St. Augustine Gold & Copper Files First Quarter 2016 Financial Results and Provides Corporate Update

HONG KONG, May 16, 2016 /CNW/ - St. Augustine Gold and Copper Limited (TSX: SAU) ("St. Augustine" or the "Company"), a development-stage company advancing the King-king Copper-Gold Project ("King-king" or the "Project") in Mindanao, Philippines, announced that it has filed its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016. All amounts, unless otherwise indicated, are in U.S. dollars. 

Q1 Corporate Highlights

• Awarded the Declaration of Mining Project Feasibility ("DMPF"), a construction and mining permit, for the Company's flagship King-king project by Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Philippine Government. The permit approval, which was awarded to St. Augustine's joint venture partner, NADECOR, is the last major permit required to initiate development, construction and operation of the King-king project.
• Through the Company's joint venture partner, NADECOR, was issued a Certification Precondition by the Philippine National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). The Certification Precondition attests that NADECOR satisfactorily complied with the process requirements under the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997 and NCIP Administrative Order No. 03, Series of 2012, otherwise known as the FPIC Guidelines of 2012 for obtaining of the free prior and informed consent of the Mansaka Tribe.
• Appointed Michael McGee, a legally-trained economic consultant based in Charlotte, North Carolina to the Company's Board of Directors.
• Progressed with engineering and corporate social responsibility programs aimed at supporting the projected initiation of Project construction in 2017.
• At March 31, 2016, St. Augustine had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $2.2 million and working capital of approximately $1.2 million. These compare to approximately $3.2 million in cash and cash equivalents and working capital of approximately $2.5 million at December 31, 2015.

Highlights Subsequent to Quarter End

• Nadecor received a ruling from the Supreme Court that its President, Conrado Calalang, and current Board of Directors are the organization's rightful and authorized representatives. The ruling is consistent with St. Augustine's long-held belief on the legitimacy of the Calalang Board. St. Augustine has been interacting with NADECOR's current Board since they were initially elected in August 2011.

"We have made considerable progress over the past year, advancing development of our King-king project significantly," said Mr. Paolo Villar, President and CEO of St. Augustine Gold and Copper Ltd.  "The recent awarding of the Declaration of Mining Project Feasibility by the MGB, and the grant of the Certification Precondition, in particular, represent important milestones for our King-king project.  We expect to build on this momentum by securing project financing and completing a Feasibility Study in the months ahead."

Mr Villar added, "We are also pleased for Mr Calalang and the current Board of Directors that the Supreme Court has dismissed the claims of the minority shareholders and confirmed that the current Board represent the lawfully constituted board of NADECOR."

Outlook
St. Augustine expects to focus its efforts completing a number of milestones and targets over the near and longer term, including:

• Securing financing arrangements with strategic parties and major financial institutions in coordination with NADECOR;
• Advancing other permitting related activities;
• Continuing efforts to re-classify King-king project lands for industrial use;
• Assisting NADECOR with the steps necessary to renew and transfer the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement ("MPSA"); and
• Advancing critical work necessary to bring the King-king project to a more advanced stage, including developing a Feasibility Study.

St. Augustine's financial statements and management's discussion for the period ended March 31, 2016 are available on the Company's website, www.sagcmining.com and via SEDAR.

The King-king Copper-Gold Project
The King-king Copper-Gold Project is located in Compostela Valley in the Philippines, and is expected to recover 3.16 billion pounds (1.43 million tonnes) of copper and 5.43 million troy ounces (169,000 kilograms) of gold over its 25 year mine and process life. According to the Preliminary Feasibility Study that was released on September 18, 2013, and then filed on www.sedar.com on November 1, 2013, the Project has a pre-tax NPV of $2.0 billion with an IRR of 24.8%. The estimated mineral reserves amount to 617.9 million tonnes at 0.300% total copper and 0.395 g/t gold.

About St. Augustine
St. Augustine (SAU.T) is a TSX-listed mining company focused on the development of the King-king Copper-Gold Project. The Project is one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in the world, and is listed as a top three-priority mining project by the Philippine government.

NATIONAL INSTRUMENT 43-101 COMPLIANCE
Mr. James J. Moore, P.E., Vice President Technical of St. Augustine and a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") has reviewed and approved the scientific, technical and economic information contained in this news release.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This announcement includes certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation.  All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve various risks and uncertainties and are based on certain factors and assumptions. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.  Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include uncertainties related to fluctuations in gold, copper and other commodity prices and currency exchange rates; uncertainties relating to interpretation of drill results and the geology, continuity and grade of mineral deposits; uncertainties relating to the completion of a bankable feasibility study; uncertainty of estimates of capital and operating costs, recovery rates production estimates and estimated economic return; the need for cooperation of the Company's joint venture partner and government agencies in the development of the Company's mineral projects; the need to obtain further permits and additional financing to develop the Company's mineral projects; the possibility of delay in development programs or in construction projects and uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones for the Company's mineral projects; and other risks and uncertainties disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Annual Information Form dated March 30, 2016, and filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities on the SEDAR website at www.sedar.com. 

SOURCE St. Augustine Gold and Copper Ltd.