CARDROSS-MAID GOLD RESOURCE TOPS 1 MOZ

Maiden Gold Estimate for Tartana’s Cardross Project Highlights Growing Potential

Tartana Minerals Limited (ASX:TAT) has announced a maiden Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its Cardross gold-copper project in the Chillagoe Region of North Queensland, taking combined Cardross and nearby Mountain Maid gold resources to over 1 million ounces (Moz) of gold.

The Cardross Inferred MRE stands at 50.4 million tonnes (Mt) @ 0.31 grams per tonne (g/t) gold (Au), equating to 502,000 ounces of gold using a 0.1 g/t cutoff grade. A higher grade cutoff of 1.22 g/t Au is also highlighted for further economic analysis.

An additional Exploration Target of 23–72 Mt at 0.2–0.3 g/t Au suggests potential for a further 0.22–0.46 Moz of gold, though this remains conceptual. The area connects to historic copper workings at Nisha and is supported by IP modelling and limited drill data.

Importantly, the MRE currently excludes copper, silver, and rare earths due to incomplete assay data. However, past drilling has revealed notable polymetallic intercepts including:

6 m @ 3.0 g/t Au, 4.80% Cu, 90 g/t Ag (CA06DD02)
2 m @ 6.50 g/t Au, 11.2% Cu, 157 g/t Ag (CAPD6A)
4 m @ 7.55 g/t Au, 2.95% Cu, 46.8 g/t Ag (CA07DD10)
4 m @ 4.50 g/t Au, 1.35% Cu, 24.0 g/t Ag (CA07DD10)

Together with the previously reported Mountain Maid MRE of 591,500 oz @ 0.25 g/t Au, the region now represents a significant gold province. The company notes this figure excludes any future contributions from the Cardross Exploration Target.

Ore sorting test work, conducted at the nearby Wandoo gold project, has shown promising results with up to eightfold increases in grade and 91% gold recovery. Tartana plans to conduct similar tests using material from Cardross and Mountain Maid, which share similar mineralisation characteristics.

Tartana is also considering the installation of a carbon-in-leach (CIL) circuit at its Mungana processing plant to potentially enable future gold processing alongside its copper operations. By-product metals identified at Cardross include tungsten, bismuth, tellurium, and antimony.

Tartana Managing Director, Dr Stephen Bartrop, said:

This estimation of this significant Inferred Gold MRE for Cardross is a major step towards the potential development of the Cardross gold-copper-silver project and while estimates for by-product credits such as copper and silver will require further work, there is strong evidence that these metals will contribute to the overall project economics.

When one considers the quantum of the Cardross inferred gold MRE (502,323 ounces @ 0.31 g/t Au using low cutoff of 0.1 g/t Au and high cutoff of only 1.22 g/t Au, coupled with a conservative Sg of 2.6 t/m³), the additional Cardross exploration target and our separate but nearby Mountain Maid gold MRE (591,500 ounces @ 0.25 g/t Au, (Tartana Minerals Announcement to ASX dated 20 February 2023), the area is developing into a significant gold province.