Announcement • Jul 21
Eastport Critical Metals Reports Positive Assay Results from Phase One Infill Drilling At Matsitama Copper Project
Eastport Critical Metals Corp. has confirmed the continuity and consistency of copper mineralisation at the NAK-Main deposit. Assay results demonstrate the apparent thickness of Nak-Main, with three holes intersecting more than 100m of copper mineralisation including internal higher-grade zones of 0.5% to >1.5 % Cu. Copper mineralisation remains open along strike and at depth reinforcing the potential scale of the Nakalakwana deposit. The first batch of assay results comprising 6 holes drilled as part of the NAK-Main zone historical resource infill drilling program announced on May 1, 2026 have been received, with 5 holes confirming the presence of a thick copper-rich mineralised zone at the Nakalakwana deposit. The assay results, obtained using ALS-Chemex South Africa's ICP-AES analytical technique (ME-ICP61), recognize a thick copper-rich mineralised zone associated with the Nak-Main deposit. Mineralization was intersected in all five drill holes, as indicated in the Downhole Intersections below; Drill Hole NAKDD25-003: 137.1 m @ 2,346 ppm Cu from 80.3 m, including: 17.7 m @ 3,866 ppm Cu from 80.3 m, 59.4 m @ 2,027 ppm Cu from 122.0 m, 37.4m @4,289 ppm Cu from 181.7 m. Drill Hole NAKDD25-004: 100.6 m @ 2,394 ppm Cu from 142.7 m, including: 10.0 m @ 4,343 ppm Cu from 148.8 m, 28.5 m @ 3,421 ppm Cu from 250.9 m. Drill Hole NAKDD25-007: 109.6 m @ 3,002 ppm Cu from 16.0 m, including: 54.2 m @ 4,690 ppm Cu from 73.4 m, including; 21.9 m @ 5,024 ppm Cu from 75.4 m, 14.1 m @ 7,192 ppm Cu from 111.5 m. Drill Hole NAKDD25-011: 34.7 m @ 1,854 ppm Cu from 140.0 m. Drill Hole NAKDD25-008 mineralised for over 28 m from 160m downhole but average grades below 1000 ppm Cu (composite 28.2m @ 338 ppm Cu). The Company's flagship Matsitama Copper Project in northeast Botswana, encompasses a contiguous block of six Prospecting Licenses covering approximately 1,845 km2 and near the village of Matsitama, approximately 85 km west of Francistown. Historical exploration at Matsitama, including soil sampling programs, has highlighted widespread anomalous copper over the PLs. The copper anomalies combined with the presence of two copper mines (one operating and one historical) and a historical mineral resource at Nakalakwana, supports the Company's view that further exploration at the Matsitama Copper Project is likely to identify additional mineralised zones. In the NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Matsitama Copper Project, Central District, Botswana, dated March 19, 2025 the authors identified over 20 copper prospects across the Property, ranking the top five as follows: Nakalakwana Hill and surrounding deposits, Copper Snake (Lepashe, Palamela, Tau), Tholo and Tholo North, Phute, Phudulooga. Historical Resource: Eastport does not consider the 2013 SRK Consulting (South Africa) Pty Limited mineral resource as current. SRK was contracted by Matsitama Minerals (Pty) Ltd. to undertake the update of the Mineral Resources for the Nakalakwana Hill copper deposit on the basis of data from 30 drillholes completed during 2012. Mineral Resources classified as Indicated and Inferred in accordance with the definitions and guidelines of the SAMREC Code 2007 edition were reported from the optimistic pit as shown in Table 2. Table 1: Historical Mineral Resources for Nakalakwana based on the optimistic pit and a cut-off grade of 3000 ppm, SRK 2013: Resource Class: Tonnage (Mt): Copper Grade (ppm): Indicated: 6.8: 4,800; Inferred: 3.1: 4,294; Total: 9.9: 4,640. Table Note: Historical Resource stated in compliance with SAMREC 2007. In classifying the Mineral resources for Nakalakwana, SRK reviewed the drillhole data distribution, the consistency in the grade distributions, the QA/QC, the spatial continuity observed in the variograms and the quality of the estimates concomitant with the quantity of composites informing the estimates. SRK considered the relatively well informed areas with drillhole intersections within 50 m spacing and with demonstrated consistency in the grade distribution as Indicated Mineral Resources. The block estimates informed by data spaced more than 50 m apart were classified as Inferred Mineral Resources. The classification was consistent with the guidelines and definitions of The SAMREC Code (2007 edition), which has since been superseded. For Cut-off grade optimisation SRK obtained realistic costs based on the Mowana pit operations from African Copper PLC and applied an escalation factor of 30% to the revenue factors and reduced the mining costs by 30 % for the optimistic scenario for reporting resources. The pit optimisation run based on this scenario indicated a cut-off grade of about 3,000 ppm Cu and a pit shell within which total mineral resources of 9.9 Mt at 4,640 ppm Cu were reported at the 3,000 ppm cut-off grade. The Qualified Person considers the historical estimate to be relevant as an indication of the potential scale and grade of mineralization at Nakalakwana and as a basis for guiding future exploration and resource delineation programs. The estimate was prepared by a reputable independent consulting firm using industry-standard methodologies applicable at the time. However, its reliability is limited by the age of the data (2012 drilling), the relatively wide drill spacing in portions of the deposit, and the absence of verification work by the current QP. In addition, key economic and technical assumptions, including costs, recoveries, and metallurgical performance, have not been independently validated by the Company. The Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource categories reported under the SAMREC Code (2007) are broadly comparable to the Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource categories as defined in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Definition Standards adopted under NI 43-101, in that both classification systems are based on geological confidence and data quality. However, the historical estimate has not been prepared in accordance with CIM Definition Standards, including the explicit requirement to demonstrate reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction, and therefore should not be relied upon as a current mineral resource. Significant work is required to verify and upgrade the historical estimate to a current mineral resource compliant with NI 43-101.