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RNS Number : 8545W  Empire Metals Limited  17 March 2026

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

 

17 March 2026

Empire Metals Limited

("Empire" or "the Company")

 

Diamond Drilling Confirms Near-Surface High Grade Central Zone at Thomas
Prospect

 

Empire Metals Limited, the AIM-quoted and OTCQX-traded exploration and
development company, is pleased to report the analytical assay results from
its latest diamond drilling programme at the Pitfield Project ("Pitfield" or
the "Project") in Western Australia. This programme was carried out, on
schedule, during November and December 2025. It provides geological,
geochemical, metallurgical and geotechnical data for ongoing development
studies and improve Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") material confidence,
with a particular focus on the high-grade central zone within the in-situ
weathered cap at the Thomas Prospect.

Highlights

·    Diamond core drill programme completed, with eight holes drilled at
the Thomas Prospect for a total of 745 metres, confirming the presence of a
high-grade central zone at the Thomas Prospect.

 

·  Very high-grade TiO(2) intervals identified near surface within the
weathered zone, in particular DD25TOM009 which intersected 9.25m @ 10.13%
TiO(2) from 26.2m and DD25TOM012 which intersected 7.7m @ 9.88% TiO(2) from
3.0m.

 

·    Selected high grade intercepts from the diamond drilling within the
in-situ weathered cap include:

o  53.5m @ 6.83% TiO(2) from 0m (DD25TOM013)

o  61.3m @ 6.64% TiO(2) from 2.2m (DD25TOM010)

o  56.2m @ 6.55% TiO(2) from 2.1m (DD25TOM009)

o  51.4m @ 6.05% TiO(2) from 0m (DD25TOM012)

 

·    Results support targeting of the high-grade central zone for ongoing
infill drilling, metallurgical test work and mine planning studies.

 

·    The fully funded drilling campaign that commenced in February 2026 is
progressing well, consisting of 754 drill holes for 41,250m at an average unit
cost of A$90 per metre. The campaign is designed to upgrade the resource
classification at the Thomas Prospect and significantly expand the Cosgrove
resource, supporting an updated MRE, targeted for Q3 2026.

 

Shaun Bunn, Managing Director, said: "These results confirm the presence of a
high-grade central zone at the Thomas Prospect and demonstrate the significant
depth of the weathered profile, extending over 60 metres from surface.
Importantly, drilling has intersected thick intervals of very high-grade
mineralisation, approaching 10% TiO₂, within the near-surface weathered
profile, which will be the focus of our ongoing drilling and metallurgical
assessment.

"Excellent drill core recovery, averaging over 97% across the programme,
together with the extensive weathered profile encountered, has provided a
substantial and representative sample set for the in-situ weathered zone. This
will underpin the next phase of bulk metallurgical test work, while the
geological and geotechnical data generated from the campaign will feed
directly into mine design and process engineering workstreams as we advance
towards the Scoping Study."

 

Diamond Drill Programme

The November-December 2025 diamond drilling campaign was designed to generate:

·    Detailed geological and structural data through the high grade
in-situ weathered zone and into the fresh bedrock, improving the understanding
of the deposit and supporting ongoing geological and resource modelling;

·    Geochemical assay data to expand the geological database and support
future upgrades to the MRE;

·    PQ-diameter drill core for metallurgical testing, providing
representative material for the ongoing bulk metallurgical test work
programme; and

·    Geotechnical data to support mine design and engineering studies as
the Project advances towards development.

This diamond drilling programme consisted of eight holes for 745.1m, carried
out across the Thomas Prospect over an area 2km x 1km (refer Figure 1). All
holes were geotechnically logged to a depth of 50m by Geotechnical and
Geological Consultants ("GGC"), a Perth based consultancy. Results from the
geotechnical logging are still pending. Drill core from all eight holes was
subsequently cut and subsampled, with a quarter of the core removed for
geochemical assaying and the remainder being saved for bulk metallurgical test
work.

 

Figure 1: Location of Diamond holes with previous drilling.

The geochemical assay results, as well as previously drilled intercepts,
clearly show that the high grade TiO(2) central zone is extensive at the
Thomas Prospect, covering an area of at least 5km long and 1.25km wide.

All but one diamond drillhole generated average grades well above 5% TiO(2)
(refer Table 1), being the average grade of the Thomas MRE (1.77Bt at 5.0%
TiO(2)). The highest grade drillhole (DD25TOM010) intersected 66m of sandstone
and minor interbedded siltstone and has an average grade 6.5% TiO(2). The
lowest grade drillhole (DD25TOM014) predominantly intersected sandstones with
some thick interbeds of conglomerate, up to 10m downhole, which has reduced
the grade as the clasts within the conglomerate do not contain TiO(2)
mineralisation and consequently act to dilute the grade of the rock.

Importantly, the extensive ongoing Air Core ("AC") and Reverse Circulation
("RC") drilling at Thomas (announced 17 February 2026) will further
consolidate the dimensions and grade of the high-grade central zone, as well
as identify the location of thick interbeds of conglomerate which are lower
average grade. This infill drill programme was designed to improve material
confidence and advance the Thomas MRE into Measured and Indicated Resources,
forming the basis of the mine, ore scheduling and economic evaluations.

High-grade sub-intervals reported from within the in-situ weathered zone
(refer Table 1) show that there is not only variability in grade across the
weathered zone but also in thickness, with the holes in the central zone
reporting much higher grades and having a thicker weathered profile than the
holes to the east of the central zone.

A key finding from the drill assay data analysis is the identification of very
high-grade TiO(2) intervals near surface within the weathered zone, in
particular DD25TOM009 which intersected 9.25m @ 10.13% TiO(2) from 26.25m and
DD25TOM012 which intersected 7.7m @ 9.88% TiO(2) from 3.0m.

 

Table 1: Total drill hole and weathered zone intercepts from the drill
programme

 Hole ID           Total Depth (m)  Depth From (m)  Depth To (m)  Interval (m)  Grade TiO(2) (%)
 DD25TOM009        101.2            2.1             101.2         99.1          5.38
 weathered zone                     2.1             58.3          56.2          6.55
 inc.                               26.2            35.5          9.3           10.13
 DD25TOM010        68.2             2.2             68.2          66.0          6.50
 weathered zone                     2.2             63.5          61.3          6.64
 DD25TOM011        101.3            0.2             101.3         101.1         5.77
  weathered zone                    0.2             54.4          54.2          5.74
 inc.                               0.2             6.2           6.0           8.52
 DD25TOM012        101.2            0.0             101.2         101.2         5.39
  weathered zone                    0.0             51.4          51.4          6.05
 inc.                               1.5             9.2           7.7           9.88
 DD25TOM013        101.2            0.0             101.2         101.2         6.03
  weathered zone                    0.0             53.5          53.5          6.83
 DD25TOM014        101.2            6.6             101.2         94.6          4.42
  weathered zone                    6.6             35.1          28.5          4.75
 DD25TOM015        101.2            2.6             101.2         98.6          5.72
  weathered zone                    2.6             36.1          33.5          5.43
 inc.                               15.8            20.8          5.0           8.11
 DD25TOM016        69.6             0.0             69.6          69.6          5.58
  weathered zone                    0.0             35.7          35.7          5.48

 

 

Ongoing Exploration Activities H1 2026

In February 2026, Empire commenced a major drilling programme, the largest by
far to date, primarily focused on delivering an updated MRE at Thomas, with
increased resource classification into the Measured and Indicated categories,
and a significantly larger updated MRE at Cosgrove (announced 17 February
2026).

Overall, 754 drill holes were planned, totalling 41,250 metres of drilling and
consisting of:

·    683 AC drill holes for approximately 34,150 metres, and

·    71 RC drill holes for approximately 7,100 metres,

As of 15 March 2026 the Company had completed a total of 157 holes for 8,899m:
106 AC drill holes for 6,554m at the Thomas Prospect and 61 AC drill holes for
2,345m at Cosgrove. The drilling was scheduled to commence with two AC drill
rigs, with a further AC drill rig and two RC drill rigs mobilising by
mid-March. All five drill rigs have now mobilised to site and are fully
operational. Drilling is expected to be completed by mid-April and will lead
to the release of an updated MRE, which is anticipated in Q3 2026, as
previously announced, to support ongoing engineering and study work.

The drilling campaign, which is expected to cost A$3.7M in total, is fully
funded.  Drilling costs, inclusive of sampling and assays, average less than
A$90 per metre which demonstrates disciplined and effective management by our
exploration team.

 

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.

Market Abuse Regulation Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed
inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No
596/2014, as incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018, until the release of this announcement.

 

**ENDS**

 

For further information please visit www.empiremetals.co.uk
(http://www.empiremetals.co.uk) or contact:

 Empire Metals Ltd                                              Tel: 020 4583 1440

 Shaun Bunn / Greg Kuenzel / Arabella Burwell

 S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nomad & Joint Broker)      Tel: 020 3470 0470

 Ewan Leggat / Adam Cowl

 Canaccord Genuity Limited (Joint Broker)                      Tel: 020 7523 8000

 James Asensio / Christian Calabrese / Charlie Hammond

 Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Broker)                     Tel: 020 7186 9950

 Damon Heath

 Tavistock (Financial PR)                                      empiremetals@tavistock.co.uk (mailto:empiremetals@tavistock.co.uk)

 Emily Moss / Josephine Clerkin                                Tel: 020 7920 3150

 

About Empire Metals Limited

Empire Metals Ltd (AIM: EEE and OTCQX: EPMLF) is an exploration and resource
development company focused on the 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.

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. With
excellent logistics and established infrastructure, Pitfield is strategically
positioned to supply the growing global demand for titanium and other critical
minerals.

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