.64 | 260,500 | | Total Measured & Indicated | 1.0 g/t | Hammerdown & Orion | 1,722,100 | 6.65 | 368,000 | | Total Inferred (incl. Intervein) | 1.0 g/t | Hammerdown & Orion | 1,343,500 | 4.77 | 206,200 |

Table 6. Hammerdown and Orion Underground Mineral Resource Summary

| Resource Classification | Cut-off | Deposit | Tonnes | Gold (g/t) | Gold oz | | Measured | 2.0 g/t | Hammerdown | 3,800 | 9.74 | 1,200 | | Indicated | 2.0 g/t | Hammerdown | 30,000 | 9.36 | 9,000 | | Measured & Indicated | 2.0 g/t | Hammerdown | 33,800 | 9.41 | 10,200 | | Inferred | 2.0 g/t | Hammerdown | 316,200 | 4.46 | 45,300 | | Inferred Intervein | 2.0 g/t | Hammerdown | 131,300 | 3.89 | 16,400 | | Indicated | 2.0 g/t | Orion | 1,118,000 | 3.97 | 142,900 | | Inferred | 2.0 g/t | Orion | 1,437,900 | 4.29 | 198,300 | | Total Measured | 2.0 g/t | Hammerdown & Orion | 3,800 | 9.74 | 1,200 | | Total Indicated | 2.0 g/t | Hammerdown & Orion | 1,148,000 | 4.11 | 151,900 | | Total Measured & Indicated | 2.0 g/t | Hammerdown & Orion | 1,151,800 | 4.13 | 153,000 | | Total Inferred (incl. Intervein) | 2.0 g/t | Hammerdown & Orion | 1,885,400 | 4.29 | 260,000 |

Key Assumptions, Parameters, and Methods related to the Mineral Resource Estimates:

1. Mineral Resources were prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and the CIM Definition Standards (2014). Mineral Resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

2. This estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing, or other relevant issues.

3. Open pit Mineral Resources are reported at a cut-off grade of 1.0 g/t gold that is based on a gold price of US$1,500/oz.

4. Underground Mineral Resources are reports at a cut-off grade of 2.0 g/t gold that is based on a gold price of US$1,500/oz.

5. Appropriate mining costs, processing costs, metal recoveries, and inter ramp pit slope angles were used to generate the pit shell.

6. Rounding may result in apparent summation differences between tonnes, grade, and contained metal content.

7. Tonnage and grade measurements are in metric units. Contained gold ounces are in troy ounces.

8. Composites completed at 0.5 m down the hole.

9. Contributing assay composites were capped at 125.00 g/t Au at Hammerdown and 23.88 g/t Au at Orion.

10. A specific gravity value of 2.84 was applied to all blocks.

11. Modeling for Hammerdown was performed use in GEOVIA Surpac 2019 software with grades estimated using ordinary kriging (OK) interpolation methodology. Orion modeling was performed using Datamine software with grades estimated using ordinary kriging (OK) interpolation methodology.

12. Blocks are 2.5m x1.0m x 2.5m with no sub-blocks.

The Mineral Resource estimate is based on the combination of geological modeling, geostatistics and conventional block modeling using the Ordinary Krig method of grade interpolation. The geological model including mineralized intercepts was generated by Maritime personnel and then audited by WSP. The QA/QC protocols and corresponding sample preparation and shipment procedures have been reviewed by WSP.

The Hammerdown Mineral Resource estimate was based on 56,533 metres in 468 surface drill holes, 12,551 metres in underground drill holes and 110 surface trenches totaling 298 metres. The Orion Mineral Resource estimates are based on 15,357 metres in 56 surface drill holes.

At a long-term metal price of US$1,500 per ounce, reasonable prospects are considered to exist for eventual economic extraction of Mineral Resources defined at a 1.0 g/t Au cut-off value within limits of the conceptual final pit shell prepared by AGP. Additional resources are considered to exist for eventual economic extraction of the Mineral Resource as defined at a 2.00 g/t Au cut-off below the conceptual pit shell. Additional information about the Mineral Resource modeling methodology will be documented in the upcoming technical report for the Hammerdown Project prepared in accordance with NI 43-101, which will be filed on SEDAR under the Company's profile within 45 days of the date of this news release (the "Technical Report").

Mining Overview

A combination of conventional, contractor operated open pit and underground mining at both the Hammerdown and the Orion deposits was selected as the basis for this PEA. Both open pits will utilize 5 metre high benches and a mobile fleet of 7.0 m3hydraulic excavators, 6.5 m3front end loaders and 55 tonne haul trucks, supported by 455 kW track dozers and graders to maintain pit floors, dumps and road surfaces. Pit slope angles applied to the pit designs included inter-ramp angles ranging from 48-55 degrees (65-70 degree bench face angles) and were based on the Company's geotechnical investigations during 2019. The mine designs and scheduling were engineered to provide a nominal 1,400 tpd of ROM feed to the sorting plant to produce 700 tpd of feed for the gold circuit. At Hammerdown a total of 1.88 Mt grading 4.23 gpt Au with 28.8 Mt of waste rock is expected to be moved over the LOM. A smaller satellite pit at the Orion deposit is expected to produce 0.58 Mt grading 2.38 gpt Au with 4.87 Mt of waste rock moved. Open pit dilution has been factored at 50%. Waste rock from both open pits will be stored in a waste storage facility located between the two pits, with a portion backfilled at the end of the mine life with reject material from the sorting plant.

Underground mining is envisioned at both the Hammerdown and Orion deposits. The mine design is based on utilizing narrow vein longhole open stoping to extract the mineralized veins, with stope widths varying between 1.5-3.0 metres. Sublevels were set at 16 metre intervals. Mineralized material will be extracted and hauled to surface where it will be transported to the sorting plant by the surface mine fleet. At Hammerdown the mine plan anticipates making use of some of the existing underground development below the open pit to provide access to the mineralization. Backfilling of open stopes will be completed using rock fill supplied with crushed, uniform reject material from the sorting plant. Over the LOM the total ROM production from the Orion underground workings includes 1.74 Mt of mineralized material grading 3.86 gpt Au from and 0.21 Mt of mineralized material grading 7.58 gpt Au from Hammerdown, respectively. A summary of the mine outputs is highlighted in Tables 7 and 8.

Table 7. Hammerdown Open Pit and Underground Design

| Open pit mineralized tonnes (Mt) | 1.88 | | Open pit Au grade (gpt) | 4.23 | | Open pit Au ounces contained (oz) | 256,100 | | Strip ratio (waste:mineralized) | 15.3 | | Underground mineralized tonnes (Mt) | 0.21 | | Underground Au grade (gpt) | 7.58 | | Underground Au ounces contained (oz) | 51,500 |

Table 8. Orion Open Pit and Underground Design

| Open pit mineralized tonnes (Mt) | 0.58 | | Open pit Au grade (gpt) | 2.38 | | Open pit Au ounces contained (oz) | 44,200 | | Strip ratio (waste:mineralized) | 8.4 | | Underground mineralized tonnes (Mt) | 1.74 | | Underground Au grade (gpt) | 3.86 | | Underground Au ounces contained (oz) | 216,600 |

Pre-Concentrating

A pre-concentration or "sorting" plant is planned to for the Hammerdown site. Test work at multiple vendors throughout 2019 showed the mineralization containing pyrite and other sulphides is well suited to sorting methods, particularly utilizing laser and x-ray transmission (XRT) sensors to separate sulphide bearing particles from non-sulphide particles and dilution. The sorting plant is designed to receive a feed from the on-site crushing and screening facility. The sorting plant feed particles will be sized between 1/2" to 2 1/2" (+12.7-63.5mm) at a nominal rate of 1,400 tpd. Fines measuring 1/2" minus (-12.7mm) are directed to the load out storage building. Rejection rates and gold recovery through the sorting plant are expected to average 50% and 93% respectively over the life of the mine. These factors vary depending on the feed grade and can range from 30-60% rejection and 92-95% gold recovery. Rejects from the sorting plant will be stored adjacent to the plant and be used for back fill material for the underground mines. At the end of the mine life, it is currently planned to place this waste material back into the Hammerdown open pit for closure. A summary of the pre-concentration parameters is highlighted in Table 9.

Table 9. Pre-Concentration (Sorting) and Process Parameters

| Sorting plant average throughput | 1,400 tpd | | Sorting plant feed size range | 12.7-63.5 mm | | Sorting plant mass pull range | 30-50% | | Sorting plant gold recovery | 93-95% | | Process plant average throughput | 700 tpd | | Process plant LOM Au recovery | 97.0% |

Mineral Processing Overview

Pre-concentrated material together with fines will be trucked from the Hammerdown Project site to the Nugget Pond mill located on the Baie Verte peninsula. The Nugget Pond mill was built in 1995 by Richmont Mines and operated as a gold plant for over 10 years, processing ore from both the former Nugget Pond and Hammerdown gold mines. Historic gold recoveries on Hammerdown mineralization at Nugget Pond were over 97.0% during past operations and recent metallurgical test work on new samples from Hammerdown confirmed gold recoveries of 97.0% can be expected through the whole-ore leach circuit. The metallurgical work shows that a fine grind (80% passing 60 microns) is necessary to achieve the high recovery rate, and the proposed additions to the existing Nugget Pond flowsheet include a new tertiary crushing circuit, fine ore storage and a new 10'x17' 700kW ball mill. Refurbishment of the existing carbon-in-pulp (CIP) circuit is also proposed. A gold doré would be produced by the existing refinery. Tailings would be pumped to the existing Tailings Storage Facility (TSF), for disposal.

Operating and Capital Costs

A summary of the Combined Project's operating and capital costs is highlighted in Tables 10 and 11 below.

Table 10. Operating Costs

| Area | $/t milled | US$/oz | | Open Pit Mining | 78.73 | 243.08 | | Underground Mining | 100.17 | 309.25 | | Crushing, pre-concentration | 23.65 | 73.02 | | Mineral processing incl. haulage | 49.75 | 153.59 | | Water management | 1.81 | 5.58 | | General & administrative | 4.84 | 14.94 | | Surface handling | 1.00 | 3.09 | | Total | 259.95 | 802.55 |