TIDMEEE
RNS Number : 6465E
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 ( "TiO(2) " ), a high growth commodity that is included on
critical mineral lists globally.
Highlights
-- A detailed review of the historical geochemical data has
confirmed TiO(2) enrichment (greater than 1% TiO(2) ) over
virtually the entire 40km length of the magnetics anomaly.
-- Area of high-grade TiO(2) mineralisation confirmed in the
immediate vicinity of Mt Scratch extended from 3km(2) to more than
50km(2) with an additional, similarly high-grade area (50km(2) )
confirmed east of the historical Baxter's Mine, 20km south of Mt
Scratch.
-- These large TiO(2) 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 TiO(2) grades over
thick intervals at or very near surface (with many holes ending in
high grade TiO(2) 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% TiO(2) and 120m at 4.72% TiO(2) (refer Table 1) and to
provide first drill tests of other target zones along the length of
this regional TiO(2) enriched trend.
-- First petrographic/mineralogical and TiO(2) specific
geochemical study results expected shortly to define nature of
mineralisation, including mineralogical residence of TiO(2) .
-- 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 GBP1.8m 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 TiO(2)
enriched mineral system. With cash at bank of GBP1.8 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 1,042km(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
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.
TiO(2) Industry and Market
Titanium minerals are highly valued as a source for titanium
oxide ( "TiO(2) " ), 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
TiO(2) .
A review of the CRA sample database, which has now been
digitised by Empire, shows very high levels of TiO(2) (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
50km(2) area of high TiO(2) 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 (50km(2) ) of
high TiO(2) values and anomalous copper-in-soils, associated with
magnetic sedimentary beds within the stratigraphy (Figure 2).
Figure 2. CRA Elevated TiO(2) Soil and Auger Sampling Locations
CRA also carried out stream sediment sampling across the
Yandanooka Basin, which also returned multiple high grade TiO(2)
values in close proximity to, and draining from, the topographic
high associated with the magnetics anomaly, which is clearly the
source of the heavy, TiO(2) rich minerals (Figure 3).
Figure 3. CRA Elevated TiO(2) Stream Sampling Locations
The stream sampling by CRA shows extensive TiO(2) enrichment
across the entire 40km length of the magnetics anomaly, with the
majority of the stream sediment samples assaying above 1% TiO(2) ,
and peaking as high as 8.6% TiO(2) .
Recent soil sampling carried out by Empire (2022) over parts of
the Yandanooka Basin identified elevated TiO(2) values within the
regional magnetics anomaly when compared to values outside the
magnetics anomaly (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Empire Elevated TiO(2) Soil Sample and Drill Collar Locations
The extent of the TiO(2) 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 TiO(2) enrichment. For example,
the lower TiO(2) 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 TiO(2) 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 km(2) to over 50 km(2) with
nearly all the surface soil samples containing greater than 1%
TiO(2) .
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
TiO(2) grades (between 4% and 10% TiO(2) ) over thick intervals
(Table 1), starting at or very near surface and with many of the
holes still ending in high TiO(2) values at a depth of 150 metres
(Figure 6).
Figure 6. Cross Section showing TiO(2) intercepts across IP Traverse (PM01 L6753800)
Significant Drill Results
Grade
Depth From Depth To EOH Interval (TiO(2)
Hole ID (m) (m) (m) (m) %) 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 TiO(2)
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 TiO(2)
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: 020 4583 1440
S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP Tel: 020 3470 0470
(Nomad & Broker)
Ewan Leggat / Adam Cowl
---------------------
Shard Capital Partners LLP (Joint Tel: 020 7186 9950
Broker)
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 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.
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