REG - Empire Metals Ltd - Extensive High-Grade Titanium Zones Confirmed

Empire MetalsAnnouncement

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RNS Number : 3965G  Empire Metals Limited  28 April 2025

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

28 April 2025

Empire Metals Limited

("Empire" or "the Company")

 

Empire Metals Confirms Extensive High-Grade Titanium Zones at Pitfield

 

Empire Metals Limited (LON: EEE, OTCQB: EPMLF), the AIM-listed and
OTCQB-traded resource exploration and development company, is pleased to
announce highly successful results from its recently completed Air Core ('AC')
drilling programme at the Pitfield Project in Western Australia ('Pitfield').

 

This latest phase of drilling has further defined widespread and continuous,
high-grade titanium dioxide ('TiO₂') mineralisation within the in-situ
weathered cap, extending from surface to depths of over 50 metres. These
results represent the next step in developing a globally significant titanium
resource at Pitfield whilst also delivering significant bulk sample material
for further processing testwork.

 

Highlights

·    85 AC holes drilled over 4,437m, with 43 holes at Thomas and 42 holes
at Cosgrove Prospects.

·     Broad, continuous, high-grade zones identified in every hole, with
an average weathered interval grade of 5.77% TiO₂.

·     Standout intercepts include:

o  60m @ 6.30% TiO₂ from surface (AC25COS001)

o  56m @ 7.15% TiO₂ from surface (AC25COS042)

o  51m @ 7.88%  TiO₂ from surface (AC25TOM039)

o  57m @ 7.48% TiO₂ from surface (AC25TOM040)

o  52m @ 7.43% TiO₂ from surface (AC25TOM042)

 

·     Cosgrove Prospect revealed multiple zones exceeding 10% TiO₂,
including 14m @ 11.66% TiO₂ from 2m depth.

·     Thomas Prospect continues to impress with intercepts including 49m
@ 7.49% TiO₂ and rich internal zones up to 11.67% TiO₂.

 

This campaign not only delivered over 70 tonnes of metallurgical bulk samples
but also produced analytical data that will directly inform the planning of a
maiden JORC-compliant Mineral Resource Estimate, targeted for Q3 2025.

 

Total drilling at Pitfield has surpassed 22,000m across 202 holes, providing a
robust geological foundation ahead of resource definition.

 

Shaun Bunn, Managing Director, said: "These exceptional results demonstrate
the sheer scale and quality of titanium mineralisation at Pitfield. The
consistency of high-grade intervals from near-surface, along with the depth
and continuity of weathering, has surpassed our expectations. The bulk samples
will now feed directly into upscaled metallurgical testwork aimed at
fast-tracking product development."

 

AC Drill Results Summary

The drilling campaign consisted of 85 AC drillholes for a total 4,437m
drilled, that both tested the extent of, and bulk sampled, the high-grade
zones of titanium mineralisation that were previously discovered within the
strongly weathered cap covering this giant, titanium-rich mineral system.

 

The drilling focused on areas within the Thomas and Cosgrove Prospects. These
areas contained thick, highly weathered in-situ zones of high-grade titanium
mineralisation, previously identified from reverse circulation ('RC') and
diamond drillholes ('DD'). The total combined drilling covered an area over 60
hectares, on a 100m by 100m grid, with the following key results:

 

Thomas Prospect:

o  43 AC drill holes for a total 2,326m, drilled

§ Average hole depth of 54.1m

§ Average grade of 6.20% TiO(2) from 1,148 samples

Cosgrove Prospect:

o  42 AC drill holes for a total 2,111m drilled

§ Average hole depth of 50.3m

§ Average grade of 5.34% TiO(2) from 1,060 samples

 

Two drill holes at each prospect were "twin holes", designed to validate the
geological and assay data quality of the AC drill holes, focusing on the
weathered portion of three existing RC drillholes and one diamond core drill
hole located within the target areas.

 

The drill programme confirmed thick, strongly weathered zones of high-grade
titanium mineralisation of between 7% and 10% TiO(2) at both the Thomas and
Cosgrove Prospects, with assays peaking up to 18% (refer Table 1).
Importantly, all drill holes confirmed continuous mineralisation, with an
average grade of 5.79% TiO(2) from 2,208 samples.

 

Table 1: Significant intercepts from February 2025 AC Drilling

 Hole ID      Easting  Northing  Depth From (m)  Depth To (m)  EOH (m)  Weathered Interval (m)  Grade TiO(2) (%)
 AC25COS001   369985   6737084   0               60            68       60                      6.30
  including                      10              28                     18                      10.00
  including                      24              26                     2                       18.07
 AC25COS028   370143   6737214   0               56            56       56                      6.55
 including                       16              22                     6                       10.98
 AC25COS036   370019   6736958   0               46            46       46                      6.81
 including                       2               16                     14                      11.66
 AC25COS042   370242   6736931   0               56            56       56                      7.15
 AC25TOM021   373250   6724746   0               49            49       49                      7.49
 including                       20              26                     6                       10.71
 AC25TOM036   373358   6725089   2               54            54       52                      7.21
 AC25TOM039   373506   6724612   0               51            51       51                      7.88
 AC25TOM040   373599   6724639   0               57            57       57                      7.48
 including                       6               22                     16                      10.00
 AC25TOM041   373572   6724737   0               54            54       54                      7.19
 including                       4               18                     14                      10.06
 including                       4               12                     8                       11.67
 AC25TOM042   373546   6724823   0               52            52       52                      7.43
 including                       4               16                     12                      10.17
 including                       4               12                     8                       11.32

 

Pitfield Project Combined Drilling Summary 2023-2025

 

The Company completed its maiden reconnaissance drilling programme at the
Pitfield Project in early 2023 (announced 24 April 2023), which consisted of
21 RC drill holes focused mainly to the north of the giant mineral system,
near Mt Scratch. The Company executed two further drill campaigns in late
2023, a three-hole DD drill programme, which confirmed the mineralisation to a
depth of over 350m below surface (announced 20 November 2023) and a 40-hole RC
drill programme which confirmed the high-grade, near surface mineralisation at
what is now referred to as the Thomas and Cosgrove Prospects (announced 22
January 2024).

 

Further RC and DD campaigns were carried out in early 2024, which identified
the much higher grade, in-situ weathered cap and confirmed the presence of
clean, titanium dioxide minerals (anatase and rutile) which occur as a result
of the natural weathering of the interbedded in-situ sediments near surface
(announced 5 June 2024). A subsequent DD drilling campaign (announced 24
October 2024) encountered extensive weathered zones from very near surface to
depths of around 60 metres, nearly double that previous encountered at the
Cosgrove and Thomas prospects, confirming the extremely soft and friable
nature of the bedded sandstones in this weathered zone.

 

With the successful completion of the recent 85-hole AC drilling campaign the
total exploration drilling completed at the Pitfield Project now stands at:

 

 Drilling Type  Number of Holes  Metres Drilled
 RC Drilling    100              14,988
 DD Drilling    17               2,704
 AC Drilling    85               4,437
 Total          202              22,129

 

Figure 1 below shows all the prior drill holes across the mineralised system
and the recent AC drilling at the high-grade target areas within the Cosgrove
and Thomas Prospects.

 

 

Figure 1. Pitfield Project Drill Hole Collar Location

 

February 2025 AC Drilling Programme

Cosgrove Prospect

Drilling at Cosgrove was focused on a priority area off approximately 500m by
600m (refer Figure 2).

 

The weathered zone interval width from this drill programme confirmed previous
drilling in the area, however the average TiO(2) grades for each drill hole
were higher than any prior programme.

 

There are broad zones of high-grade mineralisation over the weathered zone,
for example 60m at 6.30% TiO(2) from surface  AC25COS001  and 56m @ 7.15%
TiO(2) from surface  AC25COS042 .  The depth of weathering of the Cosgrove
drill area was shown to be on average 50.1m and contains very high-grade
intervals of mineralisation of up to 18% TiO(2).

 

There are broad zones of high-grade mineralisation close to surface, for
example 14m at 11.66% TiO(2) from 2m  AC25COS036  and 18m at 10.00% TiO(2)
from 10m  AC25COS036 .

All 42 drill holes confirmed the continuity of high-grade TiO(2)
mineralisation, with total hole average grades ranging from 3.48% to 7.15%
TiO(2). The overall average grade from the 1,060 assayed samples is 5.34%
TiO(2).

 

Figure 2. Air Core drillhole collar locations within the Cosgrove Prospect
priority area.

 

 

Thomas Prospect

 

Drilling at Thomas was focused on a priority area of approximately 300m by
1,000m (refer Figure 3).

 

The depth of weathering at Thomas was consistently deeper than that
encountered at Cosgrove, with the deepest AC drill hole reaching 66m from
surface.

 

There are broad zones of high-grade mineralisation over the weathered zone,
for example 57m @ 7.48% TiO(2) from surface  AC25TOM040  and 49m @ 7.49%
TiO(2) from surface  AC25TOM021 .  There are broad zones of high-grade
mineralisation close to surface, for example 16m at 10.00% TiO(2) from 6m
 AC25TOM040  and 14m at 10.06% TiO(2) from 4m  AC25TOM041 .

All 43 drill holes confirmed the continuity of high-grade TiO(2)
mineralisation, with total hole average grades ranging from 4.41% to 7.88%
TiO(2). The overall average grade from the 1,148 assayed samples is 6.20%
TiO(2.)

 

 

Figure 3. Air Core drill hole collar locations within the Thomas Prospect
priority area.

Next Steps:

 

Acceleration of Mineral Resource Estimate ('MRE') Drill Programme

Based on the highly encouraging AC drill campaign results the Company is
planning an enlarged programme of works at the Thomas and Cosgrove
Prospects.  Results from the AC, RC and DD drilling indicate the potential
for a significant mineral resource at both prospects. The strategic importance
of a resource for Empire Metals is significant for the company moving forward
with the project. As such planning has begun on generating a MRE, which will
include RC and AC drilling, with the drilling focused on a significantly
expanded target area.

 

Interpretation of the drilling data highlights the Thomas Prospect as the best
place to drill the initial resource due to the better consistency of geology
and grade with thicker zones of weathering.  A second phase of drilling will
be planned in late 2025 to drill a resource at the Cosgrove prospect.

 

Metallurgical Test Programme

The broad zones of high-grade mineralisation encountered at or near surface
within the in-situ weathered cap have been shown to hold the highest
percentage of the most important titanium bearing minerals, anatase and
rutile, and these will form the primary feedstock for the upscaled
metallurgical test work programme.

 

The Pitfield Titanium Project

Located within the Mid-West region of Western Australia, near the northern
wheatbelt town of Three Springs, the Pitfield titanium project lies 313km
north of Perth and 156km southeast of Geraldton, the Mid West region's capital
and major port. Western Australia is ranked as one of the top mining
jurisdictions in the world according to the Fraser Institute's Investment
Attractiveness Index published in 2023, and has mining-friendly policies,
stable government, transparency, and advanced technology expertise. Pitfield
has existing connections to port (both road & rail), HV power substations,
and is nearby to natural gas pipelines as well as a green energy hydrogen fuel
hub, which is under planning and development (refer Figure 4).

 

Figure 4. Pitfield Project Location showing the Mid-West Region Infrastructure
and Services

 

 

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. 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 (MAR) 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

 Shaun Bunn / Greg Kuenzel / Arabella Burwell                                            Tel: 020 4583 1440
 S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nomad & Broker)                                      Tel: 020 3470 0470

 Ewan Leggat / Adam Cowl
 Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Broker)                                               Tel: 020 7186 9950

 Damon Heath
 St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial                                                       Tel: 020 7236 1177
 PR)

 Susie Geliher / Charlotte Page

 

About Empire Metals Limited

Empire Metals is an AIM-listed and OTCQB-traded exploration and resource
development company (LON: EEE) with a primary focus on developing Pitfield, an
emerging giant titanium project in Western Australia.

 

The high-grade titanium discovery at Pitfield is of unprecedented scale, with
airborne surveys identifying a massive, coincident gravity and magnetics
anomaly extending over 40km by 8km by 5km deep. Drill results have indicated
excellent continuity in grades and consistency of the mineralised beds and
confirm that the sandstone beds hold the higher-grade titanium dioxide
(TiO₂) values within the interbedded succession of sandstones, siltstones
and conglomerates. The Company is focused on two key prospects (Cosgrove and
Thomas), which have been identified as having thick, high-grade, near-surface,
bedded TiO₂ mineralisation, each being over 7km in strike length.

 

An Exploration Target* for Pitfield was declared in 2024, covering the Thomas
and Cosgrove mineral prospects, and was estimated to contain between 26.4 to
32.2 billion tonnes with a grade range of 4.5 to 5.5% TiO(2).  Included
within the total Exploration Target* is a subset that covers the weathered
sandstone zone, which extends from surface to an average vertical depth of 30m
to 40m and is estimated to contain between 4.0 to 4.9 billion tonnes with a
grade range of 4.8 to 5.9% TiO(2).

 

The Exploration Target* covers an area less than 20% of the overall mineral
system at Pitfield which demonstrates the potential for significant further
upside.

 

Empire is now accelerating the economic development of Pitfield, with a vision
to produce a high-value titanium metal 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.

*The potential quantity and grade of the Exploration Target is conceptual in
nature. There has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource
and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a
Mineral Resource.

 

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