Newlox Gold Ventures Corp. announced it has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the Antioquia Community Coexistence Project in San Roque, Department of Antioquia, Colombia for a total of USD 1.5 million to be paid in upcoming installments. The Coexistence Project will follow the coexistence model for relations with artisanal mining, which was spearheaded by Dr. Marcello Veiga and embraced by the Colombian Government and local stakeholders.

The Project will provide local small miners access to modern mineral processing options through a partnership with Newlox Gold. As part of the agreement, Newlox Gold's Coexistence Project will be the exclusive processing facility for all feedstock mined from the Gramalote artisanal mines over an initial term of 21 years, with an automatic renewal of the agreement occurring when the underlying mineral concessions are renewed. The Company intends to initially construct a 500 to 1,000-tonne-per-day processing plant to service the needs of local miners and anticipates that future demand may grow well beyond this level.

This initiative involves establishing and operating a processing plant dedicated to refining ore from initially up to 80 mining concessions within the immediate area, which are being granted by the Gramalote project, a gold development endeavour approximately 120 km northeast of Medellin, Antioquia. To date, the Government of Antioquia has announced the formalization of 60 artisanal mining areas into legal mining concessions, which will exclusively supply feedstock to the Coexistence Project's processing plant. Newlox's processing plant will provide modern and environmentally friendly processing facilities to the local miners, which are expected to significantly improve the economic, social, and environmental outcomes of artisanal mining.

Newlox has secured the exclusive rights to process all gold-bearing ore produced by the artisanal mining concessionaires granted in the area. In return, the company has pledged a comprehensive social responsibility program, reinvesting 20% of the net, after-tax profit from the plant into a Colombia-focused community development fund. Management at Newlox Gold believes that reinvestment in Colombian mining communities through the development fund will assist in realizing social, environmental, and economic diversification goals while fostering a strong relationship between the Company and local stakeholders.

Newlox Gold will pay USD 1,500,000 in upcoming scheduled increments to acquire 100% of the Coexistence Project, including the rights and permits necessary for the processing plant's operation. Once the processing plant is in operation, Newlox Gold will extend a credit facility of up to $500,000 to the local mining cooperatives to assist with the further development of their mines and help to scale their operations safely and sustainably. The Company also plans to establish an analytical laboratory to assist local mining groups with grade control and operational management.