Anax Metals Limited announced a revised JORC 2012 Mineral Resource for the Salt Creek Deposit (Deposit) at the Whim Creek Copper-Zinc Project located 115km southwest of Port Hedland in the West Pilbara Region of Western Australia. The Mineral Resource at the Salt Creek Deposit represents another significant step in the Whim Creek Project's development pathway and has contributed to an updated global Mineral Resource for the Whim Creek Project, which is 80% owned by Anax and 20% by Develop Global Limited. The Mineral Resource was completed following a database audit, updated geological interpretations and updated methodology on the assignment of bulk densities.

The Mineral Resource modelling and estimate was undertaken by independent resource consultancy, Trepanier Pty Ltd, and has produced a JORC2012 compliant Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource. Indicated Resources for Salt Creek have increased by over 80% and makes up 67% of the overall Mineral Resource. The remaining resources are in the Inferred category.

The classification is supported by drilling density, geological continuity and confidence in the geological interpretation. The Salt Creek resource is predominantly fresh, with transitional material making up less than 1% of the zinc domain. No transitional or oxide material occurs within the copper domain.

A zinc oxide zone 237 Kt @ 2.30% Zn (1% Zn cut-off) occurs near surface and a zinc precipitate may be produced through heap leaching at Whim Creek, but this is subject to confirmatory test work and as a result the oxide zone has been excluded from the reported resource. Salt Creek remains open at depth with four previous drill holes intersecting mineralisation over a lateral distance of 250 metres. The best intersection of the four deep holes was from 16VSCD008 which returned 18.7m @ 2.42% Cu from 457.8m, including 7.6m @ 3.39% Cu from 468.9m.

This drill hole is the deepest intersection to date in an intepreted steeply plunging high-grade copper zone where WSD128, located 70m up-plunge from 16VSCD008, intersected 22m @ 3.43% Cu from 410m, including 10m @ 5.56% Cu from 411m. Study Update In January 2022, Anax commenced a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for the Whim Creek Project. The DFS is examining construction of a small modular 320 Ktpa polymetallic concentrator that will be fed with ore pre-concentrated using a combination of ore sorters (for +8mm material) and gravity seperation (for -8mm material).

The focus of the "start-up" DFS is on the most advanced deposits, Mons Cupri and Whim Creek, which will account for the first 4 to 5 years' worth of production and supply the bulk of the concentrator feed over the life of mine. This will enable Anax to deliver its start-up DFS in under a year and rapidly move to an investment decision, which could see production commence at Whim Creek in 2023. In addition, Anax is progressing feasibility studies and baseline environmental work at satellite deposits, Evelyn and Salt Creek.

Drilling in the first half of 2022 has allowed for PFS-level geotechnical investigations to be completed at both deposits. Metallurgical studies for both Evelyn and Salt Creek are in progress and hydrogeological investigations will commence shortly. Open-pittable resources from Evelyn and Salt Creek may be included in the mining inventory for the start-up DFS, but both deposits may be better suited to underground development which Anax will evaluate in consulation with its JV partner, Develop an underground mining services company and developer), over the coming months.

The start-up DFS for the Whim Creek Project is progressing well and expected to be completed this quarter, with results released to the market early in the next quarter. Recently completed studies include design of the concentrator by Gekko Systems, crushing and ore sorting circuits, in-line pressure jig and associated infrastructure, as well as non-process infrastructure. The Anax strategy to minimize the scale of processing infrastructure by decoupling the mining and processing using sorting and jigging has delivered significant benefits both in terms of capital and operating costs.

Anax is estimating pre-production capital (including contingencies) to total between $60 and $70 million, slightly higher than what was estimated in the Scoping Study.