Canadian Premium Sand Inc. Announces Receipt of Final Environment Act Licence and Provides an Operational Update

CALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 02, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian Premium Sand Inc. (“CPS” or the “Company”) (TSXV: CPS) is pleased to announce the receipt of an Environment Act Licence for its Wanipigow sand extraction and processing facility and provide an operational update regarding its development of North America’s first vertically integrated patterned solar glass manufacturing facility (the “Project”).

Environment Act Licence

The Company’s Notice of Alteration application was approved by the Manitoba Environment and Climate Department on July 27, 2023. The new Environment Act Licence permits the Company to construct and operate its proposed Wanipigow extraction and processing facility which will supply rare, low-iron silica sand to the Company’s patterned solar glass manufacturing facility in Selkirk, Manitoba.

“The receipt of the Environment Act Licence for Wanipigow marks another important milestone for the Company,” stated Company President & CEO, Glenn Leroux. “Following the earlier issuance of an Environment Act Licence to construct and operate our patterned solar glass manufacturing facility, the Company is now in receipt of all required environmental permits to start construction of the Project.”

Operational Update

In addition to the environmental licence activities, the Company continues to prepare for the construction and operational phases of the Project. Specifically, the Company executed a utility engineering and procurement agreement with Manitoba Hydro that secures certain long-lead items including voltage transformers and enables CPS to maintain its planned construction schedule. The Company also commenced further geotechnical work on the Selkirk site which advances a critical path item in the development of the Project. Finally, the Company completed a Phase 1 environmental assessment of the Selkirk site which confirmed no contamination or environmental issues.

The Company, under the direction of Mr. Dana Partridge, Vice President, Glass Operations, has begun identifying candidates for the key operational roles and commenced the development of standard operating procedures for the manufacturing facility in preparation for commissioning and operational ramp-up.

Finally, the Company continues to progress commercial offtake agreements within a rapidly expanding market. In addition to the Company’s current binding agreements that represent a minimum of 62% of planned output, CPS has advanced discussions with new customers with an objective to reach 100% contracted status prior to construction. Since Q1 2023, there have been several public announcements from solar panel manufacturers for new or expanded facilities. In aggregate, these new facilities represent an additional 29GW of potential incremental demand for patterned solar glass and bring the Company’s current estimate of market demand to over 100GW by 2027.

Once operational, the Project will supply patterned solar glass for 6GW of panel manufacturing capacity in North America and with first mover advantage, the Company is seeking alignment and long-term relationships with the highest quality counterparties.

About Canadian Premium Sand Inc.

The Company is developing manufacturing capacity for ultra high-clarity patterned solar glass through a Company-owned facility to be located in Selkirk, Manitoba that utilizes the high-purity, low-iron silica sand from its wholly owned Wanipigow quarry leases and renewable Manitoba hydroelectricity. The Company is a reporting issuer in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Its shares trade on the TSXV under the symbol "CPS".

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Canadian Premium Sand Inc.

Glenn Leroux

President and Chief Executive Officer   

Cam Deller

Chief Financial Officer

Investor Relations

587.355.3714

Forward Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements relating to, without limitation, expectations, intentions, plans and beliefs, including information as to the future events, results of operations and the Company’s future performance (both operational and financial), development plans and business prospects. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “expects”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “plans”, “seeks”, “projects” or variations of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results “may” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved. Such forward-looking statements reflect the Company's beliefs, estimates and opinions regarding its future growth, results of operations, future performance (both operational and financial), and business prospects and opportunities at the time such statements are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or circumstances should change. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions made by the Company that are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. In particular, this press release contains forward-looking statements pertaining, but not limited, to: the ability to be in a position to make the Final Investment Decision; the progress of remaining development activities to bring the project to shovel-ready status and the anticipated timing of achieving shovel-ready status; the expectation for continued strong demand for a domestic supply of patterned solar glass in North America; the expectation that preliminary commercial agreements will be converted into formal offtake agreements in conjunction with the Final Investment Decision; other various development initiatives that will bring the solar glass project to a shovel-ready status; industry activity levels; industry conditions pertaining to the solar glass manufacturing industry; the ability of and manner by which the Company expects to meet its capital needs; and the Company's objectives, strategies and competitive strengths. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous current assumptions, known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company and described in the forward-looking statements.

A number of factors, risks and uncertainties could cause results to differ materially from those anticipated and described herein including, among others: the effects of competition and pricing pressures; effects of fluctuations in the price of glass products and raw materials input costs; risks related to indebtedness and liquidity, including the Company's capital requirements; risks related to interest rate fluctuations and foreign exchange rate fluctuations; risks relating to inflation and supply chain risks; changes in general economic, financial, market and business conditions in the markets in which the Company operates; the Company's ability to obtain, maintain and renew required permits, licenses and approvals from regulatory authorities; the stringent requirements of and potential changes to applicable legislation, regulations and standards; the ability of the Company to comply with unexpected costs of government regulations; liabilities resulting from the Company's operations; the results of litigation or regulatory proceedings that may be brought against the Company; uninsured and underinsured losses; risks related to the transportation of the Company's products, including potential rail line interruptions or a reduction in rail car availability; the geographic and customer concentration of the Company; the ability of the Company to retain and attract qualified management and staff in the markets in which the Company operates; labor disputes and work stoppages and risks related to employee health and safety; general risks associated with the glass manufacturing and sand quarry industries, loss of markets, consumer and business spending and borrowing trends; limited, unfavorable, or a lack of access to capital markets; uncertainties inherent in estimating quantities of products; processing problems; the use and suitability of the Company's accounting estimates and judgments; and the other risk factors outlined in CPS’s most recent Management’s Discussion and Analysis which is available on SEDAR at . Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in its forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will materialize or prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. These statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as may be required by law, the Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements or information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Any financial outlook and future-oriented financial information contained in this press release regarding prospective financial performance, financial position, cash flows or EBITDA projections are based on assumptions about future events, including economic conditions and proposed courses of action based on management’s assessment of the relevant information that is currently available. Projected operational information contains forward-looking information and is based on a number of material assumptions and factors, as are set out above. These projections may also be considered to contain future oriented financial information or a financial outlook. The actual results of the Company's operations for any period will likely vary from the amounts set forth in these projections and such variations may be material. Actual results will vary from projected results. Readers are cautioned that any such financial outlook and future-oriented financial information contained herein should not be used for purposes other than those for which it is disclosed herein. The forward-looking information and statements contained in this document speak only as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to publicly update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required pursuant to applicable laws