West Spargoville Exploration – Drilling Confirms Spodumene Bearing Pegmatites

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Drilling continues at the highly prospective West Spargoville Project with 54 reverse-circulation (RC) holes for 7,636m and 112 aircore (AC) holes for 7,153m completed thus far.
• Results from the first 40 AC holes identify multiple pegmatites and zones of lithium anomalism that will be immediately followed up with RC drilling.
• Reconnaissance AC drilling continues to delineate hidden pegmatites with lithium potential that will be the subject of the accelerated drill program.
• Drilling has confirmed the geological setting is analogous to the Cade Pegmatite at the Dome North Project where mineralised pegmatite is hosted within the Black Flag Beds, beneath a well-developed weathering profile (Refer ESS ASX Release 14th January 2022).
• Further new surface mapping has identified multiple pegmatites with a peak rock chip assay of 3.12% Li₂O (Table 2) which will be targeted with follow-up RC drilling.

Executive Chairman Comment:

Marquee Executive Chairman, Mr Charles Thomas, commented: “We have been working hard to effectively test the many targets that we have generated at the West Spargoville Project. Twelve months ago, there had been no lithium exploration completed at the Project so we’ve made significant progress. The early RC results are proof of concept and the initial drilling campaign has highlighted we are certainly in the right neighbourhood, and the expedited drilling will work through and focus on the multitude of targets that we have defined through our strategic approach to exploration. We have identified numerous, “hidden” pegmatites with the aircore rig that we’re excited about and will follow-up with further work.”

“We have made an excellent start to our discovery journey and in partnership with Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN), we will continue to refine our targets and leverage off the vast amount of knowledge they have to focus in on the best parts of the system.”

Exploration Update & Forward Work Plan

Results have been received from the first 41 RC holes (4,540m) and 53 AC holes (3,737). The RC drilling has been completed on the western portion of the tenure, proximal to the granitoid contact, where mapped pegmatites cross-cut outcropping dolerite rock types. Multiple pegmatites have been intersected during RC drilling with results including 1m @ 0.79% Li₂O from 12m (MQRC045), 2m @ 0.43ppm Li₂O from 64m (MQRC049) and 6m @ 0.3% Li₂O from 96m (MQRC072). MQRC045 targeted the down dip extension of a spodumene bearing pegmatite that was mapped at surface (refer MQR ASX release 17^th June 2022) with multi-element data highlighting fertile trace-element signatures of the pegmatites within the Project (Table 1).

Additionally, further surface mapping has identified multiple pegmatites with a peak rock chip assay of 3.12% Li₂O (Table 2) which will be targeted with follow-up RC drilling. Together, the results are proof of concept that there is the potential to delineate economic, spodumene-hosted lithium deposits within the Project.

The eastern portion of the tenure is covered by a thin veneer (<2m) of transported overburden and has a well- developed regolith profile that extends up to 100m vertical depth. Due to the nature and depth of the weathering profile, AC drilling is required initially to target blind pegmatites for follow-up RC drilling. As such, the AC drilling is considered reconnaissance in nature, however multiple pegmatites have been intersected with significant geochemical anomalism. The assay results show a clear LCT-pegmatite association (Table 1) with tantalum concentrated preferentially in the upper saprolite and lithium concentrated in the lower saprolite. The geological setting is analogous to the Cade Pegmatite at the Dome North Project where mineralised pegmatite is hosted within the Black Flag Beds beneath a well-developed weathering profile (Refer ESS ASX Release 14^th January 2022).

Following completion of this round of RC drilling, the RC rig will shift to the eastern portion of the tenure where blind pegmatites have been intersected in AC drilling to test for bedrock mineralisation underneath the well- developed weathering profile. The hypothesis is that the pegmatites will become more evolved, potentially concentrating lithium to higher levels (“Goldilocks Zone”), with increasing distance from the granite margin.

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