Research & Development Funding for Enhancement of Silver Production at Wonawinta

Manuka Resources Limited (ASX: MKR) (“Manuka” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce it has received A$1.07M under the Australian Government’s R&D tax incentive scheme for a successful process improvement program undertaken by the Company to enhance Silver production at the Wonawinta Silver Mine.

Highlights

• Between October 2022 and February 2023, the Company undertook a limited trial campaign of silver production at its 100% owned Wonawinta Mine.
• During the trial period, the Company completed a series of modifications and innovations to the Wonawinta processing facility including the introduction of a deslime circuit to remove deleterious fine clays from the ore and increase feed grade into the CIL circuit.
• Metallurgical test work, confirmed by production data, saw an uplift in Ag feed grades to the leach circuit by up to 100%. Higher grades and lower clays increased Ag loadings onto carbon.
• The Company has received a rebate of A$1.07M in relation to the trial production program under the Government’s R&D tax incentive scheme.
• The Company is currently focused on the commencement of gold production at its 100% owned Mt Boppy Gold Mine by Q4 2024. The Mt Boppy Mine is located 150km north of Wonawinta.
• Cashflows from Mt Boppy will support the restart of the Wonawinta Mine as a dedicated silver operation in 2025.
• The Company is targeting the release of an updated Reserve Statement for Wonawinta in May 2024.

Dennis Karp, Manuka’s Executive Chairman, commented:

“Our trial silver production program at Wonawinta afforded Manuka the opportunity to observe and optimise performance of the processing plant, both from a throughput perspective, as well as aiding and increasing metallurgical recoveries. The improvements and innovations achieved were material, as we were able to increase throughput to an annualized >1.0Mt of material through the plant (from nameplate capacity of 850Ktpa), while also identifying changes to our metallurgical flowsheet. Furthermore the rationale behind the improvements has now been recognized.

We are confident that the changes implemented as a result of the trial will improve plant throughput and silver recovery, driving lower operating costs and ultimately stronger cashflows and more robust project economics.

We look forward to incorporating the results into our upcoming Reserve statement and production forecast for the Wonawinta silver mine.”

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