U.S. House of Representatives Passes Amendment #122 to NDAA to Streamline Permitting for Critical and Strategic Minerals Projects Which Would Include Vanadium

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 13, 2018) - Cornerstone Metals Inc. (TSXV: CCC) (OTCQB: CCCCF) (FSE: 1PY) ("Cornerstone" or the "Company") is pleased to announce a recent vote by the U.S. House of Representatives that could help fast track the advancement of Cornerstone's Carlin Vanadium Project near Carlin, Nevada.

In a move to facilitate streamlined permitting for critical and strategic minerals projects in the United States, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Amendment #122 to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) on a bipartisan vote of 229-183 on May 23, 2018. With the passing of the amendment, the House streamlined the permitting process to advance the Trump Administration's mission for mineral development in the United States by centralizing permitting review projects under a lead agency, streamlining permitting time-frames specifically for critical and strategic minerals projects and preserving environmental protections. The Amendment will need the U.S. Senate and Presidential approval to become law.

Further, based on the U.S. Geological Survey December 2018 paper, "Critical Mineral Resources of the United States," vanadium was defined as one of 23 critical or strategic minerals to the United States. Vanadium production is largely controlled by China, Russia and South Africa, and because the United States currently has no production of vanadium, it is dependent on imports to meet its needs, which makes the supply vulnerable to potential influence and disruption by such factors as political changes, market manipulation, environmental issues, civil unrest and natural disasters.

As vanadium is used in the steel industry and in a broad range of existing and emerging technologies, in high-tech industrial, energy, renewable energy and defense sectors, Congressman Tom Emmer stated on May 23, 2018, regarding critical minerals, "These materials are instrumental to America's national defense and economic competitiveness, as is ensuring we can mine them here at home."