Cobalt Discovered At Plateau Project

Many Peaks Gold Limited (ASX:MPG) (Many Peaks or the Company) is pleased to announce initial drill assay results for the first four diamond holes targeting cobalt mineralisation hosted in manganese oxide replacement at the recently acquired Yarrol Project area. Drilling results successfully confirm extensions to the cobalt mineralisation identified at surface, forming several stacked sub-horizontal horizons of replacement style mineralisation hosted in unconsolidated fluvial sand and gravels defined as the Plateau Cobalt Project.

Highlights

• Diamond drilling results confirm a sizeable opportunity for combined cobalt and heavy mineral sands over an extensive area at the Plateau Cobalt Project
  
• Shallow, flat laying cobalt bearing horizon intersected in all holes across a width of 330m at the north-eastern extent of a 4km long zone hosting >1% cobalt (ASX announcement 2 May 2023)
  
• Cobalt assay results from an initial four holes returned:
  • 1.05m @ 2,520ppm (0.252%) cobalt from 18.5m depth – CODD01
  • 1.35m @ 380ppm (0.038%) cobalt from 13.35m depth -CODD02
  • 0.50m @ 210ppm (0.021%) cobalt from 6.25m depth – CODD03
  • 2.00m @ 380ppm (0.038%) cobalt from 19m depth – CODD04
• Cobalt and manganese oxides overprint a broader heavy mineral sands (HMS) profile with initial assays for titanium oxide (TiO2) correlating with a suite of valuable heavy minerals
• TiO2 assays across the thicker intercepts of mineral sands returning:
  • 19.55m @ 1.54% TiO2 from surface – CODD01
  • 13.70m @ 1.92% TiO2 from 1.0m depth -CODD02
  • 2.55m @ 2.44% TiO2 from 5.3m depth – CODD03
  • 20.65m @ 1.61% TiO2 from surface depth – CODD04
• Preliminary metallurgical testwork on cobalt intervals and valuable HMS are in progress
• Results pending on a further 30 air core holes testing the lateral extent of the cobalt and HMS
• Further extensional drilling to commence in June 2023 covering a 6km x 7km footprint

“The initial drilling into cobalt targets at the Plateau Project confirms the potential for a significant discovery of cobalt mineralisation. Adding to our team’s excitement, drilling has also highlighted the sediments hosting the cobalt mineralisation has substantial heavy mineral sands content, providing potential value in the overburden.

The cobalt is a horizontal body of mineralisation that overprints the lower layers of the mineral sands units and the free digging profile presents an opportunity to generate a high value mineral product in a geologic setting that allows for potential low cost mining and low cost beneficiation opportunities.”

Previously reported mapping and geochemistry programs across the larger 560km² Yarrol Project land holding have recently discovered outcropping manganese oxide mineralisation returning over 1% cobalt located 6km north of Yarrol gold drilling and 40km south of the Company’s Mt Weary Gold Project (Figure 1).

The cobalt hosted in manganese oxides is accompanied by enrichments in both nickel and copper in the replacement zone. Of the 65 rock chips collected from the target horizon to date, results average 1.07% cobalt and 12.8% manganese and peak rock chips ranging up to 2.24% cobalt and 1.68% cobalt (refer to ASX release dated 2 May 2023).

The Cobalt enriched material is currently interpreted as replacement style mineralisation (from either supergene or hydrothermal processes) forming in the basal units of what is interpreted to be Tertiary (Eocene) aged fluvial sediments which have been preserved by a thin overlay of later Tertiary (Oligocene) volcanic basalt flows (Figure 5). The manganese horizon is believed to form a laterally extensive, sub-horizontal replacement zone(s) ranging from manganese dominant replacement to a hematite replacement within channels of the sedimentary basin. The cobalt enriched material observed at surface (Figure 2) has been identified at multiple locations across a 4km extent of the breakaway slope beneath a basalt plateau within the Yarrol land holding (“Plateau Cobalt Project”).

Figure 1: Project location Map – Refer to Figure 5 for inset geology map and collar locations.

Diamond Drilling Results

The first drilling into the Plateau Project at Yarrol provided a conceptual test of the replacement style mineralisation model. The initial six diamond holes confirm the manganese oxide has lateral continuity in the sub-surface away from mapped surface exposures in the breakaway slopes at the base of the plateau (Figures 4 & 6).

To better characterise the in-situ nature and geometry of the cobalt horizon and provide sample material for preliminary metallurgical test work, PQ diameter core was drilled in 6 drill holes totalling 173.3m. Drilling was successful in intersecting the targeted manganese replacement horizon in every hole.

Drilling of the Eocene aged fluvial sediments hosting the cobalt mineralisation has also identified heavy minerals sands are present throughout the unconsolidated sand and gravel profile (Figure 3). Initial work has identified zircon and several titanium bearing minerals such as rutile, ilmenite, leucoxene, and titanite with mineral abundances correlating to TiO2 results in assays. Further heavy mineral separation tests are required to assess the valuable heavy mineral sand potential.

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