Southern Gold Limited provided an exploration update on activities in South Korea, where it has commenced regional exploration of rare earth element (REE) and lithium targets ahead of schedule. As a result of highly successful reconnaissance site visits in November, regional exploration at the priority target regions is now underway ahead of the scheduled post-winter start date of February. This work will further validate and ground-truth areas prior to the winter weather pausing fieldwork until February.

SAU geologists and consultant Michael Gazley from international geology consulting group RSC completed reconnaissance site visits of priority REE and LCT Li target regions to plan and prioritise fieldwork. These target regions were generated from a desktop prospectivity study completed in September by RSC, an expert in critical minerals targeting and exploration. The study identified and ranked several targeted regions based on geology, geochemistry, geophysics and proximity to known mineralisation and historical deposits.

SAU also undertook site visits at the historical Boam LCT Lithium Mine in Ulijin County, North Gyeongsang Province, the Hongcheon Fe-REE Carbonatite deposit in Gangwon-do Province, and the Chungju Fe REE deposit in North Chungcheong Province, all held under extraction or exploration licences by other parties. These visits improved SAU's insight into the geological setting and field characteristics of REE and Li deposits in South Korea to assist SAU in fieldwork and future targeting. Initial regional fieldwork at the high priority REE and LCT target regions will compromise stream sediment sampling, mapping, and rock chip sampling.

Fieldwork will continue until late December and recommence in February 2023 after winter. Refining of current target areas and generation of new targets through a subsequent phase of data compilation, review and interpretation will continue over the winter period, in conjunction with RSC staff. SAU plans to lodge exploration licence applications once target regions are better defined by this phase of work.