Santana Minerals Limited (ASX: SMI) ('Santana' or 'the Company') is pleased to announce further significant assay results from the 100% owned Bendigo-Ophir Project where drilling since November 2020 has increased Inferred Gold Resources (MRE) to 643Koz at four Rise and Shine Shear Zone (RSSZ) Deposits.

Thickened (>40 metres) upper hanging wall shear (HWS) mineralisation in diamond drill (DD) holes (MDD020 and MDD021R) and VG hosted in brecciated quartz veins in current drillhole MDD025 show the RAS system remains robust at least 400 metres north-east of the newly defined 2021 MRE with scope for further extensions as the drilling moves north.

Commenting on the results Executive Director Dick Keevers said: 'Our drilling at RAS now indicates that the shear and stockwork related Au mineralised body extends greater than 1 kilometre down plunge from the surface, about 400m beyond the limit of the Northern boundary of our last Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE), completed last year. On our most northern drill section N5017720, drill hole MDD 19R assayed 42.6m @2.3 g/t Au, and drill hole MDD 25, 80m to the east, is in progress with only the top of the Au mineralisation cored to date, where visible free Au (VG) has been logged. So far, we have maintained a bold 120 m x 80 m drill pattern, within which the E -W width of the body is about 270 m, subject to closer future definition of the edges.

These excellent drilling results, combined with the good gold recovery options indicated by our preliminary metallurgical tests last year, have established a base for Santana to push on with more drilling, so that in the first half of 2022, we can up-grade our Interim MRE, as well as conduct more metallurgical test work, which is expected to then lead to preliminary mining studies.'

RAS Deposit - Extension drilling beyond existing 2021 MRE

Resource drilling on nominal 120 metre by 80 metre centres has extended RAS shoot mineralisation north at least 400 metres down-plunge beyond the 2021 MRE. MDD012 and MDD017 appear to close off mineralisation to the west but mineralisation remains open to the north and east. Mineralisation within the RAS shoot typically occurs over a vertical interval of 40-80 metres with concentration of gold in the 10-20-metre-thick HWS with grades of 1-5 g/t gold. Mineralisation is also in high-grade stockwork zones below the HWS as in the 13 metres at an average grade of 12.6 g/t Au intersected in MDD016 (ASX announcement on 23rd December 2021). The RAS shoot has now been defined over 1000 metres down plunge from outcrop. The current drill programme is designed to test mineralisation a further 300 metres northwards as well as define the eastern margin.

These thick MDD020 & MDD021R gold intercepts have continuous grade (>0.25g/t Au) within the upper HWS of the Rise and Shine Shear Zone (RSSZ). The gold mineralisation is generally associated with shear structures and NW-SE steeply dipping (to NNE) laminar arsenopyrite fill quartz veinlets that cross the NNE plunge of the RAS shoot. The relationship of this continuous mineralisation to the bonanza grades (up to 57.5 g/t Au) in the western sector that contributed to 13 metres @ 12 g/t Au in drillhole MDD016 (ASX announcement on 23rd December 2021) is yet to be unravelled. The northernmost higher-grade gold mineralisation (MDD021R) is in quartz rich cataclasite / breccia and arsenopyrite fill quartz stockwork veinlets. Multiple intervals of coarse gold were logged in this drillhole as previously reported.

MDD025 - Current incomplete drillhole - New Coarse Gold Intercepts

Follow-on drilling in MDD025 (collared 100 metres west of MDD021R) commenced on 21st January and penetrated the target RSSZ at a depth of 261.2 metres. MDD025 is currently at 265 metres and the RSSZ is comprised of a similar quartz rich breccia with VG to that in drillhole MDD021R. This is a significant new intercept at this northernmost section provides continuity of at least 150 metres of mineralisation across the RAS axis with the zone open to the north and east-west.

Metallurgical Testwork Follow Up

Further leach testwork on gravity products are being conducted as a follow-on from encouraging preliminary leach testwork and gravity recoverable gold (GRG) in fresh sulphide bearing mineralisation as previously reported (ASX announcement on 27th October 2021). Presently KCAA metallurgical consultants are reviewing geochemical characteristics of the mineralisation intersected in the four RSSZ Deposits to tailor the next stage of Metallurgical testwork.

Key Conclusions

These most recent drill results from RAS extend mineralization 400 metres down plunge from the 2021MRE with impressive thicknesses of mineralization in the HWS and confirm mineralization over shoot widths of up to 270 metres. The thick lower grade (0.8 - 2.3 g/t) in the HWS complement bonanza grades up to 57 g/t intersected in footwall stockwork vein swarms. The visible gold in brecciated quartz in MDD025 (being currently drilled) is collared 100 metres west of MDD021R (42.6 metres @ 2.3 g/t gold) indicating the RAS shoot maintains its broad width down plunge. Mineralisation on all northern drill sections remains open both east and west and down-plunge to the north. Drilling further north and east at RAS will continue to focus on determining the limits of the shear hosted and quartz-arsenopyrite stockwork veins in this new strongly mineralised gold system.

Contact:

Richard Keevers

Tel: +61 408 873 353

Email: rkeevers@westnet.com.au

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