Westhaven Announces Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Shovelnose Gold Project, British Columbia

2025-03-03

TSXV - TSX Venture Exchange · Silicon · Gold · Copper · Canada

After-Tax NPV Doubled to $454 Million

After-Tax IRR of 43.2%

Payback of Initial Capital Costs of 2.1 Years

All amounts are in Canadian Dollars unless otherwise noted

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Westhaven Gold Corp. (TSX-V:WHN) is pleased to report the completion of an Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) at its 100% owned 41,634-hectare Shovelnose Gold Property (the “Property”) located within the prospective Spences Bridge Gold Belt (“SBGB”), which borders the Coquihalla Highway 30 kilometres south of Merritt, British Columbia. The PEA outlines a robust, low-cost, rapid pay-back, high margin, 11.1 year underground gold mining opportunity and is based on updated mineral resources that include contributions from the South, Franz and FMN zones.

At a gold price of US$2,400/oz and an exchange rate of C$1.00 to US$0.72, the Shovelnose base case estimate (the "Base Case") generates an after-tax net present value (NPV) at a 6% discount rate of $454 million and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 43.2%. The proposed mine will operate over an initial 11.1 year mine-life with average annual life-of-mine gold production of 56,000 ounces. Initial capital expenditure to fund construction and commissioning is estimated at $184 million, with a life-of-mine capital cost of $379 million and a payback period of 2.1 years. The all-in sustaining costs (as defined per World Gold Council guidelines, less corporate G&A) are estimated to be US$836 per ounce of gold produced.

Summary Table - Economic Sensitivity to Long Term Gold Price

| Long Term Metal Price Variability | Corresponding Gold Price | After Tax NPV (at 6%) | After Tax IRR | | (percentage change) | US$/ounce | CDN $ millions | (%) | | - 20% | 1,920 | 284.3 | 30.4 | | - 10% | 2,160 | 369.1 | 36.9 | | base case | 2,400 | 453.7 | 43.2 | | + 10% | 2,640 | 538.3 | 49.5 | | + 20% | 2,880 | 622.8 | 55.7 |

Gareth Thomas, President & CEO, comments: “Westhaven’s flagship Shovelnose Gold Property is ideally situated, in close proximity to roads, power and infrastructure in a tier 1 mining jurisdiction. Production contribution from both Franz and FMN provide valuable ounces that bring gold production forward in the schedule resulting in payback of initial capital costs in just 2.1 years. Our intention is to continue to advance this cornerstone project in parallel with our ongoing exploration efforts to further expand the gold-silver mineral inventory on this highly prospective land package. The next steps towards rapidly advancing development include further de-risking initiatives such as continued environmental baseline studies, permitting requirements, along with other cost and technical requirements.”

The Company cautions that the results of the PEA are preliminary in nature and include Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic consideration applied to them to be classified as Mineral Reserves. There is no certainty that the results of the PEA will be realized. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

Preliminary Economic Assessment Highlights:

*Base case parameters of US$2,400 per ounce gold, US$28 per ounce silver and CDN$/US$ exchange rate of $0.72. *All costs are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise specified.

Robust financial metrics. Pre-tax Internal Rate of Return (“IRR”) of 56.3%; After-tax IRR of 43.2%. Low All-In Sustaining Cost (“AISC”) of $1,161/ounce (“oz”) (US$836/oz) gold equivalent (“AuEq”). Low Cash Cost of $872 oz/AuEq (US$ 628/oz AuEq). Pre-tax Net Present Value (“NPV”6%) of $730 million (M) and After-tax NPV of $454M. Payback period from start of production year at 1.7 years pre-tax and 2.1 years after-tax. After-tax (NPV 6%) increases to $634M and After-tax IRR increases to 56.6% using spot prices of US$2,900 gold and US$30 silver.

Low capital-intensive development and operating costs.

Total Preproduction Capital of $184M. Total Life of Mine (“LOM”) Capital Costs of $379M. Average operating cost of $142/ tonne processed. 92% of total stope mining is cost effective longitudinal and traverse longhole stoping, with only 8% of total mining requiring cut and fill stoping.

11.1-year mine life and ability to expand processing to accommodate satellite discoveries.

718,600 total Indicated ounces gold equivalent (“AuEq”) underground Mineral Resource Estimate.

292,000 total Inferred ounces AuEq underground Mineral Resource Estimate.

Production rate of 1,000 tonnes per day (“tpd”). Total payable metals of 637,000 oz gold (“Au”) and 3,562,000 oz silver (“Ag”). Average annual production of 56,000 oz Au peaking in year 7 at 68,000 oz Au.

Total mineralized rock production of 4,159,000 tonnes at 5.26 g/t Au and 32 g/t Ag.

Metallurgical recoveries of 91.5% Au and 92.9% Ag.

Community/stakeholder benefits.

Total projected income taxes paid of $284M. Total projected British Columbia mineral taxes paid of $163M. More than 130 well-paying local full time jobs created during life of mine. Additional employment during construction phase. Indirect spin-off benefits during both construction and mine operations.

Mineral Resources, Updated PEA Preparation and Results

The previous public Mineral Resource Estimate (“MRE”) for the South Zone was carried out by P&E Mining Consultants Inc. (“P&E”) with an effective date July 18, 2023. The current underground MRE is reported herein. All drilling and assay data were provided by Westhaven, in the form of Excel data files. The GEOVIA GEMS™ V6.8.4 database compiled by P&E for the February 28, 2025 MRE consisted of 355 surface drill holes, totalling 121,971 metres. A total of 145 drill holes (50,714 metres) were intersected by the Mineral Resource wireframes used in this PEA.

P&E validated the Mineral Resource database in GEMS™ by checking for inconsistencies in analytical units, duplicate entries, interval, length or distance values less than or equal to zero, blank or zero-value assay results, out-of-sequence intervals, intervals or distances greater than the reported drill hole length, inappropriate collar locations, survey and missing interval and coordinate fields. Some minor errors were identified and corrected in the database. The QPs are of the opinion that the supplied database is suitable for Mineral Resource estimation.

Block models were constructed using GEOVIA GEMS™ V6.8.4 modelling software and consist of separate model attributes for estimated Au, Ag and AuEq grade, rock type (mineralization domains), volume percent, bulk density, and classification. The Mineral Resource was classified as Indicated and Inferred based on the geological interpretation, variogram performance and drill hole spacing. The QPs also consider mineralization at the South, Franz and FMN Zones to be potentially amenable to underground mining methods. The revised MRE used for this Updated PEA is reported with an effective date of February 28, 2025 and is tabulated in Table 1.

| Table 1 | | | | | | | | | | Shovelnose Underground Mineral Resource Estimate @ 1.3 g/t AuEq Cut-off (1- 7 ) | | | | | | | | | | Classification | Zone | Tonnes (k) | Au (g/t) | Contained Au (k oz) | Ag (g/t) | Contained Ag (k oz) | AuEq (g/t) | Contained AuEq | | (k oz) | | | | | | | | | | Indicated | South | 3,107 | 6.18 | 616.8 | 33.1 | 3,302.8 | 6.56 | 655.2 | | Franz | 89 | 7.44 | 21.2 | 30.9 | 88.0 | 7.80 | 22.2 | | | FMN | 241 | 5.07 | 39.2 | 22.5 | 173.7 | 5.33 | 41.2 | | | Total | 3,437 | 6.13 | 677.2 | 32.3 | 3,564.5 | 6.50 | 718.6 | | | Inferred | South | 1,386 | 3.79 | 168.6 | 16.5 | 736.8 | 3.98 | 177.2 | | Franz | 63 | 3.48 | 7.1 | 51.9 | 105.4 | 4.09 | 8.3 | | | FMN | 843 | 3.49 | 94.6 | 37.5 | 1,017.3 | 3.93 | 106.5 | | | Total | 2,292 | 3.67 | 270.3 | 25.2 | 1,859.5 | 3.96 | 292.0 | |

| 1. | | Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. | | 2. | | The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues. | | 3. | | The Inferred Mineral Resource in this estimate has a lower level of confidence than that applied to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of the Inferred Mineral Resource could potentially be upgraded to an Indicated Mineral Resource with continued exploration. | | 4. | | The Mineral Resources were estimated in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions (2014) and Best Practices Guidelines (2019) prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by the CIM Council. | | 5. | | PEA is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be classified as Mineral Reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. | | 6. | | The AuEq cut-off of 1.3 g/t was derived from costs of C$82/t mining, C$42/t processing and $18/t G&A. A USD:CDN exchange rate of 0.72 along with US$2,400/oz Au and US$28/oz Ag with respective process recoveries of 91.5% and 92.9%. | | 7. | | The Au/Ag ratio used was 86:1. | | | | |

A financial model was developed to estimate the Life of Mine (“LOM”) plan and considered only underground mining of Mineral Resources at the South, Franz and FMN Zones. Other known gold-silver mineralization at the Shovelnose Gold Property, currently being evaluated by Westhaven, are not included.

The LOM plan covers a 13.1-year period (2 years pre-production and 11.1 years of production). Currency is in Q1 2025 Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated. Inflation has not been considered in the financial analysis.

The Updated PEA outlines a production mine life of 11.1 years with average annual production of 56,000 ounces gold and 312,000 ounces silver at average respective cash costs and all-in sustaining costs ("AISC") per ounce gold equivalent of $1,161(US$836). The PEA considers the payable recovery of 637,000 oz gold and 3,562,000 oz silver from an underground operation, at average respective mine production grades of 5.26 g/t and 32 g/t.

Revenue

The commercially saleable product generated by the Project is a gold/silver doré. Westhaven would be paid once the doré has been delivered to a smelter and refinery, off-site.

The NSR payables were based on the following parameters: Dore Payable (Includes refining and smelting) Au 99% Ag 90%

The CDN$/US$ exchange rate used in the PEA is 0.72.

Subtotal Revenue Au (US$) $1,529M Ag (US$) $100M Net revenue CDN$ $2,201M

The revenue generation by the Shovelnose Project, on a yearly basis, is presented in Table 2.

| Table 2 Summary of Base Case Total Revenue Generation | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Item / Year | Yr -1 | Yr 1 | Yr 2 | Yr 3 | Yr 4 | Yr 5 | Yr 6 | Yr 7 | Yr 8 | Yr 9 | Yr 10 | Yr 11 | Yr 12 | Total | | Tonnes (k) | 133.7 | 330.4 | 367.5 | 365.3 | 365.3 | 365.3 | 365.3 | 365.3 | 365.3 | 365.3 | 365.3 | 365.3 | 40.0 | 4,158.8 | | Grade (g/t) - Au | 3.98 | 5.43 | 4.94 | 5.52 | 5.16 | 5.55 | 5.59 | 6.35 | 5.24 | 5.05 | 5.42 | 4.26 | 3.93 | 5.26 | | - Ag | 27 | 26 | 73 | 32 | 25 | 29 | 36 | 32 | 23 | 25 | 29 | 23 | 25 | 32 | | Au koz Payable | 15.5 | 52.2 | 52.8 | 58.7 | 54.8 | 59.0 | 59.4 | 67.6 | 55.8 | 53.8 | 57.6 | 45.3 | 4.6 | 637.2 | | Ag koz Payable | 98.1 | 232.9 | 722.4 | 310.0 | 242.0 | 282.3 | 352.4 | 316.4 | 222.8 | 244.8 | 287.4 | 223.6 | 26.6 | 3,561.8 | | Subtotal Rev.-Au (US$)M | 37.2 | 125.4 | 126.8 | 140.8 | 131.6 | 141.7 | 142.6 | 162.2 | 133.9 | 129.0 | 138.3 | 108.8 | 11.0 | 1,529.3 | | -Ag (US$)M | 2.7 | 6.5 | 20.2 | 8.7 | 6.8 | 7.9 | 9.9 | 8.9 | 6.2 | 6.9 | 8.0 | 6.3 | 0.7 | 99.7 | | Subtotal Rev. (Cdn$) M | 55.4 | 183.2 | 204.3 | 207.6 | 192.2 | 207.8 | 211.8 | 237.6 | 194.6 | 188.8 | 203.2 | 159.8 | 16.3 | 2,262.5 | | Net Royalty (Cdn$) M | 5.9 | 4.6 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 5.9 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 5.1 | 4.0 | 0.4 | 61.1 | | Net Revenue (Cdn$) M | 49.5 | 178.6 | 199.1 | 202.4 | 187.4 | 202.6 | 206.5 | 231.7 | 189.7 | 184.0 | 198.2 | 155.8 | 15.9 | 2,201.4 |

_ Note Yr = Year _

The QPs have estimated the net revenues assuming Westhaven has taken advantage of available royalty buy-outs. There is a 2% Net Smelter Return (“NSR”) royalty on the Shovelnose Gold Property held by Franco-Nevada Corp. which Westhaven has the option to buy down to a 1.5% NSR for US$3M. There is a 2% NSR held by Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. which Westhaven has the option to buy down to a 1% NSR for $500,000.

Costs

LOM capital costs include the cost of all mine development; process plant, mine equipment; surface infrastructure; underground infrastructure; a closure cost; a salvage credit; and a 20% contingency.

Stoping methods utilized are transverse longhole, longitudinal longhole and cut & fill. The average vein widths to be mined are 16.2m, 6.6m and 3.0m respectively.

Mining unit costs by method are $143.81/t for transverse, $144.94 for longitudinal long hole, and $142.82/t for cut & fill stoping.

The proportion of mining method during the life of mine is 65% longitudinal longhole, 27% for transverse longhole mining and 8% cut and fill.

| Table 3 Base Case Cash Flow Summary | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ITEM | DESCRIPTION / YEAR | UNITS | YR 2 | YR 1 | YR 1 | YR 2 | YR 3 | YR 4 | YR 5 | YR 6 | YR 7 | YR 8 | YR 9 | YR 10 | YR 11 | YR 12 | TTL | | Production | kt | | 134 | 330 | 368 | 365 | 365 | 365 | 365 | 365 | 365 | 365 | 365 | 365 | 40 | 4,159 | | | Au (g/t) | | 3.9 | 5.4 | 4.9 | 5.5 | 5.2 | 5.6 | 5.6 | 6.4 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 5.4 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 5.3 | | | | Ag (g/t) | | 27 | 26 | 73 | 32 | 25 | 29 | 36 | 32 | 23 | 25 | 29 | 23 | 25 | 32 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Revenue | M$ | | 50 | 179 | 199 | 202 | 187 | 203 | 206 | 232 | 190 | 184 | 198 | 156 | 16 | 2,201 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Opex | Expensed Stope Development (Contractor) | M$ | | 11 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 88 | | Longitudinal LH Stoping | M$ | | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0.4 | 30 | | | Transverse LH Stoping | M$ | | | | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | | | | 12 | | | Cut and Fill Stoping | M$ | | 1 | 2 | 0.2 | 1 | 0.1 | 1 | | | 1 | | 1 | 1 | 0.1 | 7 | | | Mine G&A | M$ | | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 62 | | | Paste Backfill | M$ | | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 34 | | | Process Plant | M$ | | 6 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 2 | 173 | | | Transport and Place Tailings | M$ | | 1 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.1 | 12 | | | U/G Ore Haulage | M$ | | 1 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 1 | 84 | | | Surface Ore Haulage | M$ | | 1 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | | | Backhaul Paste Backfilll to FMN | M$ | | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.2 | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | | | Stopckpile Rehandling | M$ | | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.1 | 14 | | | G&A | M$ | | | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 71 | | | Total Opex with Contingency | M$ | | 25 | 45 | 55 | 58 | 53 | 47 | 50 | 47 | 4 | 47 | 53 | 50 | 6 | 589 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Capex | Mine Development (Contractor) Waste | M$ | | 19 | 21 | 38 | 16 | 9 | | 6 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 3 | | 126 | | Process Plant | M$ | 50 | 25 | | 4 | | 4 | | 4 | | 4 | | 3 | | | 94 | | | Owner's Cost | M$ | 3 | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | 8 | | | Mining Equipment | M$ | | 11 | 7 | 7 | | 2 | 2 | 12 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | | 54 | | | U/G Infrastructure | M$ | | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | | 13 | | | Surface Infrastructure | M$ | | 48 | 5 | 2 | | | 2 | 5 | | 2 | | 5 | 2 | | 72 | | | EPCM | M$ | 9 | 10 | | | | | | | | | | | | | 19 | | | Closure & Salvage | M$ | | 5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | -16 | -6 | | | Total Capex with Contingency | M$ | 62 | 122 | 35 | 52 | 18 | 15 | 4 | 28 | 4 | 18 | 4 | 21 | 10 | -16 | 379 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Taxes | Income Tax | M$ | | | 11 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 30 | 31 | 38 | 27 | 28 | 30 | 21 | -4 | 284 | | Mineral Tax | M$ | | 0 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 17 | 24 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 13 | 3 | 163 | | | Total Taxes | M$ | | 0 | 14 | 28 | 37 | 39 | 50 | 48 | 62 | 43 | 46 | 47 | 34 | 0 | 447 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | After-Tax Cash Flow | M$ | -62 | -97 | 85 | 63 | 90 | 80 | 102 | 80 | 118 | 75 | 87 | 77 | 62 | 26 | 785 | | | After-Tax Cumulative Cash Flow | M$ | -62 | -160 | -75 | -11 | 78 | 158 | 260 | 340 | 458 | 533 | 620 | 697 | 759 | 785 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | After-tax IRR | % | | 43.2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | After-tax NPV @ 6% | M$ | | 454 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

Cash Flow Sensitivity Analysis

The following after-tax cash flow analysis was completed:

Net Present Value (“NPV”) (at 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, 9% and 10% discount rates). Internal Rate of Return (“IRR”). Payback period.

The summary of the results of the cash flow sensitivity analysis is presented in Table 4

| Table 4 Base Case Cash Flow Sensitivity Analysis | | | | | Description | Discount Rate | Units | Value | | Undiscounted After-Tax CF | 0% | (M$) | 785 | | Internal Rate of Return | % | 43.2 | | | After-Tax NPV at | 5% | (M$) | 496 | | Base Case 6% | (M$) | 454 | | | 7% | (M$) | 415 | | | 8% | (M$) | 380 | | | 9% | (M$) | 348 | | | 10% | (M$) | 319 | | | After-Tax Total Project Payback (including pre-production) | Years | 4.1 | |

The Project was evaluated on an after-tax cash flow basis which generates a net undiscounted cash flow estimated at $785M. This results in an after-tax IRR of 43.2% and an after-tax NPV of $454 M when using a 6% discount rate. In the base case scenario, the Project has a payback period of 4.1 years from the start of the Project. The average life-of-mine cash cost is $872/oz AuEq (US$628/oz AuEq), at an average operating cost of $142/t processed. The average life-of-mine all-in sustaining cost (“AISC”) is estimated at $1,161/oz AuEq (US$836/oz AuEq).

Sensitivity Analysis

Project risks can be identified in both economic and non-economic terms. Key economic risks were examined by running cash flow sensitivities to: gold metal price; silver metal price; gold process plant head grade; gold metallurgical recovery; operating costs; and capital costs.

Each of the sensitivity items were varied up and down by 10% and 20% to assess the effect they would have on the NPV at a 6% discount rate. The value of each parameter, at 80%, 90%, 100% base case, 110% and 120%, is presented in Table 5.

| Table 5 | | | | | | | NPV Sensitivity Parameter Values | | | | | | | Parameter | 80 % | 90 % | 100 % | 110 % | 120 % | | Au Metal Price US$/oz | 1,920 | 2,160 | 2,400 | 2,640 | 2,880 | | Ag Metal Price US$/oz | 22.40 | 25.20 | 28.00 | 30.80 | 33.60 | | Au Head Grade g/t | 4.21 | 4.73 | 5.26 | 5.79 | 6.31 | | Au Met Recovery % | N/A | 82.4% | 91.5% | N/A | N/A | | Capex $M | 304 | 342 | 379 | 417 | 455 | | Opex $M | 471 | 530 | 589 | 648 | 707 |

The resultant after-tax NPV @ 6% values of each of the sensitivity parameters at 80% to 120% are presented in Table 6.

| Table 6 | | | | | | | After-Tax NPV Sensitivity to Base Case at 6% Discount Rate (M$) | | | | | | | Parameter | 80 % | 90 % | 100 % | 110 % | 120 % | | Au Metal Price | 284 | 369 | 454 | 538 | 623 | | Ag Metal Price | 442 | 448 | 454 | 459 | 465 | | Au Head Grade | 284 | 369 | 454 | 538 | 623 | | Au Met Recovery | N/A | 369 | 454 | N/A | N/A | | Capex | 515 | 484 | 454 | 423 | 392 | | Opex | 502 | 478 | 454 | 429 | 405 |

Cautionary Statement

The Updated PEA is considered by P&E Mining Consultants Inc. (“P&E”) to meet the requirements as defined in Canadian National Instrument (“NI”) 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. This PEA is preliminary in nature and includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be classified as Mineral Reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no guarantee that Westhaven Gold Corp. will be successful in obtaining any or all of the requisite consents, permits or approvals, regulatory or otherwise for the Project to be placed into production. The PEA was prepared in accordance with the requirements of NI 43-101 and has an effective date of February 28, 2025. A technical report relating to the PEA, prepared in accordance with NI 43-101, will be filed on SEDAR and posted on the company’s website within 45 days of this news release.