Rafaella Resources Limited announces completion of the JORC compliant Mineral Resource Estimate (`MRE') at the Horden Lake Cu-Ni-Pd-Au Deposit (the `Project'), as prepared by Caracle Creek International Consulting (`Caracle Creek'). The Horden Lake Deposit is subject to a binding acquisition agreement as announced on 13 September 20221. The outcome is an outstanding resource that immediately becomes the focus of the Company's portfolio, particularly with the substantial upside still available.

JORC compliant pit shell constrained MRE of 27.8 Mt of 1.49% CuEq (0.3% CuEq Open Pit cut-off and 1.12% CuEq Underground cut-off applied), with 55% currently classified in the Indicated Resource category and 45% Inferred. This is the first Estimate utilising data from all previous drilling, comprising 96 drill holes completed by INCO (1963-1969), 72 holes completed by Southampton (2008) and 12 drill holes completed by El Condor Minerals (2012). Drilling is planned to further extend and upgrade the mineral resources, focusing on higher-grade Cu ore-shoots and on those areas only drilled by INCO, where assay data is only available only for Cu and Ni.

Gold mineralisation was estimated solely for the areas drilled in 2008 and 2012 (approximately 40% of the resource covered by this Estimate) and then diluted across the full resource offering substantial upside from gold credits. The planned drilling is also aimed at subsequent inclusion of other metals such as Ag and Co, as highlighted in the recent announcement on the high-grade assays from the 2012 drill holes, to be included in later iterations together with the remainder of the gold and further boost the CuEq grade. The Company is moving swiftly to finalise its 2023 programme to deliver a PFS.

Delivery of the pit shell constrained resource estimate has advanced the understanding of the project and greatly assisted in the PFS planning. The Company has agreed with the vendor to extend the closing date for the acquisition to 23rd December 2022. CuEq parameters and recoveries were determined by assessing the metallurgical reports from INCO and from benchmarking with other polymetallic deposits and magmatic Ni-Cu projects with similar characteristics to the Horden Lake Deposit.

The current MRE has produced a 3D geological model interpretation based on lithology and mineralisation style for the overall sulphide domain (Cu domain) and, particularly for the higher-grade Cu sub-domain corresponding to the semi-massive to massive sulphides, at the bottom of the deposit, resulting in a significant increase of tonnes and Cu average grade for the Horden Lake deposit. The resource estimate has also produced individual domains for each of the other economic metals (Ni, Pd and Au) which were showing different spatial distribution within the overall copper domain. The graphic below shows the grade-tonnage curve and metal contribution, across a range of CuEq (%) cut-off grades, for the whole modelled deposit, i.e., the geological resource.

By contrast, Pd values could be extrapolated across the INCO holes because of the high correlation between Pd and Ni, allowing the construction of the palladium domain across the entire deposit. The "as reported" gold grade of the current MRE, underestimates the reality of the deposit because the gold content within in the central part of the deposit drilled by Southampton in 2008 and by El Condor in 2012 has been diluted across the entire Cu domain (i.e., gold currently assumed as nil outside the wireframed gold domain). One of the principal objectives for the 2023 drilling campaign will be drilling those areas previously drilled by INCO but not tested for metals other than Cu and Ni, in particular Au, Pd, Ag, Co and other PGEs.

The new interpretation of the higher-grade Cu sub-domain provided the presence of ore-shoots as excellent targets for step-out drilling, corresponding to a longitudinal section of the Cu resource model. The Horden Lake Deposit is located approximately 140 km north of the town of Matagami in Township 1408, James Bay District, Quebec. It is located approximately 10 km west of kilometre 200 on Route 109 (James Bay Highway), an all-weather road connecting Matagami to the Hydro-Québec James Bay power complex at Radisson, Quebec The Horden Lake Deposit was discovered by INCO Ltd. in the 1960s.

Between 1962 and 1969, INCO completed geophysics and 157 diamond drill holes totaling 32,229m. At the time the project was remote, with access only possible via float plane or helicopter. INCO focused solely on the nickel and copper content, without assaying for other metals, and given the difficult access, metal prices, and its primary focus on the larger Sudbury Nickel Camp, did not proceed, working only sporadically on the Horden Lake Deposit into the 1970s.

In 2008, Southampton Ventures Inc. conducted geophysics and drilling (18,136m in 73 NQ size drill holes) and assayed all drill holes for a range of metals, including copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), palladium (Pd) and platinum (Pt), gold (Au), silver (Ag), and cobalt (Co). A mineral resource estimate in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) was prepared by Caracle Creek dated 15 April 2009 which resulted in 16.55Mt comprising 8.76Mt of Indicated @ 0.88% Cu, 0.21% Ni, and 7.79Mt of Inferred at 0.87% Cu, 0.25% Ni.