Rock-Chip Results Confirm Copper And Rare Earths Potential At Arden

Auroch Minerals Limited (ASX:AOU) (Auroch or the Company) is pleased to provide an update of its exploration activities at the Arden Project (Arden, Auroch Minerals 90%) in South Australia.

Highlights

• Field exploration well underway to evaluate the Rare Earth Elements (REE) potential at the Arden Project
• First phase of target-generative soil sampling completed, with over 400 samples collected – assays pending
• Assays received for rock-chip samples confirm REE prospectivity at the Hawker and Kanyaka prospects
• Rock-chip results also identified a third prospective area called Mt Arden with Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO) up to 588ppm, as well as samples up to 8% Cu (copper)
• Planning and permitting underway for maiden REE drill programme scheduled for later this quarter
• The Arden Project is located approximately 25km west of Taruga Minerals’ (ASX: TAR) Morgan’s Creek REE Project

Field exploration to investigate the REE potential at the Arden Project is well underway, with mapping, rock-chip sampling and the first phase of soil-sampling completed over priority areas identified as being highly prospective for REE mineralisation.

The first phase of soil sampling comprised 414 samples collected systematically over the Kanyaka and Hawker REE prospects, which were internally identified in August via a desktop study of the Arden Project utilising high-resolution airborne magnetics flown in 2018, all historic surface geochemistry data and the mapped geology.¹ Samples have been delivered to the ALS laboratory in Adelaide for an extended whole rock assay suite, with results expected in the first week of November.

Assays have been received for the nine rock-chip samples collected during the August field work. The results are highly encouraging, with anomalous TREO results up to 362ppm, confirming the REE prospectivity at the Hawker and Kanyaka prospect areas. Furthermore, the results have identified a third area that is prospective for REE mineralisation called Mt Arden, with results up to 588ppm TREO and up to 8% Cu from samples of brecciated rock at surface (See Table 1 for all assay results).²

A second phase of soil sampling is scheduled for late October. The results from the soil sampling programmes will be used in conjunction with the existing geophysical and geological data to plan drill- holes to test for significant REE mineralisation. Planning and permitting for an aircore (AC) drill programme are well advanced, with the programme scheduled to commence later this quarter.

Auroch Managing Director Aidan Platel commented:

“We are extremely pleased with how our REE exploration at Arden is advancing. In the space of only a few months we have been able to identify several areas that we believe have great potential to host significant REE mineralisation. The soil-sampling is part of the systematic approach to better define drill targets, and we look forward to receiving the results in early November.

We continue to be buoyed by the exploration and metallurgical success of Taruga Minerals at their Morgan’s Creek REE Prospect, which is only 25km to the east of our Hawker Prospect in a similar geological setting.

The planning for our maiden AC REE drill programme is advanced, and we are on track to commence drilling before the end of the year.”

Project Location & History

The Arden Project is located 50km northeast of Port Augusta in South Australia, close to the townships of Quorn and Hawker. Located only 25km to the east of the Arden Project is Taruga Minerals Ltd’s (ASX:TAR) Morgan’s Creek REE Prospect, where TAR announced the results of their recent RAB drilling programme, returning with exceptional grades of 1m @ 6,068ppm TREO from 3m depth within a larger intersection of 24m @ 886ppm TREO from surface.³

The Company believes the geological setting and nearology of the Arden Project to Morgan’s Creek gives the project the potential to host shallow Ionic Adsorption Clay (IAC) REE mineralisation. Historically, exploration at Arden has targeted base metal mineralisation, with the area known for its historic artisanal copper mines. As such, historic sampling and assaying have been restricted to limited elemental suites which has not included REEs. More recently, the Company has conducted regional rock chip sampling for full suite analyses. The desktop review completed by Auroch in August discovered numerous TREO anomalies within the geochemical database, including a maximum value of 1330.59ppm TREO located at the Kanyaka Prospect.

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