Century Provides Business Update and Announces Timing of 2016 Year End Results

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - March 31, 2016) -

THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OR TO U.S. NEWS AGENCIES

Century Global Commodities Corp. (TSX:CNT) ("Century" or the "Company"), is pleased to provide a business update and announce that it plans to release its audited results for the financial year ended March 31, 2016 during the week of June 20, 2016.

Iron Ore Projects

Despite the recent slight rebound in iron ore prices, market sentiment in the iron ore industry remains subdued due to lower demand in China and abundant new supplies of iron ore coming on stream as a result of multi-billion dollar investments made over the last decade. During this period of depressed market conditions, Century has taken steps to position itself for the future recovery of the iron ore market by undertaking post-feasibility optimization studies and completing an Environmental Impact Statement (which Century is ready to submit when the market conditions will allow) on its flagship Joyce Lake DSO project, and bringing it closer to production. The Company maintains a dynamic assessment process for its iron ore projects that takes into account evolving market conditions and the optimal path to production to generate substantial economic returns for all our stakeholders. 

Non-ferrous Strategy

Pending the recovery of the iron ore sector, Century has been actively exploring new areas of business to deliver higher value to its shareholders. Under its current business plan, the Company is reviewing various non-ferrous acquisition opportunities and other attractive investments around the world. We continue to focus on identifying and evaluating currently undervalued assets and projects likely to create significant shareholder value in the long term.

Commercialization of Mining Database

In the process of evaluating potential acquisition and investment targets, Century's internal team of qualified geologists, mining engineers and finance professionals successfully created a powerful, unique database covering more than 1,500 gold and copper mining companies listed on major international stock exchanges and consisting of approximately 3,500 assets. With our proprietary algorithms calculated on the daily closing prices of these companies, we have been able to track target companies by a variety of metrics with the purpose of identifying value opportunities as they arise in relation to their current market value.

We were encouraged by our partners to commercialize our database by making it available to the general investment and technical communities. Among other enhanced features designed with public users in mind, the database now provides deep insight through pre-set interactive search questions filtered by key markets and mining metrics, with direct links to specific company profiles and access to individual project overviews. It allows users to compile, rank and compare mining assets and company valuations using up-to-date information.

As the global mining industry is targeting demand from China and recognizing that the language and technical standard barriers for international mining intelligence for the Chinese market, we translated the entire content of our database into Chinese in advance of a soft pre-launch at the China Mining Show last October. Tianjin International Mining Exchange and Mining Circle have become our partners in marketing our database in China.

In March 2016, the Century Mining Database was officially launched at the 2016 Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference in Toronto, the world's largest mining convention, and was well received by the conference participants.

Sandy Chim, President and Chief Executive Officer of Century, commented, "We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from our users on the quality of the Century Mining Database. I am excited by our recent achievements. We plan to continue enhancing our database platform through the integration of additional features and functionalities, and seek opportunities to further increase the value of our product for our users. Our goal is to create a global platform that will serve the needs of the investment industry. The Century Mining Database also reduces the language barrier that hampers access to information on mining and mineral resources for investors from China, and should help facilitate the effective placement of capital investments that are expected to flow from China into the global capital market in the next few years."

Food Business

Century is also pleased to report that its fledgling food business is making good progress. It has established sales and distribution channels in Hong Kong and China and has been generating revenue since the beginning of 2016. For the egg products distributed by the Company under its exclusive agreement with Sunny Queen, a large and reputable egg producer in Australia, the Company has secured high profile customers in the airline industry, as well as restaurant chains in Hong Kong. The Company continues to use its marketing network and strategic partnerships to expand the customer-base for the egg distribution business and also develop other lines of food distribution in Hong Kong and in Mainland China.

Internationalization

As the world economy is globalizing, Canada continues to play a key role as an advocate for international markets through initiatives such as its continued pursuit and promotion of international free trade agreements. In preparation for the Company's expansion beyond Canada into international markets across different industries, the continuation of Century from British Columbia to the Cayman Islands was approved at shareholder meetings held last year by virtually all Canadian and foreign shareholders, and was subsequently completed in February 2016. The new corporate structure, with headquarters in Hong Kong, China, supports Century's evolution into a truly international company focused on seizing opportunities arising from the spectacular growth of emerging economies, led by China, for decades to come.

While Century expands its business footprint beyond Canada and the iron ore sector, the Company will continue to maintain its interest in iron ore projects located in the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. We continue to be mindful of our corporate responsibilities, proud of our contribution to the Canadian economy and attentive to our relationships with communities located near our projects in the Labrador Trough. In the process of developing iron ore projects in Canada over the last decade, Century and its joint venture partners have invested close to C$140 million in Canada, primarily in exploration, evaluation and claim maintenance expenditures (over C$95.1 million), followed by expenditures on salaries and wages (C$18.8 million, creating 81 full time jobs) and infrastructure investments (C$5.9 million). Approximately half of these investments were made in Quebec, and the remaining balance primarily in Newfoundland and Labrador. Century also estimates that more than C$14 million of our expenditures during the same period were in areas that created employment and business opportunities for members of First Nations, and that our activities in Canada contributed more than C$6 million in payroll taxes to Canadian governments.

"Since 2011, Century has been an avid supporter of First Nations in Canada," said Sandy Chim, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Century. "We are also proud to have invested close to C$140 million in our mining projects and other initiatives since we started our iron ore development less than ten years ago. These investments have directly benefited communities in Canada, with a significant portion of our investments directly benefiting local communities in the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador. We expect that by laying the groundwork for future iron ore mining in the Labrador Trough and in the James Bay areas, our investments will continue to benefit not only our shareholders and business partners, but also the communities located near our projects. In 2014, the Canada Chinese Business Council recognized the importance of Century's contributions to the Canadian economy by awarding it the Gold Business Excellence Award for Chinese Investment in Canada."

As part of its continuous efforts to contribute and advocate for Chinese investments in mineral resource exploration and mining activities in Canada, the Company recently co-hosted a roundtable lunch where Chinese and Canadian business and political leaders discussed how to bring the next wave of Chinese capital into Canada and to seize opportunities presented by the increasing internationalization of the RMB. The Company is pleased to report that the forum was well received and will facilitate ongoing dialogue or initiatives on bringing Chinese investment into Canada.

About Century

Century is an exploration and development company with significant properties in the prolific Labrador Trough in Québec, Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as the James Bay area of Québec. Century has two key strategic partners, WISCO and Minmetals, both Chinese state-owned enterprises. Each provides financial resources and technical expertise to assist the Company in advancing its projects. Century's most advanced project is the Joyce Lake DSO project, a joint venture with WISCO located close to Schefferville, Québec. Century owns 60% in the joint venture and WISCO owns 40%. It is planned as a 2.5 million tonne per annum direct shipping iron ore project. A feasibility study was completed in March 2015. After discovery and identification of multi-billion iron resources in the past few years, the Company is evolving in a diversified strategic direction. In addition to iron ore development, Century is committed to exploring and evaluating global opportunities outside of the iron ore market, such as the non-ferrous sector and the food industry, to create shareholder value through the efficient allocation of capital resources. Century's website is www.centuryglobal.ca.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

THIS PRESS RELEASE CONTAINS "FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION" WITHIN THE MEANING OF CANADIAN SECURITIES LEGISLATION. THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE REPRESENTS THE EXPECTATIONS OF CENTURY AS OF THE DATE OF THIS PRESS RELEASE AND, ACCORDINGLY, IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AFTER SUCH DATE. FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION INCLUDES INFORMATION THAT RELATES TO, AMONG OTHER THINGS, CENTURY'S INTENTION TO EVALUATE PROSPECTIVE TRANSACTIONS ARISING FROM THE REVIEW BY CENTURY OF ITS STRATEGIC OPTIONS AND ITS AVAILABLE WORKING CAPITAL. FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION IS BASED ON, AMONG OTHER THINGS, OPINIONS, ASSUMPTIONS, ESTIMATES AND ANALYSES THAT, WHILE CONSIDERED REASONABLE BY CENTURY AT THE DATE THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION IS PROVIDED, ARE INHERENTLY 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 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 CENTURY'S BUSINESS, AS DESCRIBED IN CENTURY'S ANNUAL INFORMATION FORM FOR THE YEAR ENDED MARCH 31, 2015. READERS SHOULD NOT PLACE UNDUE IMPORTANCE ON FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND SHOULD NOT RELY UPON THIS INFORMATION AS OF ANY OTHER DATE. WHILE CENTURY MAY ELECT TO, IT DOES NOT UNDERTAKE TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS.

Contact

Robin Cook
Director, Corporate Development
Century Iron Ore Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of
Century Global Commodities Corp.
416-977-3188, ext. 109
robin.cook@centuryglobal.ca