Announcement PDF 1 MRG Metals Limited Half Year Financial Report 31 December 2023 Half Year Financial Report MRG Metals Limited ABN: 83 148 938 532 For the half-year ended 31 December 2023 2 MRG Metals Limited Half Year Financial Report 31 December 2023 Contents Corporate Directory 3 Director’s Report 4 Auditor’s Independence Declaration 26 Statement of Profit or Loss and Other Comprehensive Income 27 Statement of Financial Position 28 Statement of Changes in Equity 29 Statement of Cash Flows 30 Notes to the condensed interim Financial Report 31 Directors’ declaration 35 Independent Auditor’s Review Report 36 3 MRG Metals Limited Half Year Financial Report 31 December 2023 Corporate Directory Directors & Secretary Andrew Van Der Zwan Non Executive Chairman Christopher Gregory Non Executive Director Shane Turner Non Executive Director and Company Secretary Principal place of business 12 Anderson Street West, Ballarat VIC 3350 Telephone: +61 3 5330 5800 Fax: +61 3 5330 5890 Email: info@mrgmetals.com.au www.mrgmetals.com.au Registered office 12 Anderson Street West, Ballarat VIC 3350 PO Box 237, Ballarat VIC 3353 Telephone: +61 3 5330 5800 Fax: +61 3 5330 5890 Corporate accountant and Registered ASIC Agent RSM Australia Pty Ltd 12 Anderson Street West, Ballarat VIC 3350 PO Box 685, Ballarat VIC 3353 Telephone: +61 3 5330 5800 Fax: +61 3 5330 5890 www.rsm.com.au Solicitors Moray & Agnew Level 6, 505 Little Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 Telephone: +61 3 9600 0877 Fax: +61 3 9600 0894 www.moray.com.au Share Registry Automic Pty Ltd Level 5, 126 Phillip Street, Sydney NSW 2000 Telephone: 1300 288 664 Auditor William Buck Audit (Vic) Pty Ltd Level 20 181 William Street, Melbourne Vic 3000 Telephone (office): +61 3 9824 8555 Website: www.williambuck.com Stock Exchange Listing ASX Codes: MRQ and MRQO 4 MRG Metals Limited Half Year Financial Report 31 December 2023 Director’s Report The Directors of MRG Metals Limited (‘MRG’) present their Report together with the financial statements of the consolidated entity, being MRG Metals Limited (‘the Company’) and its controlled entities, MRG Metals (Australia) Pty Ltd, MRG Metals (Exploration) Pty Ltd, Lake Hope Lithium Pty Ltd, Sofala Resources Pty Ltd, Sofala Mining & Exploration Lda, Sofala Mining & Exploration I Lda, Sofala Mining & Exploration II Lda, Sofala Mining & Exploration III Lda, Sofala Mining & Exploration IV Lda, Sofala Mining & Exploration V Lda, Sofala Mining & Exploration VI Lda, Sofala Mining & Exploration VII Lda, Sofala Mining & Exploration VIII Lda, Sofala Mining & Exploration IX Lda and Sofala Mining & Exploration X Lda (‘the Group’) for the half year ended 31 December 2023 and the Independent Auditor’s Review Report thereon. Projects MRG Metals is pleased to provide an update on activities undertaken in the six months to 31 December 2023 across the Company’s portfolio of projects in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Australia. MOZAMBIQUE ADRIANO RARE EARTH ELEMENT LICENCE GRANTED In December 2023, MRG advised it had been granted a new REE project named Adriano (11002L; 19,777.14 ha) situated 780km North-East of the Company’s Corridor Central (11142C) and Corridor South (11137C) Heavy Mineral Sands (HMS) Mining licence applications (MLAs), 230km North-Northeast of the port city of Beira. Together with two conjunctive REE Exploration Licence Applications (ELAs 11000L and 10999, the two exploration licences still under application), Adriano was generated based on a highly elevated Thorium (Th) anomaly from historic regional airborne geophysical survey work and reconnaissance ground follow-up. A handful of samples taken within ELA 11000L clearly showed the presence of Monazite, as well as elevated REE grades (refer ASX Announcement 11 May 2022). The Company commenced its initial work program at Adriano in late January 2024. The exploration work program will focus on identifying monazite and other mineralisation within both the primary hard-rock highgrade metamorphic gneiss area in the upper half of the licence and the secondary sedimentary sequences of the Mozambique Basin sediments. The first phase exploration work program involves the following: • stream sedimentary sampling on the various large streams running from the gneiss in the north to the alluvial sediments in the south; • grid hand-auger and pit sampling of the alluvial sediments to test for detrital monazite in the sediments; and • geological mapping with associated grid outcrop and soil sampling on the gneiss terrain. 5 MRG Metals Limited Half Year Financial Report 31 December 2023 Figure 1: The location of MRG’s Adriano 11002L Rare Earth Exploration licence (EL), the other applied for REE ELs (ELAs, 11000L and 10999L), and the location of the applied for REE and U ELs (ELA 11005L) in relation to MRGs exiting Heavy Mineral Sands ELs and the port city of Beira. 6 MRG Metals Limited Half Year Financial Report 31 December 2023 Figure 2: Map showing the Rare Earth Element EL Adriano 11002L in relation to the 2 REE ELAs 11000L and 10999L plotted on airborne radiometric spectrometer data of a regional national airborne geophysical survey. CORRIDOR NORTH LICENCE GRANTED Following the granting of Adriano, MRG was also granted a new Heavy Mineral Sands exploration licence, Corridor North 10779L, which targets extension of mineralisation from MRG’s Koko Massava deposit in the south and the Dingsheng Minerals Corridor Sands mining operation in the northwest. Corridor North (10779L; 6,421.43 Ha) is situated north of and abutting MRG’s Corridor Central (11142C) licence, which contains MRG’s Koko Massava JORC Resource (1.4BT @ 5.2% THM). The mineralisation of Koko Massava is open towards the north and interpreted to extend into the southern part of the Corridor North licence. Corridor North is also located east of and abutting the world-class Dingsheng Minerals, S.A (7054C) Corridor 1 Project, which is currently being mined and reportedly contains in excess of 2.7 billion tons of high-grade HMS resource. Mineralisation of the Corridor 1 Project is interpreted to extend into the Corridor North project. 7 MRG Metals Limited Half Year Financial Report 31 December 2023 Figure 3: The location of Corridor North 10779L Heavy Mineral Sands (HMS) exploration licence (EL), in relation to MRG’s other HMS ELs, Mining Licence Applications (MLAs) and exploration licence applications (ELAs). Figure 4: Map showing the Dingsheng Minerals Corridor 1 licence and MRG’s Corridor Central in relation to the new MRG Corridor North applied for licence, with the Dingsheng Corridor 1 and MRG Koko Massava mineralisation footprint extending to the boundary of the Corridor North licence. MRG will conduct an EMP and engage with all provincial, local and community structures in Q1 2024. On receipt of the approved EMP, MRG will commence its ground exploration program. 8 MRG Metals Limited Half Year Financial Report 31 December 2023 MRG’s proven HMS exploration model which it applied to discover and develop world-class deposits such as Koko Massava, Nhacutse and Poiombo, as well as other high value discoveries such as Azaria, Malambane and Magone will be followed. The exploration at Corridor North will involve: • Wider spaced grid hand-auger drilling at approximately 1km by 200m drill spacing to 12m depth to generate targets. This work will initiate in Q1 2024; • Infill hand auger drilling on targets at approximately 500m by 100m drill spacing to 12m; • Followed by Aircore drilling for depth extent within targets; • Analytical work and mineralogical investigations will be taking place as an ongoing process during drilling; and • Modelling and resource work on return of positive results from exploration programs. MARRUCA RELINQUISHED MRG advised of the relinquishment of Marruca 6846L Heavy Mineral Sands exploration licence after exploration showed no visually estimated grades of higher than 2% Total Heavy Minerals there. MOU WITH LANQI TO FORM JV ON CORRIDOR SANDS PROJECTS In July, MRG entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Tianjin Lanqi Materials Company Limited for a Joint Venture operation on its Mozambique Corridor Sands projects. Post end of the half-year period, MRG and Lanqi ended the due diligence period of the MOU. Extensions to the Due Diligence had previously been agreed (refer announcements 24 October, 4 December 2023 and 2 January 2024). However, Lanqi did not submit a formal Joint Venture proposal, with 6 months having passed since commencing the Due Diligence process. MRG remains open to receiving a formal JV proposal from Lanqi but in the best interests of shareholders, decided to commence discussions with alternative potential partners. ZIMBABWE In October, MRG announced it had entered into a binding MOU with Wickbury Investments (Pvt) Ltd (“Wickbury”) for a Joint Venture on a package of 10 mining licences held by Wickbury over the Shawa Carbonatite Complex in Zimbabwe. Key aspects of the MOU: • MRG has acquired exclusive rights to exploration and development for all commodities within the 10 mining licences of Wickbury (refer Table 2) from signature of the MOU (refer Table 1). o The Shawa Carbonatite Complex is well mineralised, with proven and mapped mineralisation of the following: Rare Earth Elements (REEs) - Niobium, Strontium ▪ The trench sampling on Wickbury licences recorded peak Total Rare Earth Elements (TREE) concentration of 2186ppm ▪ Historical gravity survey showed significant depth extent to the Carbonatite of >500m. Phosphate (Note, DLC operating Phosphate mine adjacent), Vermiculite (Dormant Mine operation), Magnetite (Mapped) and Magnesite (Mapped) ▪ Very limited exploration has been conducted on the Wickbury licences, with potential for other mineralisation often associated with carbonatites, such as Fe, Cu, barite, CaCO3, Ti, nepheline and Zr. • Infrastructure, including offices and sheds associated with the dormant vermiculite mine is available for use. 9 MRG Metals Limited Half Year Financial Report 31 December 2023 Terms of the Agreement: • Wickbury to receive 20 million MRQ Shares on signing of the MOU (Stage 1) • Following a Stage 2 Due Diligence process, a Joint Venture Company (JVC) will be set up under the same terms as the MOU, with MRG having the right during Stages 3 to 5 to earn 80% equity in the JVC as follows: Stage 3 US$250,000 expenditure to achieve MRG to own 30% Stage 4 A further US$250,000 to achieve MRG to own 51% Stage 5 A further US$1,500,000 spend MRG to own 80% • Upon completion of Stage 5, MRG’s expenditure would total US$2,000,000. Wickbury will then have the option to co-invest at the 20% equity level, or dilute at a rate of 1% per US$100,000 to a floor of 10% equity. • Wickbury will be responsible for maintaining all tenements (both existing and future), in good standing, for government reporting (including technical and environmental reporting) and ESG compliance. About Wickbury Wickbury is a Zimbabwean company which was formed to identify and develop mineral deposits associated with the Shawa Carbonatite Complex. The two founding directors and 90% shareholders of Wickbury, Mr Nathan Kalumbu and Mr Paul Chimbodza, both Zimbabwe nationals, bring significant experience to the partnership. Nathan holds a Master's Degree in Business Administration from Emory University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Studies. He is former president of the Coca-Cola Company - East & Central Africa Business Unit. Paul is a geologist and mining executive with 30 years of industry experience. He holds BSc General and BSc Geology Honours degrees. Paul is acknowledged for bringing Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe’s world-class lithium deposit to market; the deposit is now in feasibility stage. The project is managed by Prospect Resources Limited (ASX: PSC). The remaining 10% of Wickbury is held by a local community group, which MRG regards as an ESG benefit to the partnership. Key highlights of the Shawa Carbonatite Complex • The Shawa Carbonatite Complex is well mineralised, with known mineral occurrences of the following: o Rare Earth Elements (REEs) ▪ The trench sampling on Wickbury licences recorded peak Total Rare Earth Elements (TREE) concentration of 2186ppm o Phosphate ▪ Resource of 20.3 million tonnes containing 10.8% P2O5 on IDC licences ▪ Results from two trenches on Wickbury licences of 42m with 23.03 P2O5% and 5m with 33.58 P2O5% o Vermiculite ▪ Active vermiculite mining operations taking place on an adjacent SAMREC property ▪ Inferred resources on Wickbury licences of 164,000t @ 24.1% vermiculite and 106,250t @ 27.2% from two areas o Niobium ▪ Trench sampling on Wickbury licences recorded highest Nb grade to of 1114ppm Nb o Strontium 10 MRG Metals Limited Half Year Financial Report 31 December 2023 ▪ o o o Two trenches on Wickbury licences have shown appreciable SrO values of 3m with 1.13% SrO and 6m with 1.11% SrO Magnetite (mapped) Magnesite (mapped) Very limited exploration has been conducted on the Wickbury licences to date, with possibility for other mineralisation often associated with carbonatites. ▪ Historical gravity survey showed significant depth extent to the carbonatite of >500m. ▪ There is infrastructure on the Wickbury licences at the dormant vermicular mine. Table 1: MOU funding and equity in Joint Venture. Stage Stage Expenditure MRG (USD) 1 20 Million MRQ Shares Cumulative Expenditure MRG (USD) Cumulative Acquisition in JV Company MRG (%) 0 2 3 N/A 250,000 N/A 250,000 30 Estimated Work Program Estimated Time Frame (Months) • Sign and Commence the MOU • • • Geological Mapping and sampling, Ground truthing. Soil Sampling – (grid Soil Sampling if IDC deal is possible). Commence negotiation with IDC. (Minimum Work Commitment) 6 Target Testing by Auger/Aircore etc Drilling Sighter metallurgy/mineralogy as required 12 • • Decision Point at End of Stage ** ** 4 250,000 500,000 51 5 1,500,000 Ω 2,000,000 80 • • Infill/Extension drilling +/- MRE MRE, Metallurgical Study +/- Scoping Study ** 24 *** Table 2: Wickbury mining licences. Tenement Name James 13 James 10 Shawa 72 Shawa 36 Shawa 37 Shawa C 1 Shawa C2 Shawa C3 Shawa 58 Gono 2 Total 12 Area Coverage (Ha) 62.0 77.9 150.0 79.9 111.5 132.0 132.0 110.0 146.7 40.0 1042 Ha Ownership Wickbury Investments Wickbury Investments Wickbury Investments Wickbury Investments Wickbury Investments Wickbury Investments Wickbury Investments Wickbury Investments Wickbury Investments Wickbury Investments 11 MRG Metals Limited Half Year Financial Report 31 December 2023 Figure 5: Shawa Carbonatite in relation to Harare and the Mozambican Beira Port shown on Google Earth image, yellow roads national tar roads. Insert close-up of Shawa and adjacent Dorowa carbonatites. Figure 6: Shawa Carbonatite licences shown on Google Earth image, Wickbury licences in Black, IDC licences in Green, SAMREC licences in magenta. 12 MRG Metals Limited Half Year Financial Report 31 December 2023 Figure 7: Shawa licences shown on the geology map of the Shawa carbonatite complex from the Dorowa-Shawa 1:100,000 geology map, geology by J.N. Lauderdale, 1984-1986. Economic importance of Carbonatite Complex deposits Carbonatite and alkaline-carbonatite Complexes are multi-element deposits and host some very significant metallic and industrial mineral deposits (Figure 8). Two examples, the Palabora Carbonatite Complex and the Dorowa Carbonatite Complex (due to its proximity to the Shawa Carbonatite Complex), are briefly discussed further. The Palabora Carbonatite Complex in the Limpopo Province of South Africa is recognised as one of the most important carbonatites in the world, being not only one of the world's major sources of copper, but also the host of a wide range of other valuable commodities besides. The Palabora orebody is vertical and the reserve extends to a depth of 1,800m over an area of 700m by 200m. The central complex of the carbonatite measures about 7km north-south and varies between about 1.5 and 3.5km in width, with an area of 15km². There are also numerous associated plugs and dykes of syenite and carbonate-bearing breccias. The Carbonatite Complex is mined and processed by the Palabora Copper Pty Ltd (PC) (Palabora Mining Company, or PMC). Mining started in 1965 by open cut mining methods, which transitioned to underground operations in 2003. The open-pit measures almost 2km wide and reached 800m deep at the end of the open-pit mining phase. 13 MRG Metals Limited Half Year Financial Report 31 December 2023 The PMC underground copper mine employs a block caving mining method for the extraction of ore beneath the old open cut void. Production has been sourced from Lift I of the block cave from 500m below the floor of the open cut void. In 2011, PMC developed a plan to extend the life of the underground mine up to 2033 through the construction of a Lift II block cave 450m beneath the current Lift I, thus nearly 1,800m deep. The Lift II Feasibility Study has been completed. There are three large opencast mines on the Phalaborwa complex producing copper, apatite and vermiculite, together with a range of other valuable by-products, particularly from the copper mine. It provides copper ore to the company's copper processing plant, smelting and refinery plants on site to produce copper rod and copper cathode sheet. Vermiculite ore is mined from a series of shallow open cuts (up to 50m deep) and is upgraded through a processing plant to produce saleable vermiculite products. Magnetite is recovered from old tailings dumps and pumped to a magnetic separator for production of a magnetite concentrate. Apatite is mined from an open pit on pyroxenite at the northwestern margin of the complex. Apatite is absent from the central part of the northern pyroxenite, but an average of 6.7% P2O5 is found in an outer 500m-wide zone. FOSKOR, which holds the rights to exploitation of phosphate at Phalaborwa, also receives large tonnages of phosphate-bearing tailings from the Palabora Mining Company mine together with phoscorite, from which FOSKOR recover copper, baddeleyite and magnetite in addition to apatite. By-products of the copper exploitation are linked to impurities in different phases of the processing phase and results in the following by-products: nickel sulphate hexahydrate crystals, Silver (Ag), Arsenic (As), Gold (Au), Bismuth (Bi), Lead (Pb), Antimony (Sb), Selenium (Se) and Tellurium (Te). Sulphuric acid is also a major product. The Dorowa Carbonatite Complex adjacent to the Shawa Carbonatite (14km northeast, Figure 6) has two principal apatite phosphate orebodies with resources in the weathered zone of the southern body amounting to 40 million tonnes and in the northern body with 33 million tonnes. The phosphate produced at Dorowa is used in the production of phosphate fertiliser blends. The mine also produces magnetite, which is exported to Mozambique. Ore from the pit is at 6.5% P2O5 and the concentrates being dried and sent to Zimbabwe Phosphate Industries (ZimPhos) are at 37% P2O5. The dried concentrates are sent to the railhead at Nyazura along the Mutare highway, some 65km away, by road and 190km to Zimbabwe Phosphate Industries, in Harare by rail. 14 MRG Metals Limited Half Year Financial Report 31 December 2023 Figure 8: Vertical section of a hypothetical carbonatite mineralising system displaying the relationship between metallic and industrial mineral deposits relative to lithological units and geological contacts, not to scale (image sourced from Carbonatites: related ore deposits, resources, footprint, and exploration methods; George J. Simandl &Suzanne Paradis). • • • • • • Large REE resources (e.g. Bayan Obo, China; Maoniuping, China; Mountain Pass, USA and Mount Weld, Australia), mostly strongly enriched in Light Rare Earth Elements (LREE), however, they also contain significant resources of heavy rare earth elements (HREE). Alkaline carbonatite complex related deposits are also the main source of Nb (e.g. Catalão, Brazil; Lueshe, Democratic Republic of Congo; and St. Honoré, Oka, and Aley, Canada). Vermiculite and phlogopite deposits are predominantly hosted by mafic or ultramafic rocks of the alkaline-carbonatite complex (e.g. Northern pyroxenite at Palabora, South Africa); near the contacts of carbonatites with these rocks, or within mafic country rocks (e.g. Upper Fir carbonatite, Canada). Apatite (phosphate mineral) deposits currently in production are mostly enriched by weathering, such as Tapira, Brazil; Ipanema, Brazil; Catalão I, Brazil; Matongo, Burundi and Dorowa, Zimbabwe; with examples of the exceptions the Siilinjärvi mine, Finland, and Cajati mine, Jacupiranaga Complex, Brazil. Cu, U, Th, and baddeleyite (natural zirconia) were produced for decades from the Palabora carbonatite-phoscorite complex in South Africa, but baddeleyite is currently produced only from the Kovdor deposit in Russia (Dickson Citation 2015). Other materials produced from carbonatites or related rocks are: iron (e.g. Kovdor, Russia; Bayan Obo, China; and Palabora, South Africa); fluorite (e.g. Mato Preto, Brazil; Okorusu, Namibia; and Amba Dongar, India); carbonates for lime and cement production (e.g. Tororo, Uganda and Xiluvo, Mozambique; and Jacupiranga, Brazil; Alves Citation2008); and sodalite for use as dimension, ornamental, and semi-precious stone (e.g. Swartboosdrift, Namibia; and Cerro Sapo, Bolivia). 15 MRG Metals Limited Half Year Financial Report 31 December 2023 About Shawa Carbonatite Complex Introduction The Shawa Carbonatite is approximately 165km SE of Harare (Figure 5), accessible via tar road, with good access on the 10 Wickbury mining licences (Table 2) on the carbonatite. The Nyazura rail head is approximately 80km via tar road northeast of the Shawa Carbonatite Complex. The carbonatite is c 5.9km in diameter, or c 34.8km². Limited exploration has been undertaken over the Wickbury licences on the Shawa Carbonatite Complex, with mainly historical exploration focused on phosphate and vermicular mineralisation, and more recently exploration for mainly REEs. The Shawa carbonatite complex has already demonstrated endowment for the following minerals: • REE mineralisation; • Phosphate mineralisation; • Vermiculite mineralisation; • Magnetite mineralisation (probably associated with V2O5); • Magnesite mineralisation; • Niobium; and • Strontium. The current mining licences over the Shawa Carbonatite are shown in Figure 8, with the Wickbury mining licences in black (10 licences covering 1042ha), the IDC mining licences in green and SAMREC Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd (SAMREC) mining licences in magenta. The Wickbury licences cover a large portion, approximately 60% of the carbonatite (Figures 9 and 10), including a portion of the central carbonatite plug / intrusion. Active vermiculite mining is taking place at the Shawa Vermiculite Mine (Figure 9) within the SAMREC licence. The SAMREC vermiculite deposit is reportedly (by the SAMREC company) one of the larger vermiculite deposits in the world. The dormant Wickbury Dinhidza Vermiculite Mine lies in the northwest of the Shawa Carbonatite on the Wickbury James 10 and 13 mining licences. There is infrastructure on the mine that will be used during exploration (plant area, loading shed, administration block and laboratory, Technical Services Office, Mine Stores, Mine guest House camp and mine workers’ compound). Previous exploration on the Shawa Carbonatite Complex i. Hawkmoth Mining and Exploration Exploration by Hawkmoth Mining and Exploration (Hawkmoth) took place on Wickbury licences in 2022 under an option agreement, the option was not exercised. The work included soil sampling, followed by outcrop rock chip sampling, then a limited amount of trenching. a. Soil sampling During the soil sampling program soil samples were collected at 20m intervals along 7 lines, the 7 lines were oriented radially to cover the oval shape of the carbonatite complex targeting the zone between the inner carbonatite ring and the circular inner ring. The first 30 soil samples were sent to Geolabs South Africa for XRD and 700 samples to SGS South Africa for multi-element ICP. The soil Geochem REEs results showed a relative enrichment of LREEs (La+Ce+Pr+Nd) in comparison to HREEs (Tb+Dy+Er+Tm+Yb+Lu+Lu+Y) and MREEs (Sm+Eu+Gd), with an average ratio HREE_ppm: MREE_ppm: LREE_ppm of 1:0.56:4.56. The assays for LREEs i.e., Ce, La, Nd and Pr in order (from highest concentration) have contributed bulk of TREE content additionally with Y (HREEs), as all have peaks >100ppm. Soil Geochem line 7, outlined a REE and Nb target zone with 16 MRG Metals Limited Half Year Financial Report 31 December 2023 TREE values ranging 1000ppm – 1508ppm and Nb 236ppm – 1075ppm, which aligned with eastern inner contact zone of the main carbonatite with the serpentinite. From the results an P anomaly was picked up by line 2 and 4 on the western part of the main carbonatite ring and specifically towards the outer and inner contacts. P is more enriched on the outer contacts of ring carbonatite where peaks for P were up to 10.9%. b. Rock Chip Sampling Follow up of random 205 rock chip sampling was done on the main ring carbonatite outcrops along and/or in proximity with the anomalous soil Geochem lines 2, 6 & 7. The peak REE assay results for the rock chips recorded TREE 355.8 ppm with the LREEs bulk Ce (peak @ 133ppm), Nd (peak @ 123ppm) and La (max @ 67ppm), where they are spatially associated with “Line 7 eastern anomaly” inner contact of the main carbonatite ring and oxidised serpentinite. LREEs are more enriched as compared to HREE and MREEs in this Eastern target anomaly with average ratio HREE:MREE: LREE as 1.4; 1; 7. The “Eastern target contact” is also well associated with Nb enrichment with peak (max) @ 428ppm, which shows a positive linear correlation of R2= 0.47 with TREE concentration and as well Sr values with peak 6851ppm. Phosphate recorded values range from 0.6% - 2.4% from the rock samples. c. Trenching The trenching exercise was conducted as follow up of the TREE and Nb and P anomalies identified on soil Geochem. A total of 7 trenches with a cumulative length of 1419m were excavated and sited radially inside the inner circular ridge only, exposing the contact between the main ring carbonatite and serpentinite. The trench rock chip samples recorded a relatively higher peak TREE concentration with 2186ppm and a few peaks above 1500ppm as compared to the regolith soil profile samples. Ce records the highest peak in rock chip samples with 863ppm, whilst in trench soil profiles Y (HREE) has the highest of 614ppm. In both sets of samples, it is important to note that LREE concentration is relatively higher than MREE and HREEs. Trench ATSHTR004, out of the 7 trenches has the 3 most interesting REEs target with 2 zones showing peak TREE grades @ 1620ppm (@182m – 188m over 6m) and 1793ppm (@ 234m – 236m over 2m), which are associated with a carbonatised serpentinites. Also, a major contribution of MREEs to TREE has been identified on trench ATSHTR007 @ 59m – 69m, with weighted average grades of TREE 891ppm, MREE 419ppm and LREEs 391ppm. Peak phosphate grades were identified on the trenches ATSHTR006 @ 68m – 110m over 42m (widest) with 23.03 P2O5% and ATSHTR007 @ 82m – 87m over 5m with 33.58 P2O5%. The trenches ATSHTR003 and ATSHTR004 have shown appreciable SrO values @ 150m – 153m over 3m (ATSHTR003) with 1.13% and @ 182m – 188m over 6m with 1.11%. Outstanding Nb targets from trench rock chips were sporadically distributed along trench ATSHTR004 @ 75m – 120m over 45m with weighted average grade Nb 401ppm, and with peak grade Nb 1007ppm @ 116m – 117m. This zone is arguably passively continuous towards trench ATSHTR005 @ 101.5m – 142.5m with Nb in soils ranging 335 ppm – 894 ppm and Nb in rocks ranging 56ppm – 861ppm, which can be as well influenced by multiple crystalline carbonatite intrusions. However, the highest Nb grade from trench rock chips is isolated @ 200m – 201m in trench ATSHTR004 with Nb 1114ppm. ii. Steffen, Robertson and Kirsten (SRK) SRK conducted exploration on the vermiculite deposit on licences now belonging to Wickbury in 2001 (work done for Dinidza Vermiculite Mining Private Limited), culminating in a resource potential report in August 2001. SRK conducted a trenching program (trenches planned to 2m depth), mainly focused on the then named James 13 and James 14 licences (now James 10 and James 13) where the Watts, Griffis and McQuat 17 MRG Metals Limited Half Year Financial Report 31 December 2023 resources mentioned below were situated. SRK could not replicate the resource results of Watts, Griffis and McQuat, reporting an Inferred resource of 164,000t @ 24.1% vermiculite from one area within the licences; and an Inferred resource of 106,250t @ 27.2% vermiculite from another area. iii. Watts, Griffis and McQuat Watts, Griffis and McQuat (2000) reported 43-101 resources and reserves on then James 13 and James 14 licences (now James 10 and James 13) of Indicated 426,530t @ 50% vermiculite and Inferred 4,590,000t at 49% vermiculite. iv. Dodd (1971) Dodd supplied resource estimation figures in 1971 for the phosphate mineralisation in weathered ijolite, with the majority of this resource situated within the IDC mining licences. The resource from Dodd is 20.3 million tonnes containing 10.8% P2O5, 31.4% Fe2O3 and 1.3% CO2. Dodd calculated a lower CO2 resource with CO2 at 0.8% then with 16.3 million tonnes at 10.4% P2O5 and 32.5% Fe2O3. v. Gravity survey A gravity survey was conducted on the Shawa Carbonatite Complex to establish the subsurface of both the dunite and the Complex as a whole. Figure 9A shows the distribution of the gravity observation points. The essentially circular symmetry observed in outcrop is very strongly reflected in the gravity anomaly, allowing the observed Bouguer anomalies for all points to be projected to a radial line as shown