VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Entrée Resources Ltd. (TSX:ETG; OTCQB:ERLFF – the “Company” or “Entrée“), (TSX:ETG; OTCQB:ERLFF – the “Company” or “Entrée“) has today filed its annual operational and financial results for the year ended December 31, 2024. All numbers are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.
2024 HIGHLIGHTS
Arbitration and Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi JVA
On December 19, 2024, a partial final award (the “Award“) was made by the three-member international arbitration Tribunal appointed in connection with the Company’s binding arbitration proceedings against its joint venture partner Oyu Tolgoi LLC (“OTLLC“) and Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. (together, the “Respondents“). The Tribunal ruled in favor of the Company on all issues and dismissed the Respondents’ counterclaims.
As the first step in the implementation of the Award, on February 3, 2025, the Company and OTLLC formally executed and delivered the Joint Venture Agreement appended to the amended 2004 Equity Participation and Earn-In Agreement between the parties. The Joint Venture Agreement (the “Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi JVA“), which has governed joint venture operations and the rights and obligations of the parties since the joint venture was formed in 2008, has an effective date of June 30, 2008, as amended on February 3, 2025.
In conjunction with the formal execution and delivery of the Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi JVA, the Company assigned to OTLLC an 80% or 70% (depending on the depth of mineralization) beneficial interest in the area covered by the western portion of the Shivee Tolgoi mining licence (the “Shivee West Property“), which was previously 100% owned by the Company. The Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi JVA incorporates amended definitions of “Existing Licenses” and “Properties” to include the Shivee West Property for all purposes under the Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi JVA. The geographic area covered by the Shivee Tolgoi and Javkhlant mining licences is the “Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi JV Property“.
The Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi JVA requires OTLLC, as Manager, to hold title to the Shivee Tolgoi and Javkhlant mining licences (the “Licences“) on behalf of the joint venture (“Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi JV“) participants. On February 5, 2025, Entrée’s wholly owned subsidiary Entrée LLC and OTLLC duly executed and delivered License Transfer Agreements (the “License Transfer Agreements“) to govern the transfer of the Licences from Entrée LLC to OTLLC as Manager.
On February 11, 2025, the parties lodged the License Transfer Agreements and supporting documentation with the Mongolian tax authority for the assessment of tax on the transfer of the Licences in accordance with applicable laws of Mongolia as the next step in the implementation of the Award. Timely transfer of the Licences is required to minimize delays to Lift 1 Panel 1 lateral underground development work planned to be completed in 2025 at the Hugo North Extension deposit.
Notwithstanding the formal execution of the Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi JVA, the Company and OTLLC have agreed the parties will continue to work towards potential conversion of the Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi JVA into a more effective agreement of equivalent economic value. The agreement would include a mechanism for the Company to fulfil any obligation under Mongolian law to share with the State up to 34% of its economic benefit from the area of the Licences. Unless and until the parties complete the potential conversion, future development work and mining on the Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi JV Property will be governed by the Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi JVA.
Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi JV Property Update
First Oyu Tolgoi Lift 1 Panel 1 underground development work on the Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi JV Property commenced on October 28, 2024 in the southwest corner of the Hugo North Extension deposit (“HNE“).
The work is part of the initial Panel 1 western ore handling truck chute design which, when completed, will include extraction level tipple development, which connects the truck chute chamber on the haulage level, and the supporting ventilation loop with the return air level.
At December 31, 2024, OTLLC had completed 48 equivalent metres of lateral development work on the return air level. All development work was in rock classified as waste, and no saleable minerals, concentrates, metals or other saleable mineral end product were produced.
Plans to continue development work in 2025 in the southwest corner of HNE in line with the 2025 Oyu Tolgoi Mine Plan approved by the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority of Mongolia (“MRPAM“) are contingent upon the resolution of certain outstanding issues, including the transfer of the Licences from Entrée LLC to OTLLC as Manager of the Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi JV.
The 2024 in-fill diamond drilling program at HNE included seven surface holes and 25 underground holes. As at January 27, 2025, a total of ~4,652.1 metres of surface drilling had been completed and ~6,221.1 metres of underground drilling had been completed on the Shivee Tolgoi mining licence. The 2024 drill program will support the Lift 2 Panel 1 Pre-Feasibility Study and the updated resource model for Hugo North (including HNE), which will include Lift 2 mineralization.
One drill hole (EJD0099) totaling 1,500 metres was drilled at the western edge of the Heruga copper-gold-molybdenum deposit in 2024 to test possible extensions of mineralization to the west. EJD0099 is the first hole drilled at the Heruga deposit since 2012 and is located several hundred metres west of the majority of the previous drilling in the northern half of the deposit. The Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi JV Management Committee had also approved approximately 8,785 metres of diamond drilling in five surface holes on the Heruga deposit in 2024 to increase ore body knowledge and support an Order of Magnitude Study. The drilling was ultimately cancelled due to drill rig availability. No Heruga deposit drilling is currently planned for 2025.
The 2024 exploration program for the Shivee Tolgoi mining licence focused on the Airport South, Ulaan Khud and North of HNE (the area between HNE and Ulaan Khud, also known as “Ridge”) targets, including one inclined diamond drill hole totaling ~1,200 metres at the North of HNE target, one inclined diamond drill hole at the Ulaan Khud target totaling ~1,128 metres, geochemical soil sampling, and gravity/CSAMT geophysical surveys. During 2024, work on the Javkhlant mining licence focused on the Bumbat Ulaan target and the Heruga Trend, including drilling programs and a detailed ground gravity survey, a CSAMT geophysical survey and geological mapping. On the Javkhlant mining licence, one diamond drill hole totaling 640 metres was completed at the West Heruga target, and a total of 1,200 metres of diamond drilling in four holes was completed at Bumbat Ulaan.
The Company announced analytical results from deposit and regional diamond drilling programs conducted by OTLLC between 2022 and 2024 as they were made available by OTLLC. See the Company’s press releases dated February 28, 2024, July 18, 2024, November 4, 2024, and February 27, 2025, available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca, OTC Markets at www.otcmarkets.com and on the Company’s website at www.EntreeResourcesLtd.com. Additional results will be reported as they become available from OTLLC.
Oyu Tolgoi Underground Development Update
The Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia includes two separate land holdings: the Oyu Tolgoi mining licence, which is held by OTLLC and the Entrée/Oyu Tolgoi JV Property, which is a joint venture between Entrée and OTLLC. Rio Tinto International Holdings Ltd. (“Rio Tinto“) owns 66% of OTLLC and is the manager of operations at Oyu Tolgoi. On January 16, 2025, Rio Tinto announced that the Oyu Tolgoi Lift 1 underground mine continues to successfully ramp-up. Oyu Tolgoi is set to become the world’s fourth largest copper mine by 2030 with the operation expected to deliver average mined copper production of ~500 ktpa between 2028 and 2036. Refer to Rio Tinto’s press release dated January 16, 2025, titled “Rio Tinto releases fourth quarter production results” available on its website at www.riotinto.com for further details.
OTLLC has opened a total of 124 Lift 1 draw bells from Panel 0 on the Oyu Tolgoi mining licence, including four draw bells during the quarter ended December 31, 2024. In the fourth quarter 2024, OTLLC delivered 2.1 million tonnes of milled ore from the underground mine on the Oyu Tolgoi mining licence at an average copper head grade of 1.96%.
Ventilation Shafts 3 and …