Comstock Files Grant Application for Cellulosic Fuels

VIRGINIA CITY, Nev., Sept. 15, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Comstock Inc. (NYSE: LODE) (“Comstock” and the “Company”) today announced its filing of a grant application with the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) to build a pre-pilot scale system to demonstrate one of Comstock’s unique new pathways to produce renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel, gasoline, and marine fuel from forestry residues and other forms of lignocellulosic biomass at dramatically improved yield, efficiency and cost in comparison to known methods.

Comstock has developed a breakthrough process that efficiently deconstructs woody biomass and residuals into uniquely isolated biointermediates that are free of the contaminants that have frustrated prior attempts at broadly commercializing cellulosic fuels. Comstock’s biointermediates include Cellulosic Sugar produced from a purified form of cellulose that has been stripped of bioconversion inhibitors, and a unique mixture of hydrocarbons that Comstock calls Bioleum.

Cellulosic Sugar can be used as a fermentation feedstock to produce ethanol, lipids, and many other products. Bioleum is a form of biocrude with about 75% of the energy content of fossil crude. While Comstock’s biointermediates can be used in multiple renewable fuel pathways, Comstock’s grant application is based on fermenting Cellulosic Sugar into lipids, reacting the lipids with Bioleum to produce a single homogenous feedstock, and converting that homogeneous feedstock into drop-in renewable fuels, at yields exceeding 80 gallons per dry ton of feedstock (on a gasoline gallon equivalent basis).

Comstock’s grant application is supported by a team of collaborators, including Topsoe Inc., Marathon Petroleum Company LP, Novozymes, Xylome Corporation, RenFuel K2B AB, Emerging Fuels Technology Inc., the University of Nevada Reno, the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Natural Resources Research Institute, and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with such an exceptional team of industry leaders,” said Corrado De Gasperis, Comstock’s executive chairman and chief executive officer. “The combined team enables an extremely valuable ecosystem for advancing a highly scalable and rapidly replenishable new feedstock source for renewable fuels. This ecosystem is capable of making material contributions to neutralizing U.S. mobility emissions and delivering net-zero emissions by 2050.”

About Comstock Inc.

Comstock (NYSE: LODE) innovates technologies that contribute to global decarbonization and circularity by efficiently converting under-utilized natural resources into renewable fuels and electrification products that contribute to balancing global uses and emissions of carbon. The Company intends to achieve exponential growth and extraordinary financial, natural, and social gains by building, owning, and operating a fleet of advanced carbon neutral extraction and refining facilities, by selling an array of complementary process solutions and related services, and by licensing selected technologies to qualified strategic partners. To learn more, please visit .

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Some of those risks and uncertainties include the risk factors set forth in our filings with the SEC and the following: adverse effects of climate changes or natural disasters; adverse effects of global or regional pandemic disease spread or other crises; global economic and capital market uncertainties; the speculative nature of gold or mineral exploration, mercury remediation and lithium, nickel and cobalt recycling, including risks of diminishing quantities or grades of qualified resources; operational or technical difficulties in connection with exploration or mercury remediation, metal recycling, processing or mining activities; costs, hazards and uncertainties associated with precious metal based activities, including environmentally friendly and economically enhancing clean mining and processing technologies, precious metal exploration, resource development, economic feasibility assessment and cash generating mineral production; costs, hazards and uncertainties associated with mercury remediation, metal recycling, processing or mining activities; contests over our title to properties; potential dilution to our stockholders from our stock issuances, recapitalization and balance sheet restructuring activities; potential inability to comply with applicable government regulations or law; adoption of or changes in legislation or regulations adversely affecting our businesses; permitting constraints or delays; ability to achieve the benefits of business opportunities that may be presented to, or pursued by, us, including those involving battery technology, mercury remediation technology and efficacy, quantum computing and advanced materials development, and development of cellulosic technology in bio-fuels and related carbon-based material production; ability to successfully identify, finance, complete and integrate acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic alliances, business combinations, asset sales, and investments that we may be party to in the future; changes in the United States or other monetary or fiscal policies or regulations; interruptions in our production capabilities due to capital constraints; equipment failures; fluctuation of prices for gold or certain other commodities (such as silver, zinc, lithium, nickel, cobalt, cyanide, water, diesel, gasoline and alternative fuels and electricity); changes in generally accepted accounting principles; adverse effects of war, mass shooting, terrorism and geopolitical events; potential inability to implement our business strategies; potential inability to grow revenues; potential inability to attract and retain key personnel; interruptions in delivery of critical supplies, equipment and raw materials due to credit or other limitations imposed by vendors; assertion of claims, lawsuits and proceedings against us; potential inability to satisfy debt and lease obligations; potential inability to maintain an effective system of internal controls over financial reporting; potential inability or failure to timely file periodic reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission; potential inability to list our securities on any securities exchange or market or maintain the listing of our securities; and work stoppages or other labor difficulties. 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