Tennant Minerals Ltd Quarterly Activities Report

For the Quarter Ended 30 June 2024

Tennant Minerals Limited (“Tennant” or “the Company”) remained focused on its 100%-owned Barkly Project in the Northern Territory and the high-grade Bluebird Copper Gold discovery (“Bluebird”) during the Quarter ended 30 June 2024 (“the Quarter”). Bluebird is considered to be one of the most significant discoveries of Tennant Creek style iron-oxide hosted copper-gold mineralisation in over 20 years.

The Company commenced the 2024 exploration season during the Quarter and completed a drilling program which comprised of 22 reverse circulation (RC) drillholes for 6,253m. The drilling successfully tested the eastern and western extents of the known high-grade copper-gold mineralisation at Bluebird and included the first new step out drilling towards the prospective Perseverance targets located 1.5km to the west of Bluebird.

Samples from the drilling program have been submitted to Perth Laboratories and assay results will be collated and reported to the market on receipt.

During the Quarter, the Company received further results from ongoing metallurgical test-work of diamond drill core samples from Bluebird. Results from flotation test-work on bulk-samples from Bluebird diamond core holes BBDD0045 and BBDD0046, have confirmed excellent flotation recoveries and high-concentrate grades of copper (Cu) and gold (Au). Concentrate grades of up to of 29.6 % Cu and 3.96 g/t Au exceeded commercial benchmarks, while recovering 94.4% of Cu and 75.8% of Au.

The Company completed a successful capital raising of $4.78M at the start of the Quarter. The placement was strongly supported and ensures the Company can actively pursue its exploration drilling activity during 2024.

Tennant Minerals CEO, Vincent Algar, commented on the Quarterly progress:

“The completion of our first drilling program of 2024 has provided us with multiple new opportunities to grow Bluebird to the east and west as well as test for repeats of this exciting copper-gold discovery within the 2.5km strike-length Bluebird-Perseverance corridor, of which only 500m has been tested to date.

“The attraction of Bluebird and the potential for new discoveries in the 100% owned Barkly tenements, occurs at a time when investors can benefit from the global rise in demand for copper, and strong pricing for both copper and gold.

“This year’s drilling and field programs will be transformational for the Company as we progress towards defining a maiden Mineral Resource and commencement of development studies. All metallurgical test work has exceeded expectations. These activities will continue to define Tennant Minerals as a key player in the rejuvenated Tennant Creek Mineral Field – a field that has already produced over 5.5Moz of gold and 700kt of copper.”

QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS

BLUEBIRD COPPER-GOLD DRILLING PROGRAM (BARKLY PROJECT, TMS 100%)

During the Quarter, the Company announced1 and successfully completed the first of its 2024 drilling programs at the Company’s 100% owned Barkly Project located 40km East of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory in the richly endowed Tennant Creek Mineral Field (TCMF) that produced 5.5Moz of gold and 700kt of copper from 1934 to 20052.

Image 1:  Topdrill RC drilling rig testing for extensions of the Bluebird discovery

Figure 1: Bluebird plan projection showing 3D gravity inversion model and current and planned drilling.

The first phase of the drilling program was planned for around 4,500m of RC drilling to test the shallow plunging, thick and high-grade gold and copper zone extending west and east of Bluebird, as well as targeting projected extensions at depth (Figure 1).

The Company successfully completed the original planned program as well as drilling a further 1,753m during the quarter. This first program of the 2024 exploration season comprised 22 Reverse Circulation (RC) drillholes for a total of 6,253m. Drilling included the first of new step out drilling towards the prospective Perseverance targets located 1.5km to the west of Bluebird. (Image 1)

Samples from the drilling program have been submitted to Perth Laboratories and assay results will be collated and reported to the market upon receipt.

Drilling targeted immediate extensions of the high-grade copper and bonanza gold zones, which are open to the east, west and at depth, and aims to build on the large number of previous exceptional intersections at Bluebird, including:

-          14.1m @ 7.6% Cu, 2.4 g/t Au from 90.64m incl. 2.6m @ 18.8% Cu, 12.3 g/t Au3 in BBDD0042,

-          17.95m @ 11.1 g/t Au, 2.7% Cu from 131m incl. 5.1m @ 38.6 g/t Au, 6.1% Cu4 in BBDD0026,

-          61.8m @ 2.3% Cu, 0.4 g/t Au from 149.2m incl. 6.8m @ 17% Cu, 0.5 g/t Au5 in BBDD0045,

-          30.5m @ 6.2% Cu, 6.8 g/t Au from 153.6m incl. 17.8m @ 5.2% Cu, 11.5 g/t Au6 in BBDD0018,

-          63m @ 2.1% Cu, 4.6 g/t Au from 153m incl. 27.55m @ 3.6% Cu, 10.0 g/t Au7 in BBDD0012, and,

-          24m @ 0.66% Cu, 11.8 g/t Au from 161m incl. 5.7m @ 0.74% Cu, 49.3 g/t Au8 in BBDD0021.

SECOND DRILLING PHASE

Following on from the recent drill program, a second phase of RC and diamond drilling is planned. Subject to the results of the program, the next phase of drilling will test any newly identified mineralised structures and other recently identified targets for repeats of Bluebird within the 2.5km strike-length Bluebird-Perseverance corridor (see gravity inversion and prospect locations, Figure 1).

This second phase of drilling will include testing of the Perseverance target, located 1.5km west of Bluebird.  The Company has been successful in obtaining a NT government “Resourcing the Territory” grant for up to 50% of the cost of a deep diamond drillhole testing the large geophysical target down-plunge and to the west of the historical Perseverance gold mine where previous high-grade gold results included up to 3m at 50 g/t Au9 from 42m in PERC015 and 3m @ 43.2 g/t Au9 from 72m in PERC001.

Regional Exploration

Exploration activity is continuing in the wider Barkly exploration leases with the team actively undertaking detailed mapping and geochemical sampling on multiple potential drill targets. The geophysical, geological and geochemical signature of the high-grade Bluebird mineralisation is proving of great value in the exploration of the wider tenements.

EXCELLENT RECOVERIES IN METALLURGICAL TESTWORK AT BLUEBIRD

During the Quarter, the Company received further results from ongoing metallurgical test-work of diamond drill core samples from the high-grade Bluebird copper-gold discovery in the Northern Territory10.

The mineralisation at Bluebird is associated with intense hematite alteration and brecciation with malachite, native copper and visible gold in the upper parts of the zone, which transition to primary sulphide mineralisation including chalcocite, bornite and chalcopyrite.

After the completion of cleaner stage flotation testing of mineralised samples, the Company’s metallurgical consultant, Strategic Metallurgy, has indicated that a potentially commercial process plant using Bluebird materials could produce a copper concentrate of 24-29% Cu with a copper recovery of over 90% from all materials10, using similar flotation conditions. Gold reports with the copper concentrate at average grades between 1.5 g/t Au to 4 g/t Au, recovering between 58% and 79% of Au.  The balance of the gold is reporting to flotation tails, which are the subject of on-going gravity and cyanidation test-work. 

A single set of optimal conditions has now been determined for the treatment of fresh, transitional and very high-grade materials with no degradation in flotation performance. This enables the Company to develop an extraction process for the Bluebird copper and gold mineralisation, and other critical elements such as bismuth and cobalt, while also providing a solid foundation for an economic model for the project.

Previous mining and processing operations within the Tennant Creek Mineral Field, such as at the Peko mine11, treated flotation tailings, with gravity and cyanidation leaching, to successfully extract remnant gold from the tailings after copper extraction. The presence of gold in the tails at Peko (up to ~30%10) is consistent with the results to date from Bluebird, and the Company is doing further work to develop this part of the processing circuit to substantially increase gold recovery.

Results from latest flotation test-work (Figure 2 and Table 1) on bulk-samples from Bluebird10,12 diamond core holes BBDD0045 and BBDD0046, have confirmed excellent flotation recoveries and high-concentrate grades of copper (Cu) and gold (Au) exceeding commercial benchmarks13.

Test-work outcomes include:

-  Cleaner flotation results from a BBDD0045 chalcopyrite (copper sulphide) rich sample, grading 2.7% Cu and 0.47 g/t Au, produced an exceptional concentrate grade of 29.6 % Cu and 3.96 g/t Au, while recovering 94.4% of Cu and 75.8% of Au. (Image 2)

-  A high-grade copper and gold sub-sample from BBDD0045, grading 9.7% Cu and 1.55 g/t Au, yielded a concentrate grade of 26.5% Cu and 2.36 g/t Au, with significant recoveries of 98% of Cu and 57% of Au.

-  A sample from BBDD0046 (1.14% Cu and 0.08 g/t Au) that contained higher-tenor copper sulphide minerals bornite and chalcocite as well as chalcopyrite, returned a 25.4% Cu and 1.84 g/t Au concentrate grade, while recovering 91.3% of Cu and 79.3% of Au in cleaner flotation.

The flotation copper grade and recovery graphs for these tests are provided in Figure 2 and the concentrate grade and recovery results are summarized in Table 1, below.

Image 2: Cleaner Flotation Concentration of Chalcopyrite from BBDD0045, Bluebird

Figure 2: Copper Concentrate Recovery Curve –Cleaner Flotation Concentrates Bluebird

Table 1: Table of Flotation cleaner concentrate, feed and recovery, Cu-Au, Bluebird

ONGOING AND FUTURE METALLURGICAL WORK

The excellent results achieved from test-work to date are highly encouraging for the development of a simple and straightforward processing pathway to deliver economic copper and gold concentrates from any future operation at Bluebird. The ultimate purpose of this initial phase of metallurgical test-work on the Bluebird bulk samples is to understand the extractive behavior of the copper and gold in the mineralisation and use this information to develop a preliminary processing circuit design for the identified mineralisation.

More work is being carried out in the following areas to improve our understanding of the metallurgical behaviour of the Bluebird mineralisation;

-          Refining optimal conditions for all material types to simplify the processing circuit design and maximise the economic outcome.

-          Gold recoveries in copper flotation concentrates in results to date range from 58-79% of Au. Further investigation into this variability of gold recovery, and refinement of the method for recovery of the remaining gold in copper concentrate tailings, is being undertaken. Further work will also optimize recovery of gold in gravity concentrates previously reported to the ASX12.  Given current high gold prices, this work is very important for the project.

-          Test-work to date has been completed on both fresh and partly oxidised copper sulphides. Identification of other mineralisation types requires further test-work on different sample materials to ensure all materials that may report to a future plant are understood and accounted for in testing.

-          Develop a pathway for the recovery of Critical Minerals known to be present at Bluebird including Cobalt and Bismuth.

SUCCESSFUL CAPITAL RAISING COMPLETED

During the quarter Tennant Minerals successfully raised $4.775 million (before costs) via the issue of 191 million fully paid ordinary shares (ASX:TMS) at $0.025 per share (“Placement”). The Placement was completed using the Company’s available capacity under ASX Listing Rules 7.1 and 7.1A.14

In addition, subject to shareholder approval, the Company will issue one option for each Placement share subscribed for, being 191 million options to investors, and issue 28.875 million options to brokers instrumental in the raise. The options are exercisable at $0.048 (4.8c) with an expiry date of 31st December 2027.

TMS will seek shareholder approval for the issue of all new options as well as other resolutions at an Extraordinary General Meeting (“EGM”) taking place in Perth on 14 August 2024. Upon receipt of shareholder approval, the Company will apply to ASX for quotation of all options listed in the Notice of Meeting15.

SEPTEMBER 2024 QUARTER PLANNED ACTIVITIES

The Company is preparing to continue exploration at its 100% owned Barkly Project near Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory. The focus will continue to be on Bluebird and along the highly prospective 2.5km Bluebird-Perseverance Corridor. Results from the recently completed drilling are expected during the current quarter and will be used to plan the next drilling phases.

The dual objectives of drilling within the Bluebird-Perseverance corridor during 2024 are:

a)      To further extend the high grade-copper-gold mineralisation at Bluebird aiming to define a maiden Mineral Resource for the project, and,

b)      to drill test a number of Bluebird “look-alike” targets, along strike and at depth.

This second phase drilling will include testing of the Perseverance target, located 1.5km west of Bluebird.  The Company has been successful in obtaining a NT government “Resourcing the Territory” grant for up to 50% of the cost of a deep diamond drillhole testing the large geophysical target down-plunge and to the west of the historical Perseverance gold mine where previous high-grade gold results included up to 3m at 50 g/t Au9 from 42m in PERC015 and 3m @ 43.2 g/t Au9 from 72m in PERC001. (see Figure 1). 

The second phase of RC and diamond drilling will expand on results from the recently completed RC drilling program at Bluebird. Subject to the results of the program, drilling will test any newly identified mineralised structures.

Follow up metallurgical test-work on assessing gravity gold recovery is currently underway. The objective is to maximise metal recovery in the processing circuit design.

Following completion of this next drilling phase and the metallurgical test-work, the Company plans to carry out Mineral Resource modelling, targeting a resource with potential to support a stand-alone copper-gold mining and processing operation at the Barkly Project (see location, Figure 3, below).

Figure 3: Barkly Project, 5km Bluebird gravity corridor and key copper-gold target zones.

ABOUT THE BARKLY PROJECT AND THE BLUEBIRD COPPER-GOLD DISCOVERY

The Company’s 100% owned Barkly Project, which includes the Company’s greenfield Bluebird high-grade copper gold discovery is located on the eastern edge of the richly endowed Tennant Creek Mineral Field, which produced over 5.5Moz of gold and over 700kt of copper from 1934 to 20052 (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Location of the Barkly Project and major historical mines in the Tennant Creek Mineral Field.

The mineralisation intersected at Bluebird is typical of the high-grade copper-gold orebodies in the Tennant Creek Mineral Field. The high-grade mineralisation is associated with intense hematite alteration and brecciation with secondary malachite (copper-carbonate) in the upper parts as well as native copper, which transitions to primary sulphide mineralisation at depth e.g. chalcocite, bornite and chalcopyrite. 

Drilling to date has identified high-grade copper-gold mineralisation at Bluebird over a 500m strike length and to over 250m depth. The new Bluebird East discovery has the potential to extend the footprint of the mineralisation from near surface to over 400m depth and over a more than 800m strike-length. The mineralisation remains open to the East and West and at depth

The Company has the dual approach of defining the Mineral Resource potential of the Bluebird discovery while also testing other key targets in the Bluebird-Perseverance corridor and regionally, based on geochemistry, gravity, magnetics and IP resistivity survey modelling.

CORPORATE

At the end of the June Quarter, the Company had cash reserves of $4,470,000. Total cash outflows for the quarter amounted to $770,000 with the majority of expenditure, $648,000, being utilised for in-ground exploration (see attached Appendix 5B Quarterly Cash Flow report).

REFERENCES

1 25/06/2024. Tennant Minerals (ASX.TMS): “Major New Two-Phase Drilling Program Commences at Bluebird”.

2 Portergeo.com.au/database/mineinfo. Tennant Creek-Gecko, Warrego, White Devil, Nobles Nob, Juno, Peko, Argo

3 04/12/2023. Tennant Minerals (ASX.TMS): “Exceptional Copper and Gold Results at Bluebird Extension”.

4 19/07/2023. Tennant Minerals (ASX.TMS): “Drilling Doubles Strike Length of Bluebird Cu-Au Discovery”.

5 12/02/2024. Tennant Minerals (ASX.TMS): “Exceptional 61.8m 2.3% Copper Intersection at Bluebird”.

6 08/02/2023. Tennant Minerals (ASX.TMS): “Spectacular Bluebird Drill-Hit 30.5m @ 6.2% Cu, 6.8 g/t Au”.

7 17/08/2022. Tennant Minerals (ASX.TMS): “Bonanza [email protected]% Copper and 4.6 g/t Gold Intersection at Bluebird.

8 07/03/2023. Tennant Minerals (ASX.TMS): “Bonanza Bluebird Gold Results Including 5.7m @ 49.3 g/t Au”.

9 NTGS Report ID 1532559938 - Meteoric Resources, MLC57-MLC217-224_2015_GA

10 20/05/2024. Tennant Minerals (ASX.TMS): “High 29.6% Cu, 3.96 g/t Au Concentrate Grades at Bluebird”.

11 Kyte, W, J, 1969, AusIMM Bulletin, Ore Treatment by Peko Mines NL

12 26/03/2024. Tennant Minerals (ASX.TMS): “Bluebird Metallurgy Delivers 23% Cu, 1.5g/t Au Concentrate”.

13 https://www.fastmarkets.com/methodology/metals/copper-concentrates-index/

14 08/04/2024. Tennant Minerals (ASX.TMS): “Tennant Completes Successful $4.8M Capital Raising”.

15 25//06/2024. Tennant Minerals(ASX.TMS): ” Notice of General Meeting/Proxy Form”.

Authorised for release by the board of directors.

***ENDS***

For enquiries please contact:

Stuart Usher

Company Secretary

M: +61 (0) 499 900 044

Vincent Algar

CEO

M: +61 (8) 9481 7833