お知らせ • May 07
Empire Metals Limited Completes Drill Campaign and Reports Expansion of High-Grade Core At Thomas
Empire Metals Limited has announced 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. 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: 54m @ 7.08% TiO2 from surface (including 8m @ 9.10%) (AC26TOM249), 48m @ 7.90% TiO2 from surface (including 8m @ 10.78%) (AC26TOM246), 47m @ 7.77% TiO2 from surface (AC26TOM245), 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. 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'). 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 3,449m, 211 RC drill holes for 25,852m, 868 AC drill holes for 38,545m. 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 Third Quarter 2026. Geochemical lab results for the first 88 holes have been returned from Thomas 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. 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. 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.
