Completion of Drill Campaign

Empire Metals

05/05/2026 07:00

RNS Number : 9111C

Empire Metals Limited

05 May 2026

 

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

 

05 May 2026

Empire Metals Limited

("Empire" or "the Company")

 

Drilling Campaign Completed - Expansion of High-Grade Core at Thomas

 

Empire Metals Limited, the AIM-quoted and OTCQX-traded exploration and development company, is pleased to announce the completion of the major drilling campaign undertaken at the Pitfield Titanium Project in Western Australia ('Pitfield' or the 'Project'), with initial assays confirming and expanding the high-grade core at the Thomas prospect. Results from the first 88 holes, out of a 712- hole program, continue to substantiate and delineate multiple thick, near-surface intercepts above 7% TiO₂, individual intervals exceeding 10% TiO₂, and a peak grade of 17.83% TiO₂. These results underscore Pitfield's position as one of the largest and highest-grade titanium systems globally.

 

Highlights

·  Initial results from the first 88 holes at Thomas confirm and extend the high-grade core, with mineralisation starting at surface across systematic 100m × 100m spacing

·    Multiple standout intercepts, including:

o  54m @ 7.08% TiO2 from surface (including 8m @9.10%) (AC26TOM249)

o  48m @ 7.90% TiO2 from surface (including 8m @10.78%) (AC26TOM246)

o  47m @ 7.77% TiO2 from surface (AC26TOM245)

o  50m @ 6.78% TiO₂ from 10m (incl. 2m @ 17.83% TiO₂)

·    36 of the first 88 holes returned average grades above 6% TiO₂; 8 holes intersected 38-54m at >7% TiO₂

·    Largest drill campaign to date: 712 drill holes completed for 34,844m at Pitfield, more than doubling cumulative metres drilled to 67,846m across 1,104 holes.

·    Over 17,000 samples have been delivered to Intertek Perth for full 35 element geochemical analysis with follow-up assay; the additional sample data is anticipated to significantly enhance the Cosgrove and Thomas Mineral Resource Estimate ('MRE').

 

Shaun Bunn, Managing Director, said: "This campaign is a defining moment for Pitfield. The initial results from Thomas confirm what we have long believed: a continuous, near-surface, high-grade core within a titanium system of genuine district scale, globally unprecedented and of potential strategic significance. With over 67,000 metres now drilled across the Project, we have the geological foundation to advance both resource definition at Thomas and a substantial resource expansion at Cosgrove, while the assay results to come will increasingly underpin the economic case for Pitfield's development."

 

February to April 2026 Campaign

The campaign delivered 712 holes for 34,844m against an original plan of 754 holes for 41,250m. The variance reflects holes deemed unnecessary on the western margin where unmineralised basement was intercepted closer to surface than expected, alongside seasonal access restrictions during crop seeding.

During the campaign, all drill holes were subsampled on a 2m interval, resulting in over 17,000 drill samples being collected, logged by the Company's on-site team of geologists and then prepared for shipment to Intertek's Perth based analytical laboratory. As of the end of April all drill hole and QA/QC samples have been delivered to Intertek for geochemical analysis and assaying.

With the completion of the current drill campaign, the largest undertaken by the Company to date, total drilling at Pitfield has now surpassed 67,846m across 1,104 holes, providing a robust foundation for geological modelling, resource definition and initial economic evaluation work.

Since commencing the maiden drilling campaign at Pitfield on 27 March 2023 Empire has completed:

·    25 Diamond drill holes for 3,449 m

·    211 RC drill holes for 25,852 m

·    868 AC drill holes for 38,545 m.

 

Figure 1. Grey-scale magnetics overlain by airborne gravity data showing RC, AC and diamond drillhole collar locations in relation to current MRE areas.

 

Thomas Prospect

The drill programme was designed to increase the resource confidence level at the Thomas prospect, increase the size of the Cosgrove resource and to drill exploration holes to delineate the edge of the giant mineralisation footprint at Pitfield.

The completed drill campaign at Thomas consisted of 148 AC drillholes, on a 100 x 100m drillhole-spaced grid with an average depth of 46m, for a total of 6,848 metres. A further 30 RC holes were drilled for a total of 2,988 metres. This drilling was concentrated on the high-grade central core zone, with the objective of enhancing resource confidence for the forthcoming MRE update that is targeted for Q3 2026.

Geochemical lab results for the first 88 holes have been returned from Thomas (refer Appendix 1.) and confirmed the location and extent of the high-grade core (announced in RNS on 17 March 2026). Drilling has returned outstanding results within the in-situ near surface high grade core. Up to 8 drill holes intersected between 38m and 54m of >7% TiO2 with several holes containing between 6 -10m of >10% TiO2. The highest grade assay is 2m @ 17.83% TiO2. There are 36 holes out of 88 that grade above 6% TiO2.

These results will materially de-risk the high-grade central core zone that will be included in the MRE update and economic evaluations.

Figure 2. RC and AC drill hole collar locations (MRE drilling) within the Thomas Prospect priority area, showing existing MRE outline and Large High Grade Central Core.  

 

Cosgrove Prospect

Drilling at Cosgrove consisted of 269 AC holes on a 400m x 200m drillhole spaced grid with an average depth of 45m, for a total of 12,140 metres. In conjunction with the AC drilling 41 x 100m RC holes were drilled within the grid for a total of 4,100m. The AC and RC drilling was focussed on increasing the size of the known mineral resource estimate at Cosgrove which was previously based on significantly less drillholes than at Thomas.

The drill coverage at Cosgrove now extends over 10km x 5km, intersecting the same rock types as seen previously with laterite, saprolite, weathered sandstones, weathered conglomerates and weathered interbedded sandstones and siltstones. The core logging suggests there may be more conglomerates at Cosgrove than at Thomas which is important given that the conglomerate clasts do not contain TiO2 and therefore dilute the overall grade of the rock as compared in general to the host sandstones.

 

Figure 3. RC and AC drill hole collar locations (MRE drilling) within the Cosgrove Prospect

 

Exploration/Sterilisation Drilling

A total of 226 exploration holes for a total of 8,788 metres were drilled across the whole of the Pitfield Project property. This encompassed an area 36km long and 10km wide. The purpose of the drilling was twofold: one to define the extents of the mineralisation at Pitfield and the other to identify areas for potential infrastructure where there was no mineralisation.

The drilling to the north, in close proximity to the Mt Scratch area where the initial discovery holes were drilled, has shown very similar mineralised geology to that observed in the earlier drilling. Holes drilled outside an approximate 1km envelope to the west and east have intersected what appears to be unmineralised sandstones and siltstones.

The geological and geochemical data derived from the exploration drilling will allow for a detailed interpretation of the mineralisation footprint at Pitfield. It will also provide valuable input into future work on infrastructure optionality.

 



Figure 4. Exploration RC and AC drill hole collar locations across Pitfield

 

 

 

Appendix 1.  Drill Hole Assays for Thomas

Hole ID
Total Depth (m)
Depth From (m)
Depth To (m)
Interval (m)
Grade TiO2 (%)
AC26TOM184
38
0
38
38
6.17
AC26TOM185
33
0
33
33
4.97
AC26TOM186
44
0
44
44
6.19
AC26TOM187
36
0
36
36
6.69
AC26TOM188
38
0
38
38
5.66
AC26TOM189
25
0
25
25
5.41
AC26TOM190
40
0
40
40
6.31
AC26TOM191
40
0
40
40
6.91
AC26TOM192
39
0
39
39
4.79
AC26TOM193
39
0
39
39
3.69
AC26TOM194
49
0
49
49
7.07
inc.
2
16
14
9.12
AC26TOM195
38
0
38
38
6.18
AC26TOM196
36
0
36
36
4.07
AC26TOM207
40
0
40
40
5.03
AC26TOM208
44
0
44
44
5.09
AC26TOM209
39
0
39
39
4.57
inc.
28
32
4
11.3
AC26TOM210
44
0
44
44
5
AC26TOM211
44
0
44
44
5.5
AC26TOM212
44
0
44
44
3.77
AC26TOM213
39
2
39
37
4.75
AC26TOM214
44
2
44
42
5.22
AC26TOM215
43
0
43
43
7.15
inc.
10
18
8
10.96
AC26TOM216
44
6
44
38
7.4
AC26TOM217
46
4
46
42
5.34
AC26TOM218
48
4
48
44
6.07
AC26TOM219
44
0
44
44
3.22
AC26TOM220
42
0
42
42
3.64
AC26TOM221
42
0
42
42
3.87
AC26TOM222
48
0
48
48
4.16
AC26TOM223
42
0
42
42
4.8
AC26TOM224
39
0
39
39
4.21
AC26TOM225
40
0
40
40
5.3
AC26TOM226
40
0
40
40
4.9
AC26TOM227
44
0
44
44
4.48
AC26TOM228
46
0
46
46
4.34
AC26TOM229
44
0
44
44
5.07
AC26TOM230
42
0
42
42
4.23
AC26TOM231
40
0
40
40
4.82
AC26TOM232
42
6
42
36
4.87
AC26TOM233
45
6
45
39
5.33
AC26TOM234
49
2
49
47
5.13
AC26TOM235
45
0
45
45
5.78
AC26TOM236
46
4
46
42
4.43
AC26TOM237
49
6
49
43
6.96
AC26TOM238
46
4
46
42
7.41
AC26TOM239
46
4
46
42
6.74
inc.
16
22
6
10.29
AC26TOM240
50
0
50
50
6.41
AC26TOM241
50
0
50
50
6.51
AC26TOM242
44
0
44
44
6.99
AC26TOM243
52
0
52
52
4.15
AC26TOM244
46
0
46
46
4.77
inc.
12
22
10
10.31
AC26TOM245
47
0
47
47
7.77
AC26TOM246
48
0
48
48
7.9
inc.
12
20
8
10.78
AC26TOM247
45
0
45
45
7.13
AC26TOM248
51
0
51
51
6.97
inc.
24
28
4
10.43
AC26TOM249
54
0
54
54
7.08
inc.
8
16
8
9.1
AC26TOM255
48
0
48
48
4.59
AC26TOM256
43
0
43
43
5.41
AC26TOM257
42
0
42
42
5.9
AC26TOM258
47
0
47
47
6.02
AC26TOM259
49
0
49
49
6.1
AC26TOM260
50
4
50
46
5.75
AC26TOM261
53
2
53
51
5.58
AC26TOM262
41
0
41
41
5.47
AC26TOM263
41
0
41
41
5.85
AC26TOM264
44
0
44
44
5.53
AC26TOM265
50
0
50
50
5.6
AC26TOM272
42
0
42
42
6.9
AC26TOM273
38
0
38
38
6.26
AC26TOM274
32
0
32
32
5.63
AC26TOM275
33
0
33
33
6.33
AC26TOM276
38
0
38
38
6.22
AC26TOM277
49
0
49
49
4.91
AC26TOM284
36
0
36
36
4.33
AC26TOM285
43
0
43
43
5.55
AC26TOM286
48
0
48
48
6.02
AC26TOM287
56
0
56
56
5.28
AC26TOM288
60
0
60
60
6.13
AC26TOM289
56
2
56
54
6.08
AC26TOM290
39
0
39
39
6.58
AC26TOM291
46
0
46
46
6.84
AC26TOM292
45
0
45
45
6.03
AC26TOM293
44
0
44
44
5.48
AC26TOM300
53
0
53
53
6.95
inc.
8
18
10
10.58
AC26TOM301
48
0
48
48
6.08
inc.
8
14
6
12.66
AC26TOM302
53
2
53
51
5.24
AC26TOM303
50
4
50
46
5.5
AC26TOM304
50
10
50
40
6.78
inc.
36
38
2
17.83

 

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.co.uk or contact:

Empire Metals Ltd
Shaun Bunn / Greg Kuenzel / Arabella Burwell
Tel: 020 4583 1440
S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nomad & Joint Broker)
Ewan Leggat / Adam Cowl
Tel: 020 3470 0470
Canaccord Genuity Limited (Joint Broker)
James Asensio / Christian Calabrese / Rory Blundell / Charlie Hammond
Tel: 020 7523 8000
Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Broker)
Damon Heath
Tel: 020 7186 9950
Tavistock (Financial PR)
Emily Moss / Josephine Clerkin
empiremetals@tavistock.co.uk
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.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.

 
  END

 

 
DRLKZLFBQELLBBF