Lydian Announces Prime Minister of Armenia's Statement that Open Access to the Amulsar Project Should be Restored

Prime Minister Pashinyan Stated There is No Legal Basis to Prevent Lydian From Advancing 
the Amulsar Project in Accordance with its Existing Environmental Impact Assessment

Mining and Environmental Inspection Body to Conduct Inspection
to Ensure Compliance with Permits and EIA

Lydian Agrees to Establish Participatory Environmental Monitoring
Arrangement with Armenia and Community Representatives

TORONTO, Sept. 09, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lydian International Limited (TSX: LYD) (“Lydian” or the “Company”) announced today that during a live Facebook broadcast, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, of the Republic of Armenia stated that access to the Amulsar Project site should be restored and the protesters blocking access should open the roads.

The Prime Minister also stated that there is no legal basis on which the Government of Armenia can prevent Lydian from advancing the Amulsar Project in accordance with permits based on an existing Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) or require an additional EIA regarding the Amulsar Project at this time.  The Prime Minister noted that Lydian had affirmed expressly that it would comply with its EIA performance standards and then stated that stopping the Amulsar Project on environmental grounds would clearly illustrate a discriminatory approach regarding Lydian and not enhance Armenia’s ability to attract foreign investment.

The Prime Minister further stated that the Government’s Mining and Environmental Inspection Body will conduct an inspection to ensure that Lydian is complying with its permits, including that no changes have been made to the Project unless permitted under the EIA. The duration of the inspection could be as short as 30 days or longer depending on what is discovered.

Edward Sellers, Interim President & CEO of Lydian said today: “Thousands of Lydian supporters welcome additional recognition from the Government of Armenia that there are no grounds to prevent Lydian from completing and operating the Amulsar Project.  Lydian is looking forward to recovering and rebuilding its ability to complete construction and operate the Amulsar Project in accordance with its environmental performance standards.  We are also looking forward to establishing a fair and transparent participatory environmental monitoring arrangement so Lydian and all its stakeholders can have confidence in the results and take pride in our operations.”

“Lydian has agreed to share concurrent access to Lydian’s environmental monitoring apparatus and results going forward under arrangements to be finalized with the Government involving officials and community representatives.  The Government has said it also intends to establish its own monitoring capabilities relating the Amulsar Project and to build out its environmental monitoring capabilities nationally.”

Mr. Sellers continued: “During recent discussions with the Government of Armenia, Lydian confirmed that it will not be able to restart material construction on site until next April or May, although there will be some rehabilitation and earth moving associated with site recovery and remediation in the interim.  We also confirmed that production is not intended to commence until Q4 2020 or Q1 2021, depending on how construction advances.”

“Lydian has been fully transparent in its environmental and operating practices. Those practices meet or exceed applicable international standards of environmental stewardship and sustainability. Lydian’s lenders and major shareholders have required an independent audit of Lydian’s performance to those standards and was found by Knight Piesold & Co. to be substantially compliant. Lydian’s environmental standards and practices were also fully disclosed and confirmed as part of the comprehensive EIA under which Lydian received its mining permits.”

About Lydian International Limited

Lydian is a gold developer focused on construction at its 100%-owned Amulsar Project, located in south-central Armenia. However, illegal blockades have prevented access to Amulsar since late June 2018. Amulsar is expected to be a large-scale, low-cost operation with production targeted to average approximately 225,000 ounces annually over an initial 10-year mine life. Estimated mineral resources contain 3.5 million measured and indicated gold ounces and 1.3 million inferred gold ounces as outlined in the Q1 2017 Technical Report. Existing mineral resources beyond current reserves and open extensions provide opportunities to improve average annual production and extend the mine life. Lydian is committed to good international industry practices in all aspects of its operations including production, sustainability, and corporate social responsibility. For more information and to directly contact us, please visit www.lydianinternational.co.uk.

For further information, please contact:

Or: moreinfo@Lydianinternational.co.uk

Caution regarding forward-looking information

Certain information contained in this news release is “forward looking”. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events, results, outcomes or developments that the Company expects to occur are “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “intends”, “anticipates” or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “will”, “would”, “should”, or “occur” or the negative or other variations of such terms. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others, statements with respect to: the process, outcome and timing of the inspection by the Mining and Environmental Inspection Body; the Company’s compliance with applicable international standards; the Company’s ongoing compliance with its EIA performance standards in the future; the Company’s approach to environmental and operating practices; the ability of the Company to resume construction and/or gain access to the Amulsar Project, of which there can be no assurances; the Company’s ability to restart construction and operate the Amulsar Project; the protestors blocking access to the Amulsar Project opening the roads; the proposed environmental monitoring arrangement with the Government of Armenia; the timing of restarting construction and the commencement of production; the Company’s proposed site recovery and remediation plans; the realization of mineral resource estimates and the timing of development of the Amulsar Project; the commitment to and implementation of good international industry practices; the expected gold production from, and life of mine of, the Amulsar Project; and the expected mining methods at the Amulsar Project. Statements concerning mineral resource estimates may also be deemed to constitute forward-looking information to the extent that they involve estimates of the mineralization that will be encountered when the property is developed.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and factors include, without limitation: changes in gold and silver prices; adverse general economic, political, market or business conditions; failure to achieve the objectives of the future exploration and drilling programs; regulatory changes; as well as "Risk Factors" included in the disclosure documents filed on and available at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results and future events could materially differ from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. All of the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, events or otherwise, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.