New Drilling and Exploration Programs Launched for Critical Minerals and Gold Targets in World-Class Australian Mineral Provinces

Metals Australia Ltd (ASX: MLS) is ramping up exploration programs across Critical Minerals and gold targets on the three key projects acquired through the purchase of an 80% interest in Payne Gully Gold Pty Ltd (PGG)¹.

• A series of new drilling and exploration programs have been launched, testing Critical Minerals and gold targets across three key project areas. These projects all lie along strike from major deposits in world-class mineral provinces in Western Australia and the Northern Territory (see locations, Figure 1).
• The exploration programs at these highly prospective projects, acquired through the purchase of an 80% interest in Payne Gully Gold Pty Ltd¹, include:
  • Initial drilling of un-tested key copper-gold target corridor at the Warrego East Copper-Gold Project within the Tennant Creek Mineral Field (TCMF) in the NT (see Figure 1), which has historically produced 25Mt @ 6.9 g/t Au and 2.8% Cu². The granted Warrego East EL32725 lies directly east of Warrego, the largest historical mine at Tennant Creek, which produced 6.75Mt @ 1.9% Cu, 6.6 g/t Au², and covers a fault corridor interpreted from detailed magnetics and the Company’s gravity survey that connects Warrego with the Gecko and Orlando copper-gold deposits (past production and resources 11Mt @ 2.3% Cu, 1.8 g/t Au^2,3 – see Figure 2). A Mine Management Plan (MMP) has been submitted to the NT Government for approval for an extensive aircore drilling program and follow-up RC/diamond drilling across ironstone hosted copper-gold targets which have not been previously tested. The Company also has four EL applications in the TCMF, all of which sit on key mineralised corridors (see Figures 2 & 3).
  • Initial drilling of lithium-pegmatite targets on the Warrambie Critical Minerals (Li, Ni-Cu-Co) Project in WA’s northwest Pilbara (see Figure 1). Warrambie is located just 10km east of the major Andover lithium discovery which has produced drilling intersections of up to 209m @ 1.42% Li2O⁴. Targets have been defined by detailed gravity and reprocessed magnetics imagery⁵ which are analogous to the Andover geophysical signature but have not previously been tested due to the presence of shallow soil cover. A Program of Work (PoW) has been submitted to the WA Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DEMIRS) for approval to drill a series of aircore drilling traverses and follow-up with RC or diamond drilling across identified lithium pegmatite targets (see Figures 4 & 5). This program is expected to commence during H2 2024.
  • An aeromagnetic (fixed wing) survey is underway across the granted gold tenements located along strike to the northeast of the 5Moz Big Bell gold deposit in WA’s Murchison Gold Province. (see Figures 1 & 6). The tenements cover a 50km strike length of the regional scale Chunderloo Shear Zone and regional magnetics show potential for greenstone and potentially gold-mineralised splay structures which have not been tested in areas of cover¹. The detailed aeromagnetics will define these targets prior to planned aircore drilling to test bedrock targets.

Metals Australia CEO Paul Ferguson commented:

“These new exploration programs are important steps in advancing our extensive and highly prospective Critical Minerals and gold projects in WA and the NT, which are all located along strike from major deposits in world-class mineralised terranes.

High-quality drilling targets have been identified by our geological team at the Tennant Creek project, east of the high-grade Warrego copper-gold mine, and at our Warrambie project in the northwest Pilbara, which is only 10km east of the major Andover lithium discovery. We have also commenced a detailed aeromagnetic survey across a large project area located directly along strike from the 5-million-ounce Big Bell mine in WA’s Murchison district.

With exploration programs across five key projects in Australia and Canada, the second half of 2024 will be an extremely exciting period for the Company as we look to unlock the value of our portfolio.”

The target areas being tested are all located along strike from major mineral deposits (see Figure 1, below).

Figure 1: Metals Australia key Critical Minerals and gold exploration projects in world-class mineral terranes (adapted from Geoscience Australia, Australian Mineral Deposits)

Warrego East Copper-Gold Targets, Tennant Creek, NT

The Company’s Tennant Creek Project includes granted EL32725 at Warrego East and four EL applications, EL32397, EL32837, EL32410 and the more recent EL33853, located in the Tennant Creek Mineral Field (TCMF) (see Figure 2 below).

The TCMF has produced 25Mt @ 6.9 g/t gold (Au) & 2.8% copper (Cu) historically², the equivalent of more than 8.5Moz or $20 billion worth of gold at current prices, with all production coming from deposits in outcropping areas.

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