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

5 March 2024

Empire Metals Limited

("Empire" or "the Company")

Mineralogy and Metallurgical Studies identify Unique Opportunity for Onsite Processing to Deliver High-Value Product

Empire Metals Limited (LON: EEE), the AIM-quoted resource exploration and development company, is pleased to announce the preliminary results from the on-going mineralogical and metallurgical studies on the high-grade giant sediment-hosted titanium discovery at the Pitfield Project ('Pitfield'), located in Western Australia.

Highlights

·    Study results show favourable mineralogy and metallurgy in the high-grade titanium samples drilled at Pitfield; resulting in a relatively simple processing flowsheet and highly concentrated end product.

·    Titanite, a calcium titanium silicate, is confirmed as the most abundant Ti-bearing mineral, accounting for approximately 67% of the total contained TiO₂ and making up around 20% of the potential Pitfield ore by mass.

·    Titanite is a "non-refractory" mineral and is amenable to a simple low temperature acid leaching process to liberate the titanium, unlike igneous "hard rock" ilmenite ores which commonly require on-site smelting to produce a lower value titanium-rich slag product.

·    The conceptual processing flowsheet that is being tested consists of beneficiation stages to generate a titanium-rich heavy mineral concentrate and to remove acid-consuming gangue minerals, followed by a simple acid leaching stage, and will therefore not require an energy intensive, on-site smelting process.

·    The final product from the leaching stage is expected to have a very high TiO₂ concentration, approaching the same content as natural rutile (>95%), which would make it a highly desirable feedstock for a titanium dioxide pigment producer.

·    Based on Q4 2023 rutile market supply and demand forecasts the price range for rutile is in the order of US$1,880/t to US$2,180/t, reflecting a tightening of the supply chain despite increasing demand over the next decade.

·    Additional opportunity has been identified to further refine the TiO₂ product and make a very high value pigment-quality product on-site for sale directly to end users for use in the manufacture of paints and coatings, plastics and paper.

Shaun Bunn, Managing Director, said: "I am delighted to report the results of our preliminary technical studies, which demonstrate not only the extraordinary mineralogical nature of this giant, titanium-rich mineral system but also the unique, favourable metallurgical characteristics which offer great promise of a simple processing flowsheet to achieve a desirable, high-value TiO₂ product. Our efforts to date have shown that Pitfield is in a class of its own when it comes to combined scale and grade, and additionally offers a "soft-rock" type of bedded sandstone-hosted mineralisation that will require little to no open-pit mine waste pre-stripping. The project lies within one of the top mining jurisdictions in the world, close to well established major infrastructure.

"This confirmation that the titanium mineralisation is dominated by titanite, in such quantities as to set Pitfield apart from any previously reported world class titanium resource, has further reinforced our belief that we are dealing with an unprecedented discovery, one that could provide a path for Empire to become a major supplier of 'rutile equivalent products' or even a significant TiO₂ pigment producer in its own right.  With our newly appointed metallurgical team we are ready to successfully execute and expedite the next phase of project development and we will continue to bolster this group with highly talented and experienced titanium industry professionals. I look forward to providing further updates on our process development phase over the coming months."

The Pitfield Titanium Project

Located within the Mid-West region of Western Australia, near the northern wheatbelt town of Three Springs, Pitfield lies 313km north of Perth and 156km south of Geraldton, the Mid West region's capital and major port.

Western Australia is ranked as one of the top mining jurisdictions in the world according to the Fraser Institute's Investment Attractiveness Index published in 2023, and has mining-friendly policies, stable government, transparency, and advanced technology expertise. Pitifled has existing connections to port (both road & rail), HV power substations, and is nearby to natural gas pipelines as well as a green energy hydrogen fuel hub, which is under planning and development (refer Figure 1).

Figure 1. Pitfield Project Location showing the Mid-West Region Infrastructure and Services

Pitfield lies in a unique geological setting along the western boundary of the Yilgarn Craton, within the Yandanooka Basin which consists mainly of interbedded siliciclastic sedimentary rocks (refer Figure 2).  Importantly, the Yandanooka Basin lies near the junction of two major structures, the Darling Fault and Yandanooka-Cape Riche Lineament, the likely plumbing system for the hydrothermal fluids that have strongly altered the sedimentary rocks within the Basin and were responsible for the titanite mineralisation event.

Empire completed a maiden 21-hole Reverse Circulation ('RC') drill programme in April 2023, which resulted in the discovery of titanium-rich mineralisation within the hydrothermally altered sediments. The majority of the maiden drill holes were located in the north, near Mt Scratch (a historical copper working).  Three deeper diamond drill holes were completed during September-October 2023, covering targets to the north (Mt Scratch), 30km to the south (Thomas property) and in the central zone (Cosgrove property). All three diamond holes intersection wide, high grade TiO₂ mineralisation down to a vertical depth of 350 m (each hole ending in mineralisation). During November-December 2023, Empire conducted a 40-hole RC drill programme focusing on near surface, high grade targets within the mid and southern portions of the tenements, these targets being up-dip from the high-grade intersections encountered in the diamond drill holes.

Figure 2: Simplified geological section of the Yandanooka Basin. Note the sandstone-rich beds which are host to higher grade TiO₂ mineralisation. West-East section looking North.

The drilling confirmed that there is extensive, higher-grade TiO₂ mineralisation in the thick sandstone-rich beds, which are returning consistently higher-grade TiO₂ mineralisation than the adjacent conglomerate or siltstone-rich beds; refer to Figure 3 below.

Figure 3: Photomicrograph (plane polarized light) of titanium-rich bedded sandstone.

Two, near-surface, km-scale zones of higher grade bedded sandstone-rich TiO₂ mineralisation have been identified and are the focus of delineation for initial resource development and to provide necessary metallurgical samples.  These two zones will be the focus of additional resource delineation drilling in the next phase of exploration which has now commenced and should be completed by the end of April.

Mineralogical Study Results

The Company submitted 29 samples for petrographic analysis and 16 samples for Tescan Integrated Mineral Analyzer ("TIMA") analysis; the samples were collected from both RC and diamond drill holes. Results of these mineralogical studies confirm that titanite, a calcium titanium silicate mineral (CaTiSiO₅), is the most abundant titanium mineral followed by Ti-bearing iron oxides, ilmenite and then rutile group minerals.  The quantity of titanite within the tested samples averaged approximately 20% of the rock mass; this level of titanite concentration is extraordinary as titanite is usually an accessory mineral and rarely gets above 1-2% of the rock mass. Of the remaining Ti minerals, Ti-bearing iron oxides make up around 15% of the rock mass with ilmenite forming 2%.  Petrographic studies indicate that titanite was formed as part of the hydrothermal alteration of the host sandstone, suggesting extreme Ti mobility during this mineralising event, again highlighting the unique nature of this giant mineral system.   

Preliminary Metallurgical Studies

Explorative metallurgical investigations have focused mainly on wet gravity separation to beneficiate crushed and ground ore samples before further processing, with around 90% of the heavy minerals such as ilmenite, Ti-oxides and Fe-oxides recovered to the concentrate streams with 84% recovery of the titanite; titanite having a slightly lower specific gravity.  The very good performance of the wet table in recovering the titanium minerals into a heavy mineral concentrate provides confidence that these minerals can be recovered by simple wet gravity separation; a common mineral processing method. TIMA analysis of the wet gravity separation products, along with the CSIRO microprobe results, estimate that titanite accounts for approximately two-thirds of the TiO₂ contained in the two wet gravity samples.  Each of these samples is a representative composite of RC drillhole samples collected along significantly long (88m and 190m) mineralised intervals from near-surface to depth. The selected RC drillholes for these composite samples are located many kilometres from each other at either end of the 40km long, giant mineral system.  

From Empire's preliminary processing studies, it is anticipated that Pitfield ore will be amenable to conventional leaching under atmospheric conditions to liberate the titanium, not unlike how certain copper ores are recovered by an acid leach-solvent extraction process to liberate copper on site.  There is a considerable amount of metallurgical research work that demonstrates the successful leaching of titanite, using low temperature sulphuric acid or hydrochloric acid to dissolve the titanite and liberate the Ti into a liquid phase. A preliminary conceptual processing flowsheet is shown below.

Figure 4. Preliminary Metallurgical Process Flowsheet.

One of the key differences between the processing options being considered for the Pitfield titanite ore and those commonly found in the ilmenite industry is that a low temperature acid leach process is likely all that is needed to extract the titanium and produce a high-quality product.  No energy-intensive smelting is required and a higher value product can be produced on-site.

Potential On-site High Value TiO₂ Products

The final product from the leaching stage is expected to be a fine precipitated powder with a high TiO₂ concentration, approaching the same content as natural rutile (>95%). However, the material will likely require calcination and pelletisation to make it an attractive, handleable product for customers.  Based on Q4 2023 rutile market supply and demand forecasts the price range for rutile is in the order of US$1,880/t to US$2,180/t, reflecting a tightening of the supply chain despite increasing demand over the next decade (Source: Sovereign Metals Ltd. February 2024 Investor Presentation - Prices per TZMI; Ilmenite price: November 2023 FOB Mozambique; Rutile price: "weighted average price for bagged rutile shipments").

The Company could additionally consider a further on-site refinement step for the TiO₂ product and make a pigment-quality product for marketing directly to end users, in the manufacture of paints and coatings, plastics and paper.  Based on Q4 2022 prices the expected price range for TiO₂ pigments is in the order of US$4,340/t to US$5,180/t. (Source:https://medium.com/intratec-products-blog/titanium-dioxide-prices-latest-historical-data-in-several-countries-24ec1864a198)

With the recent additions of very senior processing engineers, including two titanium experts, to our growing Perth-based technical team, the Company is well placed to advance the Pitfield project through its next stage of process & product development, ultimately towards the successful construction and execution of a processing demo plant in H2 2025.  This will be a remarkable achievement considering that the discovery drill programme was completed less than a year ago.  The Company remains committed to expediting the economic development of the Pitfield project to maximise the benefits for all stakeholders.  

Development Plan 2024/2025

The first half of 2024 will see the Company complete the diamond core drilling and RC drilling currently underway as well as further external expert studies focussed on petrography and mineralogy. The Company's in-house team will commence research and development studies and undertake further metallurgical testing. The second half of 2024 will see the Company undertake circa 12,000 metres of resource in-fill RC drilling. Process flowsheet design and product testing will also take place as well as environmental, social and marketing studies. The 2024 work programme is currently fully funded.

Half one of 2025 will commence with the second stage of resource in-filling drilling expected to include approximately 2,000 metres of diamond core and up to 24,000 metres of RC drilling. Demonstration plant design and engineering will be undertaken, and the product specifications will be refined. The first half of 2025 will also see environmental and social permitting work commence. The target for the second half of 2025 will be to commence construction of the demonstration plant as well as undertake licencing and permitting for a small-scale mining operation.

To view the technical appendix to this announcement, please click here:

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6096F_1-2024-3-5.pdf

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:

About Empire Metals Limited

Empire Metals is an AIM-listed (LON: EEE) exploration and resource development company with a project portfolio comprising copper, titanium 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 to contain a newly recognised giant titanium-rich mineral system that hosts a globally significant titanium discovery.

The Company also has three further exploration projects in Australia; the Eclipse Project and 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 producing region of Austria.