Canegrass Battery Minerals Project

Viking Mines 100% owned subsidiary, Viking Critical Minerals commenced a Farm-In Arrangement (FIA) in December 2022 with Red Hawk Mining (ASX:RHK), formerly called Flinders Mines (ASX: FMS). The FIA allows Viking to earn up to 99% of the Canegrass Battery Minerals Project for $1.25M cash and $4M exploration spend over a 54-month period. As of August 2023, the Company has successfully completed Stage 1 of the Farm-In Agreement and attained a 25% equity stake.

The Project is located in the Murchison region, 620km north-east of Perth, Western Australia and contains a JORC (2012) Global Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 146Mt at 0.70% V2O5, 31.8% Fe & 6.6% TiO2 (>0.5% V2O5 cut-off).

Figure 1 – Location of Viking Mines Canegrass Battery Minerals Project and surrounding Vanadium Resources

Mineral Resource Estimate Table (Nov 2023) – Canegrass Battery Minerals Project

Global MRE Metal Content (>0.5% V2O5 cut-off) V2O5 B Lbs Fe Mt TiO2 Mt Cu T Ni T Co T
2.24 46.4 9.6 96,503 90,172 23,359

Pit Optimisation Study (POS)

Viking completed a Pit Optimisation Study (POS) on the Canegrass Global MRE with all six pit optimisations delivering in pit Mineral Resources ranging from 31Mt to 92Mt, indicating the robust nature of the Project. The six scenarios assessed various revenue streams for V2O5, Fe, Cu, Ni & Co & at different cut-offs to determine the highest value options

The Company has selected the Base Case scenario at a 0.7% V2O5 processing cut-off for ongoing further evaluation of the Project. The POS was highly successful delivering a large high-grade pit constrained Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE), totalling 61Mt @ 0.81% V2O5 & 35.9% Fe. The POS doubles Vikings initial strategic objective of defining >30Mt of high-grade open pit resource. The optimisation generates pits on each of the three deposits  at Fold Nose, Kinks and Kinks South. This scenario has been determined as the most suitable for further evaluation as it considers revenue from both the Vanadium and Iron from the Project, which is supported by the current level of metallurgical testwork completed and the results achieved.

Base Case Canegrass Project MRE broken out by deposit and reported within pit constrained mineral resources. Results are reported to JORC (2012) guidelines and are in-situ tonnage and grades

Deposit Cut-off % V2O5 JORC (2012) Classification Tonnage (Mt) V2O5  % Fe % Cu % Ni % Co % TiO2 %
 Fold Nose 0.7 Inferred 39.0 0.81 36.0 0.068 0.070 0.018 7.6
 Kinks 0.7 Inferred 15.9 0.77 35.5 0.080 0.080 0.018 7.4
 Kinks South 0.7 Inferred 6.3 0.85 36.7 0.074 0.074 0.018 7.8
 Total 0.7 Inferred 61.2 0.81 35.9 0.071 0.069 0.018 7.6
Figure 2: Isometric view to NE showing the pits generated at the Fold Nose, Kinks South, and Kinks Deposits with the pit constrained JORC (2012) MRE’s noted respectively

Fold Nose Deposit

The Fold Nose Deposit delivers a large open pit, with dimensions of 1,300m x 600m x 180m and an impressive conceptual mine life of 20 years. The pit constrained resource totals 39Mt @ 0.81% V2O5 & 36% Fe, at a >0.7% V2O5 cut-off. Importantly, an additional 6.8Mt at 0.62% V2O5 & 28.6% Fe is available in 0.5% to 0.7% V2O5 cut-off range.

Due to the robust nature of the Fold Nose Deposit, Viking Mines has opted to make this a priority target for follow up drilling to increase the MRE confidence to indicated.

Figure 3: Isometric view to the SW of the Fold Nose Deposit and the Base Case scenario open pit. Shown within the pit is the MRE bock models

Forward Strategy

With the successful completion of the POS and the identification of a substantial mineral resource showing potential economic viability under the assumptions used, the Company is encouraged to continue advancing towards undertaking a Scoping Study for the Project.

The Company plans to seek to increase the confidence in the Mineral Resource by increasing this to Indicated+ category (JORC 2012). The Company will initially focus on the Fold Nose Deposit as the in-pit MRE is of sufficient size to assess the potential for a 20+ year mine life Project, with optionality remaining for further feed from Kinks and Kinks South.

In parallel, the Company will commence engaging external consultants to provide advice and input on other factors required for the Scoping Study, such as environmental, hydrology, and geotechnical with the objective of advancing these aspects in parallel.

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