Diamond Drilling Ahead of Pilot-Scale Testwork

Empire Metals

12/11/2025 07:00

RNS Number : 0871H

Empire Metals Limited

12 November 2025

 

 

Empire Metals Limited / LON: EEE / OTCQX: EPMLF / Sector: Natural Resources

 

 

12 November 2025

Empire Metals Limited

('Empire' or the 'Company')

 

Diamond Drilling to Commence at Pitfield Ahead of Pilot-Scale Testwork Phase

 

Empire Metals Limited (LON: EEE, OTCQX: EPMLF), the AIM-quoted and OTCQX-traded resource exploration and development company, is pleased to announce the commencement of a diamond drilling ('DD') campaign at the Thomas prospect within the Pitfield Project in Western Australia. The campaign has been designed to test the high-grade TiO2-rich core of the Thomas Prospect identified from previous drilling and incorporated within the recently announced Mineral Resource Estimate ('MRE').

 

Highlights

·    Diamond drilling campaign to commence at the Thomas Prospect, designed to provide geological, geochemical, metallurgical and geotechnical data for ongoing development studies and MRE expansion.

·    Programme comprises approximately 1,000m of drilling across 10 holes, with assay results expected in January 2026.

·    Proceeds from the recent £7 million capital raising, together with existing cash reserves of £4 million, fully fund all planned work programmes.

·    Workstreams over the next three to six months will focus on advancing metallurgical testwork, initiating pilot-scale testwork, and planning future phases of resource expansion drilling.

·    The Pitfield Project hosts one of the largest and highest-grade titanium resources globally, with a Mineral Resource Estimate of 2.2 billion tonnes at 5.1% TiO₂ representing only 20% of the known mineralised footprint.

 

Shaun Bunn, Managing Director, said: "We are pleased to commence this important diamond drilling campaign at Pitfield, focused on testing the high-grade TiO2-rich central zone of the Thomas Prospect and delivering both metallurgical and geotechnical drillcore samples which are essential for our ongoing project development studies.

 

"Following the recently announced £7 million capital raising, the Company is well funded and has set its sights on swiftly completing this next round of drilling, accelerating the metallurgical testwork programmes and moving into continuous pilot-scale testwork in early 2026 in order to deliver high-purity TiO2 product samples to potential end users and to support our ongoing engineering and economic studies."

 

Development Pathway

The coming months will see Empire transition from this targeted drilling campaign into a major scale-up phase. By early 2026, the Company plans to have completed the metallurgical and initiate pilot-scale testwork programmes and to commence the next phase of large-scale drilling to significantly expand the current resource base. Preparations are also underway to advance early engineering, environmental and permitting studies to support a development pathway at Pitfield. Together, these initiatives mark an intensive three-to-six-month period of activity aimed at positioning Empire for pilot-scale production and delivery of titanium dioxide product samples to end users.

 

Diamond Drilling Programme November-December 2025

 

The giant titanium discovery at Pitfield is of unprecedented scale and hosts one of the largest and highest-grade titanium resources reported globally, with a MRE totalling 2.2 billion tonnes grading 5.1% TiO₂ for 113 million tonnes of contained TiO₂ (announced 14 October 2025).

 

The MRE, which covers only the Thomas and Cosgrove deposits (refer Figure 1), includes a weathered zone resource of 1.26 billion tonnes at 5.2% TiO₂ and a significant Indicated Resource of 697 million tonnes at 5.3% TiO₂, predominantly from the Thomas deposit.  Titanium mineralisation at Pitfield occurs from surface and displays exceptional grade continuity along strike and down dip. The MRE extends across just 20% of the known mineralised footprint, providing substantial potential for further resource expansion.

 

Following the announcement on the 30 October 2025 that the Company had raised £7 million by way of a subscription and that the proceeds of the subscription, together with existing cash reserves of £4 million, were to be primarily used to maintain momentum across key workstreams including resource expansion and advanced metallurgical and pilot-scale testwork, the Company has rapidly moved to implement the next phase of the development plan with the commencement of this diamond drilling campaign.

 

The drill campaign will consist of 10 holes for 1,000m and has been designed to test the high-grade TiO2-rich core of the Thomas Prospect identified from previous drilling and seen within the recently announced MRE.

 



Figure 1: MRE outlines for Thomas and Cosgrove Deposits with background images of airborne gravity survey results with the location of the AC, RC and DD drillholes

 

The November-December 2025 drilling campaign is a multi-faceted programme designed to generate:

·    Detailed geological and structural information through the high grade in situ weathered zone and into the fresh bedrock that will feed into the geological and resource models and provide greater understanding of the mineral deposit;

·    Geochemical analytical results that will add to the geological database and feed into future upgrades of the MRE;

·    PQ drill core for metallurgical samples that will be an intrinsic part of the ongoing metallurgical testwork programme; and

·    Geotechnical data that will help with current and future mining and engineering studies.

 

Wallis Drilling Pty Ltd have been awarded the contract to undertake the drilling, which will run from 17 November until 22 December. Geochemical analytical results from this DD programme are expected to be returned in late January.

 



Figure 2.  Location of DD hole collars with respect to previous drilling

 



Figure 3.  Location of DD hole collars with respect to high grade core

Competent Person Statement

The technical information in this report that relates to the Pitfield Project has been compiled by Mr Andrew Faragher, an employee of Empire Metals Australia Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Empire. Mr Faragher is a Member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM). Mr Faragher has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Mr Faragher consents to the inclusion in this release of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

 

**ENDS**

 

For further information please visit www.empiremetals.com or contact:

Empire Metals Ltd
Shaun Bunn / Greg Kuenzel / Arabella Burwell
Tel: 020 4583 1440
S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nomad & Broker)
Ewan Leggat / Adam Cowl
Tel: 020 3470 0470
Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Broker)
Damon Heath
Tel: 020 7186 9950
St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR)
Susie Geliher / Charlotte Page
Tel: 020 7236 1177

 

About Empire Metals Limited

Empire Metals Ltd (AIM: EEE and OTCQX: EPMLF) is an exploration and resource development company focused on the rapid commercialisation of the Pitfield Titanium Project, located in Western Australia.  The titanium discovery at Pitfield is of unprecedented scale and hosts one of the largest and highest-grade titanium resources reported globally, with a Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) totalling 2.2 billion tonnes grading 5.1% TiO₂ for 113 million tonnes of contained TiO₂.

 

The MRE, which covers only the Thomas and Cosgrove deposits, includes a weathered zone resource of 1.26 billion tonnes at 5.2% TiO₂ and a significant Indicated Resource of 697 million tonnes at 5.3% TiO₂, predominantly from the Thomas deposit.  Titanium mineralisation at Pitfield occurs from surface and displays exceptional grade continuity along strike and down dip. The MRE extends across just 20% of the known mineralised footprint, providing substantial potential for further resource expansion.

 

Conventional processing has already produced a high-purity product grading 99.25% TiO₂, suitable for titanium sponge metal or pigment feedstock. The friable, in-situ weathered zone supports low-cost, strip mining without the need for blasting or overburden removal.

 

With excellent logistics and established infrastructure, including rail links to deep-water ports with direct access to Asia, the USA, Europe and Saudi Arabia, Pitfield is strategically positioned to supply the growing global demand for titanium and other critical minerals.

 

Empire is now accelerating the economic development of Pitfield, with a vision to produce a high-value titanium metal and/or pigment quality product at Pitfield, to realise the full value potential of this exceptional deposit.

 

The Company also has two further exploration projects in Australia; the Eclipse Project and the Walton Project in Western Australia, in addition to three precious metals projects located in a historically high-grade gold producing region of Austria.

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