AusQuest Limited announced that a major drilling program to test eight Broken Hill Type targets within the Balladonia Base Metal Project in the Fraser Range region of Western Australia, has been agreed under the Strategic Alliance Agreement with a wholly-owned subsidiary of South32 Limited. Drill targets have been defined by a combination of detailed gravity and magnetic surveys which have outlined strong anomalies indicative of potential `lode packages' and possible base metal mineralisation similar to that found within the Cloncurry Belt of NW Queensland and in the Broken Hill area of NSW. Initial diamond drilling at the Tea Tree prospect, which was designed to determine the geology responsible for gravity and magnetic anomalies in the area, confirmed the presence of highly prospective stratigraphy (thin banded iron formations, alteration and anomalous lead, zinc and cadmium values, similar to signatures associated with base metal mineralisation found at Cannington and possibly Broken Hill.

A minimum drill program consisting of 13 drill holes for a total of 4,800m is planned with the potential for additional drilling pending results from the initial drill-holes. Drilling is expected to commence in late March 2023 once all necessary approvals have been obtained, and will take several months to complete.