Essential Metals : Nickel drill hits at Blair Golden Ridge Nickel JV Project

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useKEY PROJECTS LITHIUM Pioneer Dome GOLD Golden Ridge GOLD Juglah Dome

Joint Ventures (ESS %) personal2x nickel projects (20-25%)* 4x gold projects (25-30%)*

* Free carried to a decision to mine

Corporate Directory

N n-Executive Chairman

Craig McGown

Non-Executive Directors

Paul Payne

Warren Hallam

Managing Director

Timothy Spencer

CFO & Company Secretary

Carl Travaglini

Ex loration Manager

Andrew Dunn

ForInvestor Relations Nich las Read Read Corporate

t: [phone]

e: [e-mail]

ABN: 44 103 423 981

t: [phone]

1. [e-mail]

1. essmetals.com.au

Level 3, 1292 Hay St

West Perth, WA 6005

Australia

PO Box 1787,

West Perth, WA 6872

Australia

19 July 2022

Multiple nickel sulphide intercepts from first drill programme at Blair - Golden Ridge JV

Nickel mineralisation intersected at all five targets with 6m @ 2.22% Ni and 2,514ppm Cu returned at the Blair South target

HIGHLIGHTS

• Initial 20-hole (3,429m) RC drilling program with accompanying down-hole electromagnetic (DHEM) surveys completed by Essential's Farm-in/JV partner, ANCO1.
• Five targets identified by ANCO were drilled and include Blair South, N10C, Blair Footwall, Elias and Reeve.
• Significant nickel assays were received from all five targets, with best results including:
  25m @ 0.80% Ni and 994ppm Cu (includes 6m @ 2.22% Ni and 2514ppm Cu) from 119m (Blair South) (ANRC017)
  28m @ 0.60% Ni and 911ppm Cu (includes 4m @ 1.41% Ni and 1050ppm Cu) from 113m (Blair South) (ANRC019)
  o 11m @ 0.42% Ni and 470ppm Cu from 32m and 4m @ 0.65% Ni and 215ppm Cu (including 1m @ 1.56% Ni and 71ppm Cu) from 104m (Blair Footwall) (ANRC002)
  o 4m @ 0.60% Ni and 315ppm Cu from 140m (N10C Target) (ANRC005) o 2m @ 0.50% Ni and 150ppm Cu from 219m (N10C Target) and 3m @ 0.51% Ni and 201ppm Cu from 227m (N10C Target) (ANRC010)
  o 2m @ 0.43% Ni and 122ppm Cu from 107m (Elias) (ANRC014)
• The next phase of work planned at Blair South will include re-assaying of historical samples (where available) for platinum group elements within the mineralised envelope.

Essential Metals Managing Director, Tim Spencer, said: "The success of the first drill programme conducted by our JV partner ANCO is testament to the rigorous review and analysis they have undertaken since the commencement of the Farm-in/JV,which involved working through vast datasets accumulated over several decades. Intersecting significant nickel mineralisation at all five targets bodes well for the future exploration and we look forward to ANCO's next exploration programmes being implemented."

• ANCO - Australian Nickel Company Limited

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BLAIR - GOLDEN RIDGE NICKEL FARM-IN & JOINT VENTURE

The Golden Ridge Project is located approximately 30km by sealed road to the south east of Kalgoorlie- Boulder and hosts the historical Blair Nickel Mine, which produced a total of 1.2 Mt@ 2.63% Ni between 1989 and 2009. The consolidated 113km2 project area is considered highly prospective for the discovery of new high-gradekomatiite-hosted nickel deposits (Kambalda style).

The Golden Ridge Project is currently being managed by highly experienced nickel explorers and developers Australian Nickel Company Limited ("ANCO") through a Farm-In Joint Venture Agreement with Essential Metals Limited ("ESS"). ANCO has the right to earn a 75% interest in the nickel and related commodities rights by spending $4.0 million over 4 years, with ESS retaining a 25% free-carried interest to a decision to mine.

Project tenure

Figure 1: Location map of the Golden Ridge Nickel Project.

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REVERSE CIRCULATION DRILL PROGRAMME

An initial 20-hole (3,429m) Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling program with accompanying down-hole electromagnetic (DHEM) surveys has been completed across five targets.

Figure 2: Regional Geology, Tenure and Prospect Location Plan.

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Summary details of the drill programme are provided below.

Blair South

The Blair South Prospect is located approximately 3km south of the closed Blair Nickel Mine and is considered highly prospective for both high-grade (+2.5% Ni) and larger scale disseminated mineralisation (+0.6% Ni).

Figure 3: Blair to South Blair Geology and Drill Collar Plan.

A total of four drill holes (totalling 531 metres) were completed at Blair South to in-fill and extend a significant zone of relatively shallow, disseminated nickel sulphides.

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The information from this drilling will be used as the basis for updating a historical resource and provide important information on the platinum group element (PGE) association with the nickel mineralisation.

Results from this drilling are detailed in Table 3. Better intersections include:

• 25m @ 0.80% Ni and 994ppm Cu (includes 6m @ 2.22% Ni and 2,514ppm Cu) from 119m (ANRC017)
• 15m @ 0.31% Ni and 242ppm Cu from 113m (ANRC018)
• 28m @ 0.60% Ni and 911ppm Cu (includes 4m @ 1.41% Ni and 1,050ppm Cu) from 113m (ANRC019)
• 18m @ 0.32% Ni and 260ppm Cu from 78m (ANRC020)

Figure 4: Blair Near Mine Geology and Drill Collar Plan.

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