Comstock Mining Receives Nevada Excellence in Mine Reclamation Award; Recognized for Excellent Mine Mitigation and Historical Mine Features

VIRGINIA CITY, Nev., Sept. 11, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Comstock Mining Inc. (the “Company”) (NYSE American:LODE) received on Saturday, September 9, 2017, the Nevada Excellence in Mine Reclamation Award. The Company received the recognition for Excellence in Mine Reclamation for the Rebuilding of State Route 342 and Reclamation of Historic Mine Features. This included capping of a hazardous, historic mine shaft, the realignment of a major state route away from that mine shaft, safe removal of hazardous materials for legacy mining and the reclamation and beautification of historic mine features and historic mining landscapes.

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Corrado De Gasperis, Executive Chairman and CEO of the Company stated, “Comstock Mining lead a cooperative, multi-agency partnership that resulted in a safe, practical realignment of State Route 342, that enabled mining, commerce and beautification all in one effective project.”

This award was presented for excellence in reclamation at the annual Nevada Mining Association Convention, along with only two other recipients for the highest level of environmental excellence, Newmont and Kinross. All awards were the result of unanimous decisions by the Awards Committee. Members of the committee included representatives from the Bureau of Land Management, Nevada Division of Minerals, Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, Nevada Department of Wildlife and the U.S. Forest Service.

The Excellence in Mine Reclamation Awards recognizes some of the most progressive Nevada miners, elevating the standards of excellence in mine reclamations and restorations. Interest in these awards encourages innovation in reclamation techniques, raises industry standards, and results in better plans of operation and reclamation, while increasing the public’s awareness of these sustaining activities.

Mr. De Gasperis, added, “We congratulate Newmont and Kinross, along with our whole extended team, for leading Nevada mining with the highest level of environmental and social responsibility! This is our second Reclamation Excellence recognition in the past three years, so for us, this is a true testament to the sustained leadership, innovation and commitment enabled by our ‘Comstock Responsible’ culture.”

The Company has been operating in the Comstock District since 2003. Through cooperative partnerships, the Company coordinated and collaborated with communities in both Storey and Lyon Counties, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, the Bureau of Corrective Actions; the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT); the State Historic Preservation Office; McGinley & Associates; Debra Lemke; RCI; and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Cooperative partnerships coupled with relationships built over time on trust are extremely important when a large project must be undertaken, permitted and completed in a timely fashion to benefit the public.

Following a weekend of heavy precipitation, cracks in SR 342 were detected and NDOT temporarily closed it on February 8, 2015. In early March, 2015 NDOT announced that this section of SR 342 would remain closed until a temporary by-pass could be built by Comstock Mining that would be opened to the public in June of 2015 and that the mining company had stepped forward to fund and build the entire project with oversight provided by NDOT and Storey County. SR 342 was re-opened to the public ahead of schedule in early December of 2015, with final acceptance by NDOT and Storey County in May of 2017.

Working cooperatively with state and federal agencies, Comstock Mining’s reclamation project remediated legacy mine dumps that contained imported elemental mercury. In fact, Comstock Mining recovered 1,000 pounds of this imported elemental mercury from pre-1904 mine tailings and captured it for proper disposal. Funded by Comstock Mining, this $3 million reclamation project included the rebuilding and realignment of SR 342 and it reduced costs to the state and local municipalities, and thus, taxpayers. It also provided a safer and more efficient passage for mining operations. It features a scenic rock-lined waterway and enhances the quality of life for residents throughout the northern Nevada region by providing a safe route to and from Virginia City and offers tourists an easy route to visit our historic region and its many businesses.

About Comstock Mining Inc.
Comstock Mining Inc. is a Nevada-based, gold and silver mining company with extensive, contiguous property in the Comstock District and is an emerging leader in sustainable, responsible mining. The Company began acquiring properties in the Comstock District in 2003. Since then, the Company has consolidated a significant portion of the Comstock District, amassed the single largest known repository of historical and current geological data on the Comstock region, secured permits, built an infrastructure and completed its first phase of production. The Company continues evaluating and acquiring properties inside and outside the district expanding its footprint and exploring all of our existing and prospective opportunities for further exploration, development and mining. The near term goal of our business plan is to maximize intrinsic stockholder value realized, per share, by continuing to acquire mineralized and potentially mineralized properties, exploring, developing and validating qualified resources and reserves (proven and probable) that enable the commercial development of our operations through extended, long-lived mine plans that are economically feasible and socially responsible.

Forward-Looking Statements
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