Challenger Exploration (ASX: CEL) (“CEL” the “Company”) is pleased to announce results from the ongoing drill program at the Hualilan Gold Project, located in San Juan Argentina. Results from both extension and infill holes from the Verde Zone are reported in this announcement.

Highlights

• Extension and infill drilling at the Verde Zone continues to deliver with results including:
  
  • 30.0m at 4.0 g/t AuEq¹ - 3.9 g/t Au, 5.1 g/t Ag, 0.1% Zn from 338.0m including
    8.0m at 14.5 g/t AuEq¹ - 14.1 g/t Au, 18.2 g/t Ag, 0.4% Zn from 344.0m and
    1.6m at 106.0 g/t AuEq¹ - 96.6 g/t Au, 119.0 g/t Ag, 16.2% Zn from 402.5m (GNDD-741);
  • 35.2m at 3.5 g/t AuEq¹ - 2.5 g/t Au, 16.1 g/t Ag, 1.8% Zn from 438.8m including
    15.1m at 7.4 g/t AuEq¹ - 5.3 g/t Au, 30.7 g/t Ag, 3.6% Zn from 445.0m including
    4.5m at 18.3 g/t AuEq¹ - 14.8 g/t Au, 69.5 g/t Ag, 5.9% Zn from 446.0m (GNDD-790);
    
  • 6.9m at 6.0 g/t AuEq¹ - 5.3 g/t Au, 7.4 g/t Ag, 1.5% Zn from 380.3m and
    10.6m at 3.2 g/t AuEq¹ - 3.1 g/t Au, 1.3 g/t Ag, 0.3% Zn from 403.0m including
    1.0m at 28.1 g/t AuEq¹ - 26.7 g/t Au, 11.2 g/t Ag, 2.7% Zn from 409.0m (GNDD-771);
  • 73.0m at 0.5 g/t AuEq¹ - 0.4 g/t Au, 0.9 g/t Ag, 0.1% Zn from 232.0m including
    8.0m at 2.4 g/t AuEq¹ - 2.0 g/t Au, 3.2 g/t Ag, 0.5% Zn from 279.0m and
    10.0m at 2.3 g/t AuEq¹ - 2.1 g/t Au, 3.9 g/t Ag, 0.3% Zn from 338.0m including
    2.0m at 10.4 g/t AuEq¹ - 9.5 g/t Au, 15.4 g/t Ag, 1.6% Zn from 338.0m (GNDD-758)
• Drilling at the north of the Verde Zone continues to intersect high-grade mineralisation that remains open at depth including:
  • GNDD-711 (42.0m at 5.9 g/t AuEq) and GNDD-758 (8.0m at 2.4 g/t AuEq and 10.0m at 2.3 g/t AuEq) that together define a new zone of high-grade mineralisation and
  • GNDD-790 (35.2m at 3.5 g/t AuEq) which has intersected a new zone of mineralisation that is open at depth

Commenting on the results, CEL Managing Director, Mr Kris Knauer, said

“An excellent set of results from our extension and infill program at Hualilan. We continue to intersect new zones of high-grade mineralisation at depth in the Verde Zone and mineralisation at Hualilan remains open and we continue to see extensions.

I am excited that this program nearing completion has allowed us to free up our Hualilan exploration team for the first time in 3 years. The team has been split into northern and southern exploration teams as our focus shifts towards looking for the next Hualilan.

We have over 20 kilometres of prospective strike which, up until now, we have been too busy to explore. I look forward to reporting results as we search for the second Hualilan we believe is waiting to be discovered."

The highlight from this program was the intersection of several high-grade zones of mineralisation downdip in the Verde Zone. Recently reported high-grade intersections in the Verde Zone, that are open at depth, include 35.2 metres at 3.5 g/t AuEq including 4.5 metres at 18.3 g/t AuEq (GNDD-790); 8.9 metres at 3.7 g/t AuEq including 3.3 metres at 9.6 g/t AuEq (GNDD-763) and 42.0 metres at 5.9 g/t AuEq (GNDD-711 recently reported).

¹ Reported as Gold Equivalent (AuEq) values – for requirements under the JORC Code see page 12

THE VERDE ZONE

The Verde Zone contributes almost 1 million ounces gold equivalent¹ to the current Hualilan MRE. The Verde Zone was a CEL discovery targeted using surface magnetics and IP (Induced Polarisation). The discovery hole (ASX Release - 2 March 2021) returned 125.5 metres at 1.1 g/t AuEq including 71.0 metres at 1.8 g/t AuEq (GNDD-169). The Verde Zone covers 2.0 kilometres of strike and mineralisation remains open along strike and at depth.

Mineralisation in the Verde Zone is oriented north-south, is 50 to 100 metres wide, and hosted by bedding parallel fault-fracture zones in sediments and steeply dipping fracture zones in intrusives. A lower grade halo of mineralisation extends into the overlying sedimentary rocks, which have been locally brecciated by the hydrothermal fluids during mineralisation. The overlying mineralisation in the sedimentary rocks dips to the west at 30-50^o and is up to 50 metres thick. This overlying halo of lower grade mineralisation is a useful exploration guide to vector to the deeper intrusion-hosted mineralisation. As drilling extends deeper, zones of high-grade skarn mineralisation are being intersected at both limestone-intrusive contacts and also within limestone which is analogous to the mineralisation at the main Norte and Sentazon mantos.

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