Rio2 Limited announced that its Chilean subsidiary, Fenix Gold Limitada, has received the formal Resolución de Calificación Ambiental (Environmental Qualification Resolution, or RCA) for its Fenix Gold Project located in the Maricunga Mineral Belt of the Atacama Region, Chile. The RCA has been issued following the approval of the Project?s Environmental Impact Assessment previously announced on December 20, 2023. The receipt of the RCA now allows Fenix Gold to advance permitting activities for the Project.

There are four principal Sectorial Permits required before construction can commence at the Project: 1) Mining Methods; 2) Process Plant; 3) Waste Dumps & Stockpiles; and 4) Closure Plan and work on these permits is well underway. The current timing for receipt of these principal permits is by the end of July 2024. Mine Expansion Study: Estimated resources for the Project (including mineral reserves constrained within a $1,650 pit shell), which remain open at depth and along strike, are 4.75 million oz.

of gold in the measured and indicated category and 0.96 million oz. of gold in the inferred category constrained within a $1,800 pit shell. This large, mineralized resource coupled with the potential for resource growth through further drilling, provides an excellent opportunity to increase annual production and extend the mine life of the Fenix Gold mine.

Rio2 is planning a two-stage development strategy for the Project, with the 20,000 tonnes per day Feasibility Study representing the first stage of production. Conceptually, the second stage will incorporate the expansion of ore mining from 20,000 tonnes per day to 80,000 ? 100,000 tonnes per day, with industrial water and/or desalinated water being transported to site via a pipeline and Project power being sourced from the nearby grid with estimated annual gold production rising to more than 250,000 oz.

per annum for at least 10 years. A study into the expansion of the mine will be launched during 2024 to determine the most optimal water option, the related opex and capex and the timing of the proposed mine expansion.