Horizon Minerals Limited announced assay results from drilling conducted by Metalhawk Limited from the 100% owned Cannon and Golden Ridge project areas located near Kalgoorlie-Boulder in the heart of the Western Australian goldfields. In 2022 Metalhawk completed a regional 123 hole, Air Core program about 25 km southeast of Kalgoorlie, close to the Golden Ridge and Cannon Projects. The drilling focussed on discovering new nickel mineralisation where Metalhawk have the Ni rights over a number of Horizon tenements in this area.

In addition to the nickel suite of elements, Metalhawk Limited routinely assayed 5m composite samples for a multi-element package that included Ce, La. This data was made available to Horizon Minerals. Subsequently 8 holes with anomalous levels of Ce and La, were then selected for resampling as single meter intervals and tested for the complete Rare Earth Element (REE) suite, in addition to Sc, Y and La.

The Cannon deposit occurs within Horizon's Bulong South gold project located 30km east-southeast of Kalgoorlie in the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia, on granted mining lease M25/333. The geology comprises a thickly interbedded sequence of ultramafics, high Mg basalts and shales with felsic porphyry and lamprophyric intrusive dykes. Gold is typically found in quartz veins in the basalt.

The Cannon deposit was discovered by Southern Gold Limited in 2008 following up geochemical anomalies testing for strike extensions of the George's Reward mineralisation immediately north of the Bulong South deposit. The George's Reward prospect was initially held by Northern Mining Limited and comprised an Inferred Mineral Resource of approximately 23,000 ounces when purchased by Westgold Limited in 2015. The Golden Ridge area is largely associated with the north-south trending, sub vertical quartz- feldspar porphyry located between ultramafic, shales and cherts to the west and an ultramafic (talc- carbonate) sequences to the east.

Gold mineralisation is similar to Boorara and observed in flat lying vein arrays and thicker, steeper dipping, contact style lodes. Drillhole resampling was undertaken on the 8 anomalous air core holes and specific composite intervals showing the highest Ce and La grades. The single splits were submitted to Intertek for aqua regia (partial) digest and multi-element assaying including the REE suite.

More complete (full digest) work is planned during the metallurgical test work phase. Metalhawk completed 4 air core lines south of Cannon, three lines were barren but one line in particular returned significant amounts of saprolitic hosted REE enrichment. The mineralisation was about 30m deep, flat lying and laterally extensive.

There is very little other REE data around this area, further work would focus on testing the REE thickness and grade potential to the north and south. The bulk of the Metalhawk drilling was directed to the Snake Hill area, 2km east of Golden Ridge where there appears to be linear zone of scandium enrichment in the regolith. Central to this, BVA065 recorded a maximum single meter scandium assay of 445 g/t from 32m.

Scandium is often found as a weathering product from ultramafic rocks. These ultramafic rocks are common around the Golden Ridge area also and would likely be prospective for hosting scandium enrichment. Horizon's focus remains on obtaining all the permitting and approvals necessary to bring the high grade Cannon underground gold mine into production later this year.

A preliminary review of REE's in general has identified that one of the main issues of developing a low grade clay hosted REE is the cost of extraction and concentrate recovery. If this cost can be achieved efficiently, the project economics would be enhanced. Horizon will submit drill samples for metallurgical testing, including beneficiation and processing pathways (e.g. "ammonium sulphate process").

Should the results be encouraging, a scoping study based on a conceptual resource model for both the REE and scandium will be undertaken.