Q2 Metals Initial Metallurgical Testing Confirms Spodumene as the Primary Lithium-Bearing Mineral within Pegmatite at the Cisco Lithium Project

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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESS Newswire / February 12, 2025 / Q2 Metals Corp. (TSXV:QTWO)(OTCQB:QUEXF)(FSE:458) ("Q2" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results of initial metallurgical testing on drill core samples collected from the 2024 drill program on the Cisco Lithium Project (the "Project" or the "Cisco Project") located within the greater Nemaska traditional territory of the Eeyou Istchee James Bay, Quebec, Canada.

Initial mineralogical work was completed by SGS Canada on 16 drill core analytical pulp samples of pegmatite collected across seven (7) drill holes at the Cisco Project (specifically from drill holes CS23-010, 017, 018, 019, 021, 022, 023, see Figure 1). The purpose of the mineralogy work was to provide a preliminary characterization of the lithium pegmatite at Cisco and to orient the direction of subsequent mineral processing test work.

All samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction ("XRD") for quantitative modal mineralogy. The samples that were submitted had representatively low, mid and high grades, with individual samples containing lithium between 0.53% and 3.8% Li 2 O (see Figure 2).

The results of the XRD analysis indicated average spodumene content of 17% within sample results, ranging between 6% and 39%. The remaining minerals in the samples include quartz, albite, microcline, muscovite and occasionally biotite and/or beryl. All minerals are present in common rations compared to other pegmatites in the James Bay Lithium District.

"Having spodumene as the only primary lithium-bearing mineral verified with a high-precision method like XRD is an important milestone for the Cisco Project, verifying our core observations of coarse-grained spodumene," stated Neil McCallum, VP Exploration of Q2. "We will be conducting further metallurgical testing of the mineralized zone at the Project to understand its amenability to HLS and DMS flowsheet work."

To follow-up the initial XRD analysis, samples are currently being prepared for additional metallurgical test work, including heavy liquid separation (HLS), dense media separation (DMS), magnetic separation, and flotation. The primary objective of the follow up preliminary metallurgical program is to evaluate the beneficiation of the currently defined mineralized zone at the Cisco Project with a traditional lithium pegmatite flowsheet. The goal of the proposed work is to produce a spodumene concentrate of greater than 6% Li 2 O with low iron content, at a maximum lithium recovery.