North Star Maganese Inc.

What is Happening Now / The Process

North Star Manganese is in the early stages of the process of investigating whether the Emily manganese deposit is of sufficient size and grade to support a mining and processing project.

North Star Manganese has a contract mining and sales arrangement, and surface and mineral leases, with Cooperative Mineral Resources for the extraction of manganese ores from their property. The agreement gives North Star Manganese the exclusive right to control, manage and operate the project.

Cooperative Mineral Resources and Crow Wing Power cooperative members will receive compensation from a number of sources, including royalties, the sale of manganese from CMR lands, and share in a portion of the profits of the operations.

North Star Manganese has applied to the State of Minnesota for the right to lease mineral rights for the state-owned lands.

There is an established process for mineral companies to request mineral leases on land that is owned by the State of Minnesota, and North Star Manganese is following all necessary steps throughout this process.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages the process, and the State of Minnesota’s Executive Council determines if mineral leases should be granted.

If the Executive Council approves the application and the State of Minnesota agrees to lease the rights, North Star Manganese would then go through a very detailed process to study the mineral properties to determine if there is a viable project.

Minnesota leasing mineral rights to a company for additional study and analysis does not mean any mining would happen.

Leasing mineral rights only allows North Star Manganese to spend private sector money to study the Emily manganese deposit and to determine if there is a viable project.

If the additional research and data identify a viable project, including a safe, economical, and environmentally feasible way to recover the minerals, North Star Manganese would then have to develop a detailed plan that would be reviewed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and other state offices, through a transparent and rigorous process, including public comments.

Any future operation, if warranted, will be extremely small in comparison to other mining projects in operation and being proposed in Minnesota.