EVNi announced the ongoing results of the Carbon Mineralization and Storage research, on its Large-Scale CarLang A Zone, located in the Shaw Dome Project, just outside Timmins, Ontario. Greenhouse gases such as CO2 trap heat, causing temperatures to rise. To avoid the worst effects of climate change the world needs to decrease emissions and ideally remove CO2 that is already in the atmosphere.

Ultramafic rocks are well suited for this, as they contain minerals that are highly reactive to CO2,. More specifically, brucite is the key mineral for "carbon mineralization" to occur with the ultramafic rocks. In a future potential mining operation, CO2 could be absorbed by the tailings and converted into a solid carbonate mineral, permanently and safely trapping and storing CO2.

In addition to mineralogy, the ultimate carbon mineralization capacity of mine tailings is dependent on particle size, tailings management practices and the concentration of CO2 in the source gases-passive vs enriched. Building on the Preliminary Results EVNi has continued to work with its technical partners Arca Climate Technologies, to quantify the total amount of CO2 that can be captured and stored, including if the process was to use a CO2 -enriched input gas. Passive Analysis- Direct Air Capture testing: Ambient carbonation, using naturally occurring CO2 levels, referred to as direct air capture ("DAC"), in the atmosphere mimics natural processes but increases the exposure of the minerals to the reactive CO2.

Prior to testing, samples from the CarLang A Zone were assessed for their total inorganic carbon ("TIC") content. This TIC was then tracked to determine the quantity of CO2 sequestered by the sample through the test. The samples were homogenized and then acidified, releasing the gaseous CO2, that was measured using a photodetector.

The experiment was completed after 21 days and the amount of CO2 chemically bound was measured by analyzing the TIC in the sample and then netting out the original content of TIC. The measurement of chemically bound CO2 were roughly in agreement with the calculated brucite content of each sample. Selected samples d156202 and f465375 yielded TIC increases of 8.3 and 6.7 kg CO2 per tonne of tailings.

Enriched Analysis- injecting a concentrated CO2 stream: Mineralization injection testing was completed with samples injected with 10% CO2 at a flow rate of 80mL/minute. Samples weighing 0.5g were collected after 2 and 7 days during the week-long experimental duration. TIC was analyzed on the material before exposure to CO2 and on the intermediate and final samples to assess the amount of carbon mineralization over time.

The brucite-bearing samples increased dramatically in TIC within the first 48 hours, continuing to capture CO2 over the remaining 5 days at a reduced rate. Results from the Enriched analysis were consistent on a relative basis with the Passive experiments. It was demonstrated that brucite reacts readily in atmospheric conditions, but reacts fully in higher CO2 conditions, in days versus months.

At the end of 7 days, samples d156202 and f465375 had captured 40.4 and 38.3 kg CO2 per tonne of tailings. It was concluded by Arca that regardless of the approach taken to achieve carbonation, tailings from the Shaw Dome project have been shown to have significant carbon mineralization potential in proportion to the mine's emissions. Based on the impressive results from the CarLang samples with the Enriched Analysis, EVNi will develop a parallel workstream with the technical Pilot Plant, to commercially explore sourcing high CO2 gas.

Brucite is integral and has been identified along the CarLang trend: Geologic sampling and QEM Scan analysis completed by XPS Expert Process Solutions of Sudbury, Ontario in 2022 along the CarLang Trend has confirmed the presence of brucite within the host komatiitic peridotite/dunites indicating that areas associated with the limited surface sampling have similar potential to sequester CO2 as observed in the area of the CarLang A Zone.