Auric Mining Limited reported that final results have now been received for recently completed drilling at the Company's Chalice West Project near Higginsville-Widgiemooltha, Western Australia. The program was completed on 22 November 2022 with 227 aircore holes drilled for 7,227m. Gold results have now been received for all the 1,961 composite samples submitted and multilement results including nickel and rare earth elements (REE) received for all bottom of hole (BOH) composite samples and for the 363 selectively sampled 1m samples.

Initial results were reported in 3 announcements on 19 and 22 December 2022. Final results for REE will be reported separately. Final results for gold and for nickel are reported here.

The latest results included another 5 holes with anomalous gold values defined at a 10ppb cutoff. Gold anomalism largely occurs within weathered basalts which are intercalated with ultramafic units and granitic dykes. This reaffirms the interpreted continuation of rocks hosting the Chalice gold deposit into the project area.

Anomalous nickel intercepts were returned for another 5 drill holes in the latest results, including 4m @ 1231ppm Ni from 20m in AAC0240. These intercepts together with 8 anomalous drill holes reported on 22 December 2022 occur within 2 weathered ultramafic units that likely represent komatiites and are prospective for komatiite-hosted sulphide nickel deposits. Several RC drill holes will be drilled in early February 2023 beneath near continuous gold anomalism hosted within basalt 800m to the south of historic drilling together with 2 holes to test fresh ultramafic rock beneath nickel anomalism on the same traverse.

Program and Results: The aircore program design recognised the potential for gold, nickel, lithium and REE in the project area but focussed on known gold anomalism associated with ultramafic and mafic units intersected by Resolute Limited in a 1997 aircore drilling program. The Resolute drilling and results are described in more detail in an earlier announcement by Auric to the ASX Prior to the drill program, Auric interpreted the geology intersected in the Resolute drill holes to mirror that hosting the Chalice Gold Mine approximately 8km to the northeast, separated by a granodiorite dome which Auric refers to as the Chalice Dome. A total of 227 aircore holes were drilled between 17 October 2022 and 22 November 2022 by Kalgoorlie-based Kennedy Drilling.

197 of the holes were drilled along a series of 13 traverses that tested the mirrored Chalice stratigraphy. The remainder were drilled at wide spacings to define geology over the broader tenement. Holes were mostly drilled to `blade-refusal' ie, to the limit of penetration using a bladed drill bit, and depths ranged from 1 to 98m.

The extensive transported cover ranged from 0 to 96m thickness, averaging 15m. All samples were submitted as 4m composites for gold analyses and BOH composite samples also submitted for multielement analyses. Onsite pXRF testing for nickel and proxies for lithium and rare earths was used as an objective basis for selection of 363 1m samples and associated multielement laboratory analyses.

Preliminary results for gold, nickel and RRE were reported in 3 separate announcements in December 2022. Drill holes were logged by a geologist at 1m intervals and the lithologies, particularly in the clay-weathered sequence compared with pXRF results for Cr, Ti and Zr to better constrain the clay-weathered protoliths. For comparison, the Chalice gold deposit was located within a sequence of intercalated basalts and ultramafics metamorphosed to amphibolites and cut by 4 generations of granitic dykes.

Basalts hosted approximately 95% of gold mineralisation in the Chalice gold deposit with a granite unit hosting the remainder (Bucci et al, 2002). Auric's drilling along the interpreted repeat of the Chalice stratigraphy (now referred to the Chalice West Prospect) intersected amphibolites after both basalts and ultramafics, together with voluminous granite plutons, including dykes or sills. The amphibolites are often moderately to strongly foliated in common with the Chalice host rocks.

Sparse but significant quartz veining and trace sulphides were intersected. The analogy with host rocks to the Chalice gold deposit remains valid.