Empire Metals Limited, the AIM-quoted exploration and resource development company, announces its final results for the year ended 31 December 2021.
The annual report and accounts for the year ended 31 December 2021 will be posted to shareholders today and will be available for download on the Company’s website, www.empiremetals.co.uk, later today.
Highlights:
· Significant expansion of the Company’s exploration footprint across highly prospective areas of its target jurisdiction, Australia
· Appointment of highly experienced Managing Director, Mr. Shaun Bunn, in June 2021 to advance rapid expansion strategy in Australia
· Bolstered core technical team through the appointment of two highly regarded exploration professionals: Mr. Ed Baltis, as Exploration Consultant, and Ms. Louisa Stokes as Exploration Geologist
· Comprehensive drilling and exploration programme conducted at Empire’s proven discovery, the Eclipse Gold Project (‘Eclipse’ or the ‘Project’):
o Completion of a 4,589m reverse circulation (‘RC’) drilling programme over 44 holes in February 2021, including an intercept of 24m @ 1.44 g/t gold (‘Au’) near Jack’s Dream old workings
o Other significant intercepts include:
§ 8m @ 2.83 g/t Au from 118m downhole
§ 3m @ 2.61 g/t Au from 134m downhole
§ 8m @ 2.32 g/t Au from 70m downhole
§ 6m @ 5.52 g/t Au from 33m downhole
§ 5m @ 4.77 g/t Au from 49m downhole
o Completion of a fully funded 1,893m RC drill programme over 19 holes and 3 PQ core diameter drill holes drilled for 201m in July 2021, which identified a new mineralised lode, the Twin Shafts
o Strategic technical review completed in December 2021 highlighted potential for significant additional mineralisation discovery within the licence area
o Follow-up large scale exploration programme now underway
· Post period end, the acquisition of the Gindalbie Gold Project (“Gindalbie”), located adjacent to Eclipse, resulted in a 200% expansion of this high-grade gold exploration camp, followed by the expansion of the overall Australian exploration footprint from 9.5km2 to 1,728km2 through the strategic acquisition of three highly prospective copper-gold projects
· Successful conclusion of the Definitive and Binding Sale and Purchase Agreement over the Bolnisi Project in Georgia for a total cash consideration of US$3.3million in June 2021
· Oversubscribed placing raised £1.7 million post period end resulting in a cash at bank of £2.7 million at the date of signing to support exploration programmes throughout 2022 and 2023
Shaun Bunn, CEO, commented: “This has been a pivotal year for Empire and it has been an incredibly exciting time to be part of the team. I had the pleasure of joining Empire at the key turning point in its strategy as it intensified its exploration focus on Australia, an area which I know well and has, quite rightly, been continuously hailed as the world’s leading mining jurisdiction. With Eclipse forming the initial stepping stone to establishing an Australian exploration portfolio of quality and scale, we have seen some very encouraging results from drilling and technical work undertaken in 2021, further increasing our confidence that our focus within Australia is well placed. This has been clearly put into action with the decision to bolster our position at Eclipse post period end, through the Tribute Agreement in respect to the neighbouring Gindalbie Project, and thus forming the now renamed Eclipse-Gindalbie Project to create real scale in the region.
“This process gained momentum in April this year when we acquired three copper-gold projects, Pitfield, Walton and Stavely, located in highly prospective locations across Australia which combined, cover an area larger than Greater London. This was a real coup for Empire and one which sets us apart as an exploration company with potential access to multiple high value discoveries in sought-after and valued commodities, within a safe and supportive jurisdiction. It is with this in mind that I look forward to the remaining months of 2022 with huge optimism and excitement as we begin to demonstrate the value of these assets through targeted exploration.”
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.
For further information please visit www.empiremetals.co.uk or contact:
Empire Metals Ltd
Shaun Bunn / Greg Kuenzel
Tel: 020 7907 9327
