MINERAL RESOURCES
Since listing on the ASX in June 2021 the Company’s nickel sulphide Mineral Resource has grown significantly, from 39,000 tonnes of nickel metal to now over 113,000 tonnes.
In May 2025, Lunnon Metals added its first gold discovery, Lady Herial, to its Mineral Resource portfolio. Over 20km of surface drilling has assisted define a robust model now totalling 54,200 ounces of gold in a high-grade, outcropping and shallow dipping deposit.
Mining at Lady Herial started in late January 2026.
JORC (2012) Lady Herial Gold Mineral Resource
Background – Lady Herial was discovered by Lunnon Metals with first Company drilling taking place in February 2024. Since that time, over 500 Reverse Circulation (RC) and 15 diamond drill (DD) holes, for a total of 21.4km, have been drilled. The breakdown by mineralised structure, of the MRE as at 27 February 2026 at a 0.5 g/t Au cut-off grade is as shown in above.
Permitting – The Lady Herial deposit is hosted on mining leases M15/1549 and M15/1553. The Lady Herial open pit project also extends onto leases M15/1550, M15/1576 and M15/1590, and is readily accessible from existing major haul roads. Limited new disturbance was required to access and then clear the open pit footprint of this modest sized deposit.
The Company announced that the Mining Proposal and Mine Closure Plan (MPMCP) and Native Vegetation Clearing Permit (NVCP) application were approved by the Western Australian Government, Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration (DMPE) on 17 December 2025 and 8 January 2026 respectively. The necessary Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) Licence to Take Groundwater is already in place.
Next Steps – An update to the January 2026 Feasibility Study, will be provided in due course.
Any opportunity to advance the permitting of a cut-back to the northwest of the current open pit based on the updated MRE reported today will be ranked as a high priority, as will the ability to incorporate the Hustler gold deposit into the Company’s short term plans. The initial Hustler MRE is due for completion shortly.
Further technical work will be conducted on the balance of the Lady Herial MRE that does not fall within either the current open pit or any viable future cut-back, together with Hustler’s gold mineralisation. Any further development after open pit mining would be by underground mining methods at a future time and therefore subject to the prevailing A$ gold price, contract mining rates for underground development and production, and extension of the OPA with SIGM, or agreement to similar terms in a subsequent commercial agreement.
Springboard – the MRE at Lady Herial is another catalyst for the Company and acts as a springboard to fast track the deposit towards potential future production. This strategy aims to allow the Company to effectively self-fund its ongoing exploration program seeking to make significant gold discoveries from its portfolio of tenements in the heart of the multi-million ounce St Ives gold camp.
Commercial Terms – SIGM previously had a right of pre-emption on the sale of any gold ore from the Company’s tenements at FBA, which was agreed as part of the original earn-in and joint venture between SIGM and the Company’s private forebear, ACH Nickel Pty Ltd, in 2014, some seven years prior to its listing on the ASX.
As reported in an ASX announcement dated 21 March 2025, SIGM and the Company varied that original joint venture agreement, clearing the way for the parties to enter into exclusive negotiations regarding the sale of material from Lady Herial to SIGM for the purposes of treatment at SIGM’s Lefroy gold plant.
Subsequent to this and as reported on 17 June 2025, 12 September 2025 and 19 September 2025, both parties negotiated and then agreed an OPA to apply to Lady Herial’s open pit production.
On 15 January 2026 the Company announced that all the conditions precedent to the OPA had been met and it was therefore unconditional.
Following the release of the Study results on 16 January 2026, the Board approved a Final Investment Decision on the 19 January 2026.
Mining – the key mining contracts with Hampton Mining & Civil Services (for mining) and Goldfields Technical Services of Kalgoorlie (for statutory positions, operational blast design, dig plans, mine geology, surveying and general site/Run of Mine pad management) were signed in early 2026. Both firms have mobilised to the Foster area at St Ives and smining has comenced.
The first blast occurred on 18 February 2026 with first ore delivered to the run of min prior to the end of that month. The start of mining at Lady Herial coincides with the Australian gold price sitting at record high levels. Based on the recent Feasibility Study (see ASX announcement dated 16 January 2026), the mining of approximately 268,000 tonnes at 1.89g/t Au for 16,270oz has the potential to yield approximately $45 million in pre-tax cash flow for Lunnon Metals at the current A$ gold price (~$7,000/oz gold source www.kitco.com).
Together with its major shareholder and partner in the Ore Purchasing Agreement, St Ives Gold Mining Co. Pty Ltd, the Company looks forward to executing its plan at Lady Herial safely, efficiently and profitably, for the benefit of all key stakeholders.
JORC (2012) Nickel Mineral Resource Estimates
Prior to its IPO in June 2021, Lunnon Metals applied significant attention to the review and analysis of the former WMC reported mineral inventories to upgrade and report these in accordance with JORC 2012 guidelines. The work carried out by the Company included a detailed audit of the historical data and historical drill core that supports the current Mineral Resources, including:
• duplicate sampling with QAQC (insertion of certified reference material or sample standards)
• density determinations
• check geological logging
• mineralisation characterisation for metallurgical considerations
• historical section and plan reviews (in 2D and also in 3D as scanned and geo-referenced images)
• review of paper geology logs, assays and surveys cross referencing with the digital database
The above work led to the reporting of 39,000 tonnes of nickel metal in Mineral resource at the time of listing on the ASX.
In a little over 3 years since listing this figure has now grown by 191% or 74,600t of nickel metal (averaging 2.5% Ni) with the addition of the N75C, S16c and N14C surfaces at the Foster nickel mine (again generated from the Historical Core Program), the exciting discovery of the Baker Deposit, addition of the nearby East Trough and in late 2023/early 2024, definition and reporting of the first Mineral Resources at the Silver Lake-Fisher Project with the 25H deposit and Fisher’s F Zone being added to MRE.
The current (11 June 2024) JORC Code (2012) Mineral Resource for the Kambalda Nickel Project is as follows (all reported above a 1.0% Ni lower cut off).
All material modifying factors have been considered and accommodated in the chosen reporting cut-off grade, which is >1.0% Ni. Refer to the ITAR in Schedule 3 of the Prospectus (dated 22 April 2021) released to the ASX for further details, the Competent Person and Important Statements for the Mineral Resources estimates for the nickel deposits on this website which also contain additional information required by ASX Listing Rules 5.8.1 and 5.8.2 and the ASX announcements dated 22 April 2022 (in relation to the N75C figures), 14 June 2022 and 7 December 2022 (in relation to the Baker Shoot) and the 11 January 2023 (in relation to the S16C/N14C figures), 31 March 2023 (in relation to Warren), 4 December 2023 (in relation to the 25H at Silver Lake), 18 December 2023 (in relation to East Trough), 15 January 2024 (in relation to Fisher F Zone), 13 May 2024 (update to Foster South) and 11 June 2024 (update to Baker).
The Company confirms it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the original market announcement(s), and in the case of estimates of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the relevant announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company confirms that the Competent Person’s findings in relation to the estimates of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves have not been materially modified from the original announcements reporting those estimates.
Baker Deposit
The Company reported the initial nickel Mineral Resource estimate for the Baker deposit, its first discovery at the Kambalda Nickel Project, in June 2022. In December of the same year, this estimate was updated following an aggressive infill RC and diamond drill campaign: The current Indicated and Inferred Baker Mineral Resource comprises (above a 1.0% Ni cut off):
This updated figure increased Lunnon Metals’ global Mineral Resource (at the time of reporting) across the KGNP to
4.2 million tonnes @ 2.7% Ni for 113,600 contained nickel tonnes, an increase of 191% in contained metal since listing in 2021.
Completing the updated Baker Mineral Resource capped off a successful 2022 for the Company. It saw the Exploration Target at East Cooee converted via the discovery and drilling out of the Baker deposit to approximately 20m x 20m. Baker is understood to be the first new nickel discovery reported in a Mineral Resource in the immediate Kambalda nickel camp since Independence Group announced the discovery of the Moran nickel deposit at the south end of the Long-Victor mine in 2008.
East Trough
The East Trough prospect, located adjacent to the Baker deposit, is currently recognised to extend for at least 1.2km between historical WMC surface diamond holes CD230 to CD546 with the depth to the prospective basalt contact ranging from 100m to 680m below surface over that distance. A near surface elongate 650m long nickel oxide anomaly greater than 0.3% Ni is positioned immediately above the trough trend at its north-western extent but has not been modelled or estimated.
The reported MRE itself is defined over a plunge extent of 550m within the currently understood trough structure. Historically, this trend was poorly tested with an irregular, WMC vintage (~1970s) drill hole spacing of approximately 250m at depth and 125m where shallow. Previous mineralised intercepts to date have tended to be relatively narrow. However, the presence of massive nickel sulphide at the important komatiite-basalt contact is considered a key indicator for prospectivity along the trough structure which is deeply incised into the underlying Lunnon Basalt footwall. The first-time Mineral Resource estimate for East Trough is:
85H deposit
The previous estimate for the 85H deposit was completed in January 2021, in preparation for the Company’s listing on the ASX later that year in June 2021. In late 2023, a metallurgical program of four surface DD holes was incorporated in an updated Mineral Resource estimate. The resultant estimate did not change materially, as the program was primarily aimed at collecting metallurgical sample. A minor decrease in nickel metal resulted from additional Specific Gravity (SG) data that refined the grade versus SG relationship for the modelled nickel sulphide mineralisation.
Insufficient WMC historical assay data exists for copper, cobalt and arsenic in the immediate vicinity of the MRE to report meaningful estimates for those elements. In this regard and as previously reported to the ASX, both the assay results for the Company’s own drilling and the metallurgical testwork indicated good copper and cobalt by-product credit levels and minimal arsenic present on the 85H (refer to ASX Announcements dated 1 August 2023, 8 February 2023 & 24 November 2022).
The breakdown of the updated MRE at a 1.0% Ni cut-off grade is as follows. Estimates were made for nickel and bulk density only.
Foster South
In May 2024, the Company updated the previous external Cube generated estimate for Foster South. The update followed the metallurgical diamond drill program completed in late 2023, the assay results reported in ASX announcements dated 9 and 17 October 2023 and the metallurgical test work results on 8 December 2023. Estimates were made for nickel and bulk density as well as the minor elements of arsenic, cobalt, copper, iron, magnesium oxide (MgO) and sulphur. Furthermore, estimates were made for all variables in the background ‘halo’ domain (outside the mineralised lodes) for potential future mine planning purposes (e.g. dilution calculations).
Warren
In March 2023, Cube updated an estimate of the Mineral Resource for the Warren nickel deposit (formerly known as Foster NW). Drillhole data and geological interpretations were supplied by Lunnon Metals and Cube produced the estimate using standard processes and procedures, including data selection, compositing, variography, estimation by OK and model validation. The update followed a long drilling campaign started shortly after the Company’s IPO, that saw 13 reverse circulation (RC) drill holes (totalling over 2,000m) and 25 diamond drill (DD) holes (totalling over 7,300m) drilled throughout 2021 and 2022.
As reported to the ASX throughout the Warren drilling programme, multiple significant assay results have been recorded in gaps between the historical WMC drilling. Infilling these data gaps, whilst extending the geological and mineralisation interpretation to provide continuous models for both, underpins the increase in the estimate reported today.
Infilling the data gaps has greatly enhanced the overall understanding of the nature and distribution of nickel mineralisation in the Warren channel. Importantly, the Lunnon Metals drilling campaign has confirmed that nickel mineralisation is not restricted to what was previously interpreted as a narrow main channel environment. Rather, the new data has materially extended the footprint of the deposit. Previously, the channel was modelled to an approximate 40 metres to 50 metres width with only very minor flanking mineralisation (i.e. nickel intercepted outside of the channel margins).
The current interpretation records mineralised channel widths of 50 metres to 100 metres including extensive flanking nickel mineralisation. In the plunge orientation, the Warren channel is now modelled as hosting >1,200 metres of continuous mineralisation, whereas previously the interpretation was limited to a discontinuous 750 metres.
N75C
In March/April 2022, Cube estimated a Mineral Resource for the N75C nickel deposit. The N75C Mineral Resource comprises the laterally continuous N75C, 18C and 24C nickel surfaces. The N75C is a flanking basal contact surface located up-dip from the main incised Foster nickel channel. The N75C mineralisation itself is of moderate nickel grade largely characterised as 5-40% disseminated nickel sulphides increasing in intensity towards the base where there can be a narrower zone of stringer to massive nickel sulphides.
To the south the N75C surface continues and becomes the 18C and sitting down flank of the N75C and 18C (and immediately above the main Foster channel) is the 24C which has a footwall almost exclusively of Lunnon Basalt. Estimates were made for nickel and bulk density. There has been previous mining at N75C, so mining depletion was required and applied.
The N75C surface was one of the many nickel surfaces mined during the operational life of the Foster mine. Total mine production recorded over 61,000 tonnes of nickel metal produced from some 2.37 million tonnes of ore. The location of these newly estimated nickel surfaces relative to the Foster workings are shown below.
S16C
The S16C and N14C surfaces were some of the many nickel surfaces mined during the operational life of the Foster mine. These mineralised surfaces are part of an extensive suite at Foster that are in a flanking position at the base of the Kambalda Komatiite on the Lunnon Basalt footwall contact, which is interflow sediment covered in the case of S16C and partially sediment covered for N14C. This flanking position extends up-dip (up-flank) from the main Foster channel. The S16C/N14C surface is on the footwall side of a late intermediate dyke which splits this surface from the N75C mineralised surface (reported to the ASX on 22 April 2022), which is on the hanging wall side of the intermediate porphyry.
25H- Silver Lake Mine
The 25H is located at the south end of the Silver Lake mine, at the Kambalda Nickel Project. This first-time MRE follows receipt of final assays from the Company’s first pass surface diamond drill (DD) program into the deposit. The 25H MRE stands at 824,000 tonnes at 1.7% nickel for 13,800 contained nickel tonnes, comprising:
F Zone – Fisher Mine
The Fisher mine and the nickel shoots it hosts are developed on the southwest flank of the Kambalda Dome, with the historical workings plunging for approximately 1.1km to the south-southeast and extending over a vertical distance of at least 540m (from surface to approximately 215m below sea level).
The 50C and 60H surfaces are located in an area that was termed F Zone during the operational life of the Fisher mine.
F Zone was the largest contributor in terms of available mineable nickel mineralisation under the previous WMC system of classification and was reportedly a source of high-grade production.
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