REG - Empire Metals Ltd - Highest Grade Results Reported To Date At Pitfield

Empire MetalsAnnouncement

29/11/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 9699U  Empire Metals Limited  29 November 2023

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

 

29 November 2023

Empire Metals Limited

('Empire' or the 'Company')

 

Highest Grade Drilling Results Reported to Date:

Extensive, High-Grade Titanium Mineralisation Confirmed from Surface to over
350m Deep, Extending Across 30km of the Giant Mineral System

 

Empire Metals Limited (LON: EEE), the AIM-quoted resource exploration and
development company, is pleased to announce the analytical lab results from
the second and third diamond core drillholes completed at the Pitfield Project
in Western Australia ('Pitfield' or the 'Project'), which confirms high-grade
TiO(2) mineralisation zones across thick bedded intervals to a vertical depth
of circa 350m, confirming Pitfield as a world class, district-scale titanium
mineral system.

 

Highlights

 

·    Highest grade drilling results reported to date with second and third
completed diamond drillholes both intersecting thick, bedded intervals of
high-grade titanium mineralisation.

 

·    Drillhole DD23TOM001, the second of the three diamond drillholes,
intersected:

o  297.1m @ 6.10% TiO(2) from 111.4m

o  including 51.6m @ 7.12% TiO(2) from 326.0m.

 

·    Drillhole DD23COS001, the third diamond drillhole completed,
intersected:

o  173.2m @ 5.76% TiO(2) from 18.6m

o  including 58.7m @ 6.32% TiO(2) from 24.0m.

 

·    Latest drill results complement the previously reported, thick
high-grade interval (276.5m @ 4.57% TiO(2) from 80.5m) from the first diamond
drillhole DD23MTS001 (announced 20 November 2023).

 

·   All three diamond drillholes completed to date have intersected strong,
sediment-hosted titanium mineralisation throughout the length of each hole,
including thick, higher grade, bedded intervals, with the bottom of each hole
stopped in mineralisation.

 

·    Each of these two drill intersections of high-grade titanium
mineralisation is located close to a high-grade TiO(2) surface target area
(one covering 6km(2) and the other covering 3km(2)) identified from recently
completed rock chip sampling.

 

·    An extensive Reverse Circulation ('RC') programme of the high-grade
target areas is underway, with approximately 18 RC drill holes completed to
date out of the total of 40 RC holes planned.

 

·    The Company is advancing investigations into the petrology and
mineralogy of the titanium mineralisation to better understand potential ore
processing options.

 

Shaun Bunn, Managing Director, said: "These exceptional results provide
further evidence that we have a high-grade titanium enriched mineralised
system of global strategic significance at Pitfield.

 

"The results clearly point to strong and extensive titanium mineralisation
with thick, high-grade bedded intervals, close to surface, the grades of which
are particularly impressive. We are now seeing TiO(2) values in excess of 7%
over greater than 50m thick, bedded intervals within a host sedimentary
succession that has been entirely altered and mineralised. The easterly
dipping sedimentary beds that carry the higher grades come to surface to the
west of our diamond drill collars, and it is these shallower, higher-grade
targets that are the focus of our planned RC drill campaigns.

 

"The next phase of RC drilling has commenced and is running smoothly.
Comprising 40 RC drillholes, for a total drilled length of 6,000m, this
programme doubles that drilled in our maiden RC campaign. The plan is to carry
out an additional, similarly sized RC drilling programme in early 2024,
targeting the shallower areas of high-grade TiO(2) beds which have been
identified up-dip of the deeper diamond drillhole intercepts, and in
additional higher grade target areas that we expect to be identified from the
RC drilling currently underway."

 

The Pitfield Project

Empire holds a 70% interest in Pitfield which is comprised of four granted
Exploration Licences (E70/5465, E70/5876, E70/6320 and E70/6323) covering
1,042km(2). Pitfield is located near Three Springs, a town 313km north of
Perth, Western Australia on the Midlands Road, which until the opening of the
Brand Highway in 1975 was the main road route from Perth to the state's north
(refer Figure 1).

Figure 1.  Pitfield Project Location showing the scale of the magnetics
anomaly and coincident alteration footprint.

 

Summary of Diamond Drill Results

Analytical results have now been received for the second and third diamond
drill holes, which were located 12km apart, being positioned towards the
southern end and central portion of the giant 40km long by 8km wide by 5km
deep Pitfield mineral system. Both drillholes intersected thick, bedded zones
of significantly higher grade TiO2 mineralisation than that encountered by
previous drilling.  The broad nature of the mineralised intercepts,
highlights being 297.1m @ 6.10% TiO2 (DD23TOM001) and 173.2m @ 5.76% TiO2
(DD23COS001), are globally significant and highlight the world class nature of
this giant titanium mineral system.

 

Drillhole DD23TOM001 (second completed diamond drill hole)

This hole was drilled to test the depth extent of the titanium mineralisation
intersected in RC drillhole RC23TOM001, which was drilled in April 2023.  The
RC drillhole intersected Beaconsfield Conglomerate formation consisting of
interbedded conglomerate and sandstone.  The top 58m was mud rotary drilled
as the bedrock is highly weathered and so no core was recovered over this
initial interval. Notwithstanding, the top 60m of the nearby RC hole
RC23TOM001 graded 4.8% TiO(2). The diamond drilling also intersected
Beaconsfield Conglomerate and, importantly, thick intervals of strongly
altered sandstones with lesser siltstone but containing minor conglomerate
interbeds.  The sandstone-siltstone intervals are most common, being up to
90m thick in parts.  The strong hematite-epidote-carbonate alteration from
the previously reported first diamond drillhole DD23MTS001 is pervasive across
all rock types, but appears stronger within the sandstones.

 

The analytical lab results clearly indicate that higher TiO(2) grades coincide
with the more strongly altered, thick sandstone-rich intervals, suggesting
that the greater permeability of the sandstone beds was important in focusing
the mineralising hydrothermal fluids.

 

DD23TOM001 intersected titanium-mineralised beds throughout the hole,
beginning from surface, in addition to cutting thick, bedded intervals of
higher grade titanium mineralisation, including the following:

·    297.1m @ 6.10% TiO(2) from 111.4m including:

o  51.6m @ 7.12% TiO(2) from 326.0m

 

Drillhole DD23COS001 (third completed diamond drillhole)

This hole was drilled to test a strong magnetic anomaly within the central
part of the giant Pitfield mineral system.  The drillhole intersected
Beaconsfield Conglomerate formation throughout the length of the hole.  The
top 260m is predominantly hematite-epidote-carbonate altered sandstones with
thin interbeds of siltstone and minor conglomerate beds. The remainder of the
drillhole is dominated by conglomerate with minor sandstone and siltstone
interbeds. The conglomerate is altered but not to the same intensity as the
sandstones. The sandy conglomerate matrix towards the bottom of the hole has
been silica-carbonate altered, differing in appearance to the commonly
 epidote-altered sandy matrix higher up in the hole.

Similarly to the second diamond drill hole, the analytical lab results clearly
indicate a correlation between strength of titanium mineralisation and host
rock type with the upper, sandstone-dominated intervals returning higher
TiO(2) grades, especially within thicker bedded sandstone intervals whereas
the more conglomerate-dominated intervals lower in the hole generally contain
less intense mineralisation and consequently returned lower TiO(2) grades than
the sandstone.

 

DD23COS001 intersected titanium mineralised beds throughout the hole,
beginning from near surface, in addition to cutting thick, bedded intervals of
higher grade titanium mineralisation, including the following :

·    173.2m @ 5.76% TiO(2) from 18.6m

o  Inc. 58.7m @ 6.32% TiO(2) from 24.0m

It is important to note that the mineralised intervals reported above are
hosted by sedimentary beds which continue up dip to surface to the west and
are open below the hole down dip to the east.

The results continue to confirm that Pitfield hosts a district-scale titanium
mineral system with multiple, broad, high-grade titanium-mineralised zones
that the current exploration work is identifying within the larger mineral
system. The diamond drilling results clearly demonstrate the continuity of
thick, bedded zones of higher grade titanium mineralisation to a vertical
depth of 350m, still with elevated TiO(2) values at the bottom of the
drillholes indicating that the bedded mineralisation extends deeper.

The high-grade mineralised zones intersected by these two diamond drillholes,
DD23TOM001 and DD23COS001, correlate well with the two new high-grade TiO(2)
drill targets, covering 6km(2) and 3km(2) respectively, which were recently
identified from the rock chip sampling and geological mapping programme that
was previously reported.

Refer to Table 1 and Table 2 below respectively for analytical results for
each interval from diamond drillholes DD23TOM001 and DD23COS001. The
analytical lab procedures involve a multi-acid digestion with ICP-MS
instrumentation finish. The lab reports Ti values whilst industry standard is
to report TiO(2)  equivalent values. The conversion factor is: Ti value x
1.668 = TiO(2) value.

 

Figure 2.  Grey-scale magnetics map overlain by airborne gravity survey
results with location of maiden RC drillholes, diamond drillholes and planned
RC drillholes.

 

RC Drill Programme

The current phase of drilling, an extensive RC drill programme, targeting
higher grade mineralisation, is well underway and is expected to run for two
more weeks, with approximately 18 RC drillholes completed to date. The
programme consists of 40 drillholes totalling 6,000 metres along the length of
the high-density gravity core coincident within the regional magnetics anomaly
(see Figure 2), with particular focus on the high-grade areas identified
through the recent surface rock chip sampling and mapping programme in
addition to the diamond drill results.  The RC drill programme will also
include drillholes to test up-dip bedded high-grade zones to the west of those
intersected within the second diamond drillhole, DD23TOM001, reported herein.

 

The objective of this drill programme is to further define the scale of this
giant, titanium-enriched mineral system but to also identify near-surface,
higher grade zones which will be the focus of future resource development and
mining studies, inclusive of mineralogical and metallurgical characterisation.

 

Future Work

Subject to the outcomes of the current RC drill programme, the Company expects
to carry out a further 6,000m RC drill programme in Q1 2024, targeting
near-surface, higher grade zones, and providing some initial in-fill drilling
which represents the beginning of a mineral resource development phase of
work.

 

The Company is continuing its investigations into the petrology and mineralogy
of the titanium mineralisation to better understand potential ore processing
options.

 

Table 1.  Diamond drillhole #3 (DD23TOM001) geochemical analysis lab results
for TiO(2)*

(*Conversion factor for Ti to TiO2 is 1.668.)

 

 

 

Table 2. Diamond drillhole #3 (DD23COS001) geochemical analysis lab results
for TiO(2)*

(*Conversion factor for Ti to TiO2 is 1.668.)

 

 

 

 

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 Eclipse Exploration
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                                                               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 / Ana Ribeiro

 

About Empire Metals Limited

Empire Metals is an AIM-listed (LON: EEE) exploration and resource development
company with a project portfolio comprising copper, titanium and gold
interests in Australia and Austria.

 

The Company's strategy is to develop a pipeline of projects at different
stages in the development curve. Its current focus is on the Pitfield Project
in Western Australia, which has demonstrated to contain a newly recognised
giant mineral system that hosts a globally significant titanium discovery.
The Company is also advancing the Eclipse-Gindalbie Project in Western
Australia, which is prospective for high-grade gold and also kaolin used to
produce high-purity alumina, an essential component in lithium-ion batteries.

 

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

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