Empire Resources Confirms Gold and Palladium Mineralisation at Yuinmery Project Following June 2026 Drilling Campaign

Microbe Well Gold Discovery Deepens with Vertically Stacked Mineralisation

Empire Resources has reported encouraging results from drilling at the Microbe Well prospect, where significant gold mineralisation has been confirmed beneath previously identified zones. Hole YRC26-49 intersected 16 metres at 0.54g/t gold from 100 metres depth, located directly below the earlier intersection in hole YRC26-35, which returned 17 metres at 0.54g/t gold from 35 metres depth, including 4 metres at 1.14g/t gold. This vertical stacking of mineralisation at comparable grades suggests a more substantial gold system than initial drilling had indicated.

Additional gold intersections at Microbe Well include hole YRC26-48, which recorded four separate mineralised zones: 16 metres at 0.19g/t gold from 16 metres, 4 metres at 0.36g/t gold from 48 metres, 12 metres at 0.12g/t gold from 60 metres, and 4 metres at 0.15g/t gold from 88 metres. Hole YRC26-55 also returned 24 metres at 0.13g/t gold from 12 metres. According to Non-Executive Chairman Michael Ruane, the confirmation hole at Microbe Well allows the company to refine its geological model and better target potential high-grade gold mineralisation at the prospect.

Hillside North and Hillside Palladium-Platinum Zones Show Wide Oxide Intervals

The drilling program has confirmed anomalous palladium-platinum mineralisation across wide intervals at both Hillside North and the adjacent Hillside prospect, indicating a larger mineral system than the initial drilling suggested. At Hillside North, hole YRC26-27 returned 7 metres at 1.82g/t palladium-platinum from 16 metres within a broader 55-metre zone at 0.74g/t Pd-Pt from surface, while hole YRC26-50 intersected 4 metres at 1.67g/t Pd-Pt from 16 metres within 28 metres at 0.90g/t Pd-Pt from surface. Hole YRC26-51 recorded 8 metres at 1.55g/t Pd-Pt from 28 metres within a 60-metre interval at 0.79g/t Pd-Pt from surface.

At the Hillside prospect to the south, hole YRC26-54 returned 20 metres at 0.67g/t palladium from surface and 32 metres at 0.13% copper and 0.17g/t palladium from 60 metres depth. The company noted that the drilling at Hillside North confirmed the occurrence of wide intervals of anomalous oxide palladium-platinum, which now appear to extend southward to the Hillside copper-gold prospect. Michael Ruane stated that the drilling provided new insights into this particular mineralisation style, intersecting anomalous palladium on the surface and anomalous native copper-palladium at depth.

Lorne Prospect Semi-Massive Sulphide Zones Yield Elevated Copper Grades

The June drilling program has identified significant widths of semi-massive sulphide mineralisation at the Lorne prospect, a new exploration area where only four RC holes had been drilled previously. Hole YRC26-37, from the April 2026 program, has now yielded single-metre assay results confirming elevated copper grades associated with the sulphides: the hole returned 1 metre at 0.25g/t gold and 1.23% copper from 70 metres and 4 metres at 0.58% copper from 77 metres, within an 11-metre zone at 0.40% copper from 70 metres depth.

Additional drilling at Lorne returned similarly encouraging results, with hole YRC26-52 intersecting 16 metres at 0.40% copper from 24 metres and hole YRC26-53 recording 12 metres at 0.27% copper from 56 metres. The company emphasised that exploration at Lorne is in its early stages, with significant widths of up to 16 metres of semi-massive sulphide mineralisation noted during drilling. Management believes the mineralisation system is larger and with more potential than what the four RC holes completed to date indicate, suggesting the prospect warrants continued investigation.

Yuinmery Project Hosts Established VMS Resources with Multiple Exploration Targets

The Yuinmery Copper-Gold Project is situated in the Archaean Youanmi greenstone belt in Western Australia, located approximately 470 kilometres northeast of Perth and 80 kilometres southwest of Sandstone. The project hosts two defined mineral resources: the Just Desserts and A-Zone volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits, which have a combined JORC 2012 resource of 3.59 million tonnes at 1.25% copper and 0.46 grams per tonne gold, calculated using a 0.5% copper cut-off grade. The project geology comprises altered chloritic felsic and intermediate volcanic units with minor tholeiitic and ultramafic volcanics, banded iron formation and chert, with intercalated strongly sulphidic cherty sediments that host the VMS copper-gold mineralisation.

The project area lies between two major structural boundaries, the Youanmi Shear zone to the west and the Yuinmery Shear zone to the east, with splay faults derived from the Youanmi Shear Zone extending into the Yuinmery area. The Just Desserts mineralisation is hosted by exhalative iron-rich gossans and cherty sediments characteristic of VMS deposits, while the YT01 prospect hosts mineralisation interpreted to strike east-west for 1 kilometre within a chlorite-sericite-talc schist. The Constantine and Hillside North prospects contain low-grade palladium-nickel mineralisation within a large mafic-ultramafic intrusive.

2026 Drilling Program Totals Nearly 8,600 Metres with Further Results Pending

Empire Resources has completed substantial drilling activity at Yuinmery during 2026, with a total of 6,959 metres of rotary air core drilling and 1,631 metres of air core drilling completed to date. The June 2026 RC drilling program comprised 23 holes totalling 2,558 metres, which was the second of two RC programs conducted during June. The company has received all 4-metre composite sample assay results from the June program and some single-metre results from the April 2026 program, but several drillholes and their single-metre samples from the April program remain in the laboratory pending analysis and reporting.

The drilling campaign was designed to test new concept targets identified during exploration, follow up on emerging prospects discovered via the April RC drilling, and conduct resource expansion drilling at the Just Desserts deposit. The phased release of results reflects the laboratory processing timeline, with preliminary composite assays received first and single-metre results released progressively as available. This approach allows the company to maintain momentum in reporting exploration progress while complete assay data continues to be processed.

Exploration Progress Allows Geological Refinement at Multiple Prospects

The preliminary results from the June 2026 drilling program have provided Empire Resources with sufficient data to begin refining geological models across multiple prospects within the Yuinmery project. At Microbe Well, the vertically stacked gold intersections have allowed management to develop a more refined geological model that may better target potential high-grade gold mineralisation, representing a transition from initial discovery to systematic resource definition. At Hillside North, the confirmation of wide intervals of anomalous oxide palladium-platinum mineralisation and the extension of this system southward to the Hillside prospect have expanded the company’s understanding of the spatial extent and style of mineralisation in this area.

At Lorne, where exploration is acknowledged to be in its early stages, the confirmation of semi-massive sulphide zones with copper grades exceeding 1.0% has provided initial encouragement for what management describes as a larger mineralisation system than currently indicated by the limited drilling to date. The progressive receipt of single-metre assay results, particularly from the April program, will continue to refine ore grade and mineralisation geometry across all prospects. Non-Executive Chairman Michael Ruane noted that the company has identified good signs suggesting the mineralisation systems are larger and have more potential than indicated by current drilling, with significant unknowns remaining to be tested through continued exploration.