Manaila Polymetallic Mine Update

Vast Resources plc / Ticker: VAST / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining

1 October 2021

Vast Resources plc
(“Vast” or the “Company”)

Manaila Polymetallic Mine Update

Vast Resources plc “Vast”, the AIM-listed mining company, is pleased to update the market on developments at its Manaila Polymetallic Mine (‘Manaila’) located in northern Romania.

The Company continues to evaluate the recommencement of production at Manaila and as part of this process, the Company has been working with TOMRA to assess the suitability of X-Ray Sorting Technology (‘XRT’) to optimise the mine’s production profile. The assessment demonstrated that by installing an XRT machine at the plant to pre concentrate ore at the pit, the technology would be highly effective for three main reasons:

1. a reduction in transportation costs as improved mass reduction would significantly reduce the material being transported from the mine to the processing plant
2. a reduction in processing costs due to reducing the throughput at the plant
3. higher-grade product being delivered to the plant.
   
   

It is anticipated that processing and transportation costs could be reduced by up to 55%. This cost reduction could have a dramatic impact on the mine’s financial performance.

Samples from both types of mineralisation at Manaila, massive sulphide and disseminated sulphide, were sent to the TOMRA Test Centre in Wedel, Germany, to ascertain improved mass reduction and grade upgrade potential. Both mineralisation types showed amenability to the XRT process with metal content recovery on the massive sulphides at 95.4% for copper, 93.6% for lead and 95.2% for zinc in 71% of the mass. The disseminated sulphides returned a metal content recovery of 84.2% for copper, 67.2% for lead and 84.4% for zinc in 35% of the mass.

The combined results show that 93.1% of copper, 82.2% of lead and 92.4% of zinc metal could be recovered in 45% of the mass when mining the polymetallic ore on a ratio of 3 tonnes disseminated sulphide to 1 tonne of massive sulphide, being the typical historical ratio of mining at Manaila.

		MASS					FEED GRADE
D : M Ratio	2.6	Feed Mass kg	Product kg	Reject kg	Mass Prod %	Mass Rej %	Feed Cu%	Feed Pb%	Feed Zn%
Massive	+12 -60mm	2,456	1,744	712	71%	29%	1.26%	0.30%	1.09%
Disseminated	+6mm -40mm	6,445	2,260	4,185	35%	65%	0.13%	0.09%	0.15%
TOTAL		8,901	4,004	4,897	45%	55%	0.44%	0.15%	0.43%

		Product Grade			Reject Grade			Metal Recovery
D : M Ratio	2.6	Prod Cu%	Prod Pb%	Prod Zn%	Prod Cu%	Prod Pb%	Prod Zn%	Cu Rec%	Pb Rec%	Zn Rec%
Massive	+12 -60mm	1.69%	0.40%	1.53%	0.20%	0.07%	0.19%	95.39%	93.60%	95.17%
Disseminated	+6mm -40mm	0.30%	0.17%	0.37%	0.03%	0.04%	0.04%	84.22%	67.15%	84.40%
TOTAL		0.91%	0.27%	0.87%	0.06%	0.05%	0.06%	93.07%	82.15%	92.36%

Please note that the samples were derived from accessible areas of the open pit which is currently on care and maintenance and as such is not a direct correlation to the mineral resource previously disclosed.

Andrew Prelea, Chief Executive Officer of the Vast Resources plc, commented :

“These results, coupled with the strong recovery in commodities prices this year, highlight Manaila’s position as a commercially attractive project alongside our Baita Plai Polymetallic Mine. These results clearly underpin our view that Manaila is economically viable, and the management team are considering various mine plan scenarios of bringing Manaila back into production. It is our preference to secure the required funding via non-equity linked sources and we will provide further updates to the market in due course.”

Competent Person
The forward-looking technical views made in this announcement is based on information interpreted by Mr Craig Harvey, the Group Geologist for Vast and a full-time employee of the company. Mr Harvey is a Competent Person who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and of the Geological Society of South Africa, a Recognised Professional Organisation included in a list that is posted on the ASX website from time to time.

Mr Harvey 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’.

Important Notices

This announcement contains 'forward-looking statements' concerning the Company that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Generally, the words 'will', 'may', 'should', 'continue', 'believes', 'targets', 'plans', 'expects', 'aims', 'intends', 'anticipates' or similar expressions or negatives thereof identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond the Company's ability to control or estimate precisely. The Company cannot give any assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to have been correct. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this announcement. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise publicly any of the forward-looking statements set out herein, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent legally required.

Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to be a forecast, projection or estimate of the future financial performance of the Company.

**ENDS**

For further information, visit www.vastplc.com or please contact:

Vast Resources plc Andrew Prelea (CEO) Andrew Hall (CCO)	www.vastplc.com [phone]
Beaumont Cornish – Financial & Nominated Advisor Roland Cornish James Biddle	www.beaumontcornish.com [phone]
Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited – Joint Broker Jerry Keen (Corporate Broking) Toby Gibbs / James Thomas (Corporate Advisory)	www.shorecapmarkets.co.uk  [phone]
Axis Capital Markets Limited – Joint Broker Richard Hutchison	www.axcap247.com  [phone]
St Brides Partners Limited Susie Geliher	www.stbridespartners.co.uk [phone]

ABOUT VAST RESOURCES PLC

Vast Resources plc is a United Kingdom AIM listed mining company with mines and projects in Romania and Zimbabwe.

In Romania, the Company is focused on the rapid advancement of high-quality projects by recommencing production at previously producing mines.

The Company's Romanian portfolio includes 100% interest in the producing Baita Plai Polymetallic Mine, located in the Apuseni Mountains, Transylvania, an area which hosts Romania's largest polymetallic mines. The mine has a JORC compliant Reserve & Resource Report which underpins the initial mine production life of approximately 3-4 years with an in-situ total mineral resource of 15,695 tonnes copper equivalent with a further 1.8M-3M tonnes exploration target. The Company is now working on confirming an enlarged exploration target of up to 5.8M tonnes.

The Company also owns the Manaila Polymetallic Mine in Romania, which was commissioned in 2015, currently on care and maintenance. The Company has been granted the Manaila Carlibaba Extended Exploitation Licence that will allow the Company to re-examine the exploitation of the mineral resources within the larger Manaila Carlibaba licence area.

In Zimbabwe, the Company is focused on the commencement of the joint venture mining agreement on the Community Diamond Concession, Chiadzwa, in the Marange Diamond Fields.

In Botswana, the Company is focused on finalising the acquisition of the Ghaghoo Diamond Mine, which will be conducted through a joint venture between the Company and Botswana Diamonds plc and will provide the Company with a 90% interest in a high quality and previously producing diamond asset benefiting from world-class infrastructure and capable of generating material revenues in the near term.