ASCENDANT RESOURCES PROVIDES CORPORATE UPDATE IN LIGHT OF MARKET ACTIVITY

TORONTO, March 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ascendant Resources Inc. (TSX: ASND) ("Ascendant" or the "Company”) is pleased to provide an update on corporate and operational activities given recent market volatility in both commodity prices and equity valuations.

As the Company announced on February 12, 2020, our El Mochito mine in Honduras delivered its best quarter of production since its acquisition in December 2016, producing 29.4 million pounds of ZnEq contained metal, comprised of 16.5 million pounds of zinc, 7.7 million pounds of lead and 394 thousand ounces of silver. Management has been successful at reducing operating costs and increasing head grades for the past twelve quarters, and we believe there are still opportunities to balance these in a reduced metals price environment. Our financial partners remain flexible and supportive of our operations, giving us confidence in the financial liquidity of the Company. Activities to secure project financing for the expansion and optimization project at El Mochito have increased this quarter, and based on this progress, management is hopeful to have definitive direction early in the second quarter.

The Company continues to field significant interest in the Lagoa Salgada project from the investment community, given the robust economics of the project’s Preliminary Economic Assessment, announced on January 14, 2020. This is being largely discounted by the market but will be a material source of growth for the Company in the coming quarters. There are multiple pathways forward for the project, and management is advancing discussions with several financial parties to that end.

Ascendant plans to release fourth quarter and full year 2019 financial results after market close on March 25, 2020. Please join us on our conference call on March 26, 2020, at 10:00am EDT to discuss fourth quarter and full year 2019 operational and financial results.

Conference Call Details:
Date of Call: Thursday, March 26, 2020
Time of Call: 10:00am EDT
Conference ID: 3529486
Dial-In Numbers:
North American Toll-Free: 1-833-696-8362
International: 1-612-979-9908

About Ascendant Resources Inc.

Ascendant is a Toronto-based mining company focused on its 100%-owned producing El Mochito zinc, lead and silver mine in Honduras and its high-grade Lagoa Salgada VMS project located in the prolific Iberian Pyrite Belt in Portugal.

After acquiring the El Mochito mine in December 2016, Ascendant spent two years implementing a rigorous and successful optimization program restoring the historic potential of El Mochito, a mine in production since 1948, to deliver record levels of production with profitability restored. With steady state production achieved, the Company was able to drive further metal production growth in 2019 as it focused on grade improvements and now remains focused on further cost reduction and operational improvements to drive profitability in 2020. Given the significant land package of approximately 11,000 hectares in Honduras and an abundance of historical data, there are several near-mine and regional targets providing longer term exploration upside which could lead to further Mineral Resource growth.

The Company is engaged in exploration and the advancement of the Lagoa Salgada project with the goal of building upon the defined Mineral Resources and robust results of the maiden Preliminary Economic Assessment completed in January 2020 and advancing the project towards construction. Ascendant holds a 21.25% interest in the Lagoa Salgada project through its 25% position in Redcorp - Empreendimentos Mineiros, Lda, (“Redcorp”) and has an earn-in opportunity to increase its interest in the project to 80%. Mineral & Financial Investments Limited owns the additional 75% of Redcorp. The remaining 15% of the project is held by Empresa de Desenvolvimento Mineiro, S.A. (EDM), a Portuguese Government owned company supporting the strategic development of the country’s mining sector. The Company’s interest in the Lagoa Salgada project offers a low-cost entry to a potentially significant exploration and development opportunity, already demonstrating its mineable scale.

Ascendant Resources is also engaged in the ongoing evaluation of producing and development stage mineral resource opportunities, on an ongoing basis. The Corporation's common shares are principally listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "ASND". For more information on Ascendant Resources, please visit our website at www.ascendantresources.com.

Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For further information please contact:
Katherine Pryde
Director, Communications & Investor Relations
Tel: 888-723-7413
info@ascendantresources.com

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" (collectively, "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All information contained in this news release, other than statements of current and historical fact, is forward-looking information. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "budget", "guidance", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "strategy", "target", "intends", "objective", "goal", "understands", "anticipates" and "believes" (and variations of these or similar words) and statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" "occur" or "be achieved" or "will be taken" (and variations of these or similar expressions). Forward-looking information is also identifiable in statements of currently occurring matters which may continue in the future, such as "providing the Company with", "is currently", "allows/allowing for", "will advance" or "continues to" or other statements that may be stated in the present tense with future implications. All of the forward-looking information in this news release is qualified by this cautionary note.

Forward-looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding the higher silver recoveries at El Mochito mine and the Company’s ability to maintain such high recoveries, operational improvements, and the achievement of the 2019 production, cost and capital expenditures guidance. Forward-looking information is not, and cannot be, a guarantee of future results or events. Forward-looking information is based on, among other things, opinions, assumptions, estimates and analyses that, while considered reasonable by Ascendant at the date the forward-looking information is provided, inherently are subject to significant risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other factors that may cause actual results and events to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. The material factors or assumptions that Ascendant identified and were applied by Ascendant in drawing conclusions or making forecasts or projections set out in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, the ability of the Company to maintain higher silver recoveries at El Mochito mine and the Company’s ability to maintain such high recoveries, the ability of the Company to drive further operational improvements in 2019 and the ability to achieve the 2019 production, cost and capital expenditures guidance, and other events that may affect Ascendant's ability to develop its project; and no significant and continuing adverse changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets.

The risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information may include, but are not limited to, risks generally associated with the mining industry, such as economic factors (including future commodity prices, currency fluctuations, energy prices and general cost escalation), uncertainties related to the development and operation of Ascendant's projects, dependence on key personnel and employee and union relations, risks related to political or social unrest or change, rights and title claims, operational risks and hazards, including unanticipated environmental, industrial and geological events and developments and the inability to insure against all risks, failure of plant, equipment, processes, transportation and other infrastructure to operate as anticipated, compliance with government and environmental regulations, including permitting requirements and anti-bribery legislation, volatile financial markets that may affect Ascendant's ability to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms, the failure to obtain required approvals or clearances from government authorities on a timely basis, uncertainties related to the geology, continuity, grade and estimates of mineral reserves and resources, and the potential for variations in grade and recovery rates, uncertain costs of reclamation activities, tax refunds, hedging transactions, as well as the risks discussed in Ascendant's most recent Annual Information Form on file with the Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities and available at www.sedar.com.

Should one or more risk, uncertainty, contingency, or other factor materialize, or should any factor or assumption prove incorrect, actual results could vary materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Accordingly, the reader should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Ascendant does not assume any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information after the date of this news release or to explain any material difference between subsequent actual events and any forward-looking information, except as required by applicable law.