GATINEAU, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Jan. 5, 2017) - In 2016, Nouveau Monde Mining Entreprises Inc. (TSX VENTURE:NOU)(OTC PINK:NMGRF)(FRANKFURT:NM9) ("Nouveau Monde") has achieved an important milestone with the filing of a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment for its fully owned Matawinie graphite Property (see press release dated June 22, 2016).

Moreover, Nouveau Monde continued advancing its graphite project on numerous fronts including:

• The core drilling of 38 additional holes totalling 6,362 m in the Tony Block's West Zone to further expand and upgrade its mineral resources;
• The excavation of three trenches totalling 411 m of channel sampling to provide surface geological information as well as easy access to mineralization for future bulk sample programs;
• The continuation of baseline environmental studies aiming to characterize flora, fauna, terrain and hydrological aspects in the project area;
• Metallurgical testing confirming homogeneous and large flake size distribution in the West Zone (see press release dated May 9, 2016);
• The addition of key personnel to the team which is essential to Nouveau Monde's migration from an exploration company to a graphite mine developer and aspiring producer;
• Value-added product development aimed at producing purified graphite concentrate as well as purified spherical graphite (see press release dated December 5, 2016);
• Connecting with various graphite market participants, including lithium battery manufacturers to develop partnerships for developing products in line with their specifications.

2017 OBJECTIVES

In 2017, Nouveau Monde intends to focus exclusively on advancing the West Zone of the Tony Block, part of its Matawinie graphite Property, to the Feasibility stage. More specific objectives include:

• To file a Pre-Feasibility Study on its graphite resource by the end of the third quarter;
• To update the West Zone graphite resources for the end of the first quarter by integrating the summer and fall of 2016 drilling and trenching results;
• To continue to attract the best in class human resources to develop our project at the board and management level;
• To complete the environmental baseline and geotechnical studies for the project area;
• To complete metallurgical optimization and comminution testing on the mineralization of the West Zone;
• To advance our value-added product development and manufacturing which includes purified graphite concentrate, expanded graphite, spherical graphite, anode material and graphene based products;
• To continue discussions and developing strategic partnerships with Li-ion market participants and other value-added graphite product customers.
• Continue to work with stakeholders to develop a project that respects the host community and aims a low environmental footprint.

About Nouveau Monde

Nouveau Monde owns the Matawinie's Tony graphite deposit discovered by the company in 2015 on which the results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment, completed according to NI 43-101 guidelines, was published in June 2016. This study demonstrated strong economics with a planned production of 50,000 tpy of high purity flake graphite over a period of 25.7 years which is expected to provide a solid operational margin and relatively low capital expenditures (see press release dated June 22, 2016). The project is located in the Saint-Michel-des-Saints area, some 120 km north of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It has direct access to all needed infrastructure, labour as well as green and affordable hydroelectricity. Nouveau Monde is developing its project with the highest corporate social responsibility standards while targeting a low environmental footprint (targeting a net zero carbon emission operation).

We would like to offer all Nouveau Monde stakeholders our best wishes for 2017!

This press release was reviewed by Antoine Cloutier, P.Geo, Chief Geologist and Eric Desaulniers, M.Sc., P.Geo., President and CEO of Nouveau Monde, both Qualified Persons under National Instrument 43-101 guidelines.

Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) has in any way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction or approved or disapproved the contents of this press release.

Except for historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated by such statements. Nouveau Monde will not update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof. More detailed information about potential factors that could affect financial results is included in the documents filed from time to time with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities by Nouveau Monde.