High-Grade TiO2 Over Entire 40km System - Pitfield

Empire Metals Limited

03 July 2023

 

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

3 July 2023

Empire Metals Limited

("Empire" or "the Company")

High-Grade Titanium Footprint Extends Over Entire 40km Long Mineral System at Pitfield

Empire Metals Limited (LON: EEE), the AIM-quoted resource exploration and development company, is pleased to provide an update on the high-grade titanium discovery at the Pitfield Project ('Pitfield'), located in Western Australia, where our maiden, reconnaissance drilling programme confirmed extensive, titanium-rich minerals associated with the 40km by 8km magnetics anomaly defined by aeromagnetic data (announced 21 September 2022). Titanium minerals are highly valued as a source for titanium oxide ("TiO₂"), a high growth commodity that is included on critical mineral lists globally.

Highlights

·    A detailed review of the historical geochemical data has confirmed TiO₂ enrichment (greater than 1% TiO₂) over virtually the entire 40km length of the magnetics anomaly.

·    Area of high-grade TiO₂ mineralisation confirmed in the immediate vicinity of Mt Scratch extended from ~3km² to more than 50km² with an additional, similarly high-grade area (~50km²) confirmed east of the historical Baxter's Mine, ~20km south of Mt Scratch.

·    These large TiO₂ enriched areas are both completely open to other parts of the 40km by 8km magnetics anomaly.

·    Based on the scale of this find, Pitfield has the potential to be one of the largest primary titanium mineral sources discovered globally.

·    Less than 2% of the regional magnetics anomaly drilled to date - drilling has confirmed consistently high TiO₂ grades over thick intervals at or very near surface (with many holes ending in high grade TiO₂ mineralisation down to ~150m).

·    Planning underway for a second drilling campaign, including additional reverse circulation ('RC') and first diamond core drilling to follow up previous thick intersections, which included 152m at 4.4% TiO₂ and 120m at 4.72% TiO₂ (refer Table 1) and to provide first drill tests of other target zones along the length of this regional TiO₂ enriched trend.

·    First petrographic/mineralogical and TiO₂ specific geochemical study results expected shortly to define nature of mineralisation, including mineralogical residence of TiO₂.

·    Titanium is on the "critical mineral list" in many countries including the United States, the European Union, Japan and Australia.

·    The Company remains well funded for its next phase of exploration with cash of ~£1.8m as reported on 19 June 2023.

Shaun Bunn, Managing Director, said: "In the past few weeks since verifying this discovery, a detailed compilation and integration of all available historical information on the project area has been carried out with a focus on titanium. What can be clearly evidenced from both the historical surface sampling and our recent geophysical surveys and drilling campaign is the enormous scale of the discovery, extending the full 40km length of this regional magnetics anomaly which has been the focus of our exploration activities to date.

"We are extremely excited by the economic potential of this discovery and are 100% focused on building on our initial success through further drilling to confirm the extent of this giant TiO₂ enriched mineral system. With cash at bank of £1.8 million, as reported on 19 June 2023, we are well-funded to continue our value-add, exploration work at Pitfield into the coming months."

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 1,042km². 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 hydrothermally altered, magnetics anomaly.

Regional gravity and magnetics surveys, carried out historically by the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA), had indicated a strong, extensive geophysical anomaly within the Yandanooka Basin. The airborne magnetics (AM) and airborne electromagnetics (AEM) surveys undertaken by Empire (announced 21 September 2022) confirmed a massive alteration footprint with coincident gravity, magnetic and electromagnetic anomalies extending over a 40km north-south distance (Figure 1).

The maiden, reconnaissance drilling campaign (announced 30 May 2023) was focused on areas where Empire had previously identified highly chargeable-highly resistive anomalies from Induced Polarisation (IP) surveys, which have now been shown to be associated with iron and titanium oxide mineralisation of the sandstone-siltstone beds.

TiO₂ Industry and Market

Titanium minerals are highly valued as a source for titanium oxide ("TiO₂"), a high growth commodity used primarily as an input into the process of the manufacture of pigments which are used in the production of paints, paper and plastics. Titanium as a metal alloy is known for its properties of low density (light weight), high strength and rust-resistance, making it a key component for the automotive industry with the rapid growth in demand for light weight, fuel efficient vehicles.

Titanium minerals are regarded as a "critical" resource and titanium is on the strategic "critical minerals list" in many countries including the United States, the European Union, Japan and Australia.

Surface Sampling and Geochemical Mapping

The favourable geology of the Yandanooka Basin for large-scale copper deposits has previously attracted major mining companies which carried out exploration within the area, including: Kennecott Corporation ("Kennecott"), MIM Holdings ("MIM"), BHP Group Limited ("BHP") and Conzinc Riotinto of Australia ('CRA'), (now Rio Tinto). Whilst widespread copper anomalism has been identified over large parts of the Yandanooka Basin by these previous explorers, particularly in association with magnetite-altered rocks, little information has been published in relation to elevated values of TiO₂.

A review of the CRA sample database, which has now been digitised by Empire, shows very high levels of TiO₂ (plus 1%) in stream sediment, soil and auger samples associated with the regional magnetics anomaly, which at the time were not highlighted by CRA for follow-up drilling, focusing on copper exploration targets instead.

CRA (1992) completed IP geophysics and auger sampling defining a ~50km² area of high TiO₂ values (greater than 1%) and anomalous copper-in-soils, over what is now identified as the western flank of the magnetics anomaly, and which remains open to the east and south (Figure 2.).

CRA also carried out soil sampling at Mt Scratch towards the north of the project area which shows a similar area (~50km²) of high TiO₂ values and anomalous copper-in-soils, associated with magnetic sedimentary beds within the stratigraphy (Figure 2).

Figure 2.              CRA Elevated TiO₂ Soil and Auger Sampling Locations

CRA also carried out stream sediment sampling across the Yandanooka Basin, which also returned multiple high grade TiO₂ values in close proximity to, and draining from, the topographic high associated with the magnetics anomaly, which is clearly the source of the heavy, TiO₂ rich minerals (Figure 3).

Figure 3.              CRA Elevated TiO₂ Stream Sampling Locations

The stream sampling by CRA shows extensive TiO₂ enrichment across the entire 40km length of the magnetics anomaly, with the majority of the stream sediment samples assaying above 1% TiO₂, and peaking as high as 8.6% TiO₂.

Recent soil sampling carried out by Empire (2022) over parts of the Yandanooka Basin identified elevated TiO₂ values within the regional magnetics anomaly when compared to values outside the magnetics anomaly (Figure 4).

Figure 4.              Empire Elevated TiO₂ Soil Sample and Drill Collar Locations

The extent of the TiO₂ enrichment in the Empire soil sampling is impacted by the amount of transported surface sediment cover within the area, samples taken from residual soil are best for identifying prospective areas of TiO₂ enrichment. For example, the lower TiO₂ values in soil samples taken along the eastern side of the magnetics anomaly are interpreted to reflect the extensive presence of transported cover in that area.  Additional IP surveying and drilling will be required to determine the extent of the TiO₂ mineralisation along this eastern corridor.

With the addition of the geochemical mapping results the exploration target area for titanium mineralisation in the vicinity of Mt Scratch has been extended from ~3 km² to over 50 km² with nearly all the surface soil samples containing greater than 1% TiO₂.

Figure 5.              Mt Scratch area - showing the enlarged soil sampling

footprint and location of drill hole collars.

The recent drilling within the northern part of the regional magnetics anomaly, near Mt Scratch, identified consistently high TiO₂ grades (between 4% and 10% TiO₂) over thick intervals (Table 1), starting at or very near surface and with many of the holes still ending in high TiO₂ values at a depth of ~150 metres (Figure 6).

Figure 6.              Cross Section showing TiO₂ intercepts across IP Traverse (PM01 L6753800)

Significant Drill Results

Hole ID	Depth From (m)	Depth To (m)	EOH (m)	Interval (m)	Grade (TiO2 %)	Target
RC23MTS001	2	154	196	152	4.40	Mt Scratch
RC23MTS002	30	150	178	120	4.72	Mt Scratch
RC23MTS003	92	170	178	78	4.75	Mt Scratch
RC23MTS004	0	72	178	72	4.82	Mt Scratch
	136	169		33	5.00
RC23MTS005	0	128	156	128	4.47	Mt Scratch
RC23MTS006	0	50	160	50	4.25	Mt Scratch
	60	114		54	4.45
RC23MTS010	0	36	154	36	4.54	Mt Scratch
	96	148		52	4.40
RC23MTS011	4	20	154	16	4.70	Mt Scratch
	90	148		58	4.30

Table 1.                Significant Intercepts from RC Drilling across IP Traverse (PM01 L6753800)

with an incremental cut-off grade of >2.5% Ti (>4.17% TiO2 equivalent).

Future Work

The maiden drill campaign consisted of only 21 RC drill holes totalling 3,206 metres, with the first 18 holes focused near the old Mt Scratch workings to the north and the final three holes spread evenly across a 30km distance to the south. Future drill programmes, including both diamond core and additional RC drilling, will be carried out along the entire length of the magnetics anomaly to confirm the scale of this giant, titanium enriched mineral system and to also understand the distribution of key factors better, such as grade, mineralogy, thickness and extent of mineralised beds and controls on high-grade TiO₂ mineralisation.

Prior to drilling, in order to gain a better understanding of the nature of the titanium mineral discovery, we will complete our current petrographic/mineralogy and geochemistry studies on the RC drill samples already collected. This, along with a more comprehensive evaluation of the geophysical data, will provide valuable information related to the formation of this giant TiO₂ enriched mineral system, as well as provide an indication of the potential depth extent of the mineral system. An update on the progress of these studies should be available over the next few weeks.

Considering that only 2% of this highly prospective, giant mineral system has been drilled to date, there is enormous potential for additional discoveries to be made through the future drilling campaigns currently being planned.

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  or contact:

Empire Metals Ltd Shaun Bunn / Greg Kuenzel	Tel: [phone]
S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nomad & Broker) Ewan Leggat / Adam Cowl	Tel: [phone]
Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Broker) Damon Heath	Tel: [phone]
St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR)                                          Susie Geliher / Ana Ribeiro	Tel: [phone]

About Empire Metals Limited

Empire Metals is an AIM-listed (LON: EEE) exploration and resource development company with a project portfolio comprising copper 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 strong potential to be a new "Giant" copper mineral system.  The Company is also advancing the Eclipse-Gindalbie Project in Western Australia, which is prospective for high-grade gold and also kaolin, which is used extensively in a number of industries and is considered to be a desirable feedstock for the production of 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 production region in central-southern Austria.

 

END