Santana Minerals : Rise & Shine Drilling Continues to Deliver High Gold Grades

RISE & SHINE (RAS) DRILLING CONTINUES TO DELIVER HIGH GOLD GRADES

• • Impressive drillhole gold intercepts continue north of the 2021 RAS Mineral Resource (MRE) where mineralisation remains open and extension drilling is accelerating.

  • o MDD031 (Section N5017960)

    • ▪ 21.2 metres @ 4.38 g/t Au from 280.8 metres including:

      • • 5 one metre intercepts of +/-10 g/t Au

  • o MDD027 (Section N5017840)

    • ▪ 11.4 metres @ 3.29 g/t Au from 267.7 metres including:

      • • 2.4 metres @ 12.17 g/t Au from 267.7 metres

  • o MDD025R (Section N5017720)

    • ▪ 14.0 metres @ 9.00 g/t Au from 264.0 metres including:

      • • 3 metres @ 31.4 g/t Au from 265.0 metres

      • • 1 metre @ 13.5 g/t Au from 271.0 metres

  • o MDD023R (Section N5017600)

    • ▪ 20 metres @ 0.82 g/t Au (aggregate) from 307.0 metres including:

      • • 7 metres @ 0.98 g/t Au from 307.0 metres

      • • 5 metres @ 0.51 g/t Au from 318.0 metres

      • • 8 metres @ 0.88 g/t Au from 329.0 metres

• • MDD031 extends mineralization at RAS 740 metres down plunge from the 2021 MRE in a zone approximately 230 metres wide defined by 13 holes with an average weighted grade of 2.99 g/t over an average thickness of 22.6 metres

• • Results from 3 diamond holes drilled at RAS up plunge within and on the eastern margin of MRE 2021 confirm and extend MRE 2021 mineralization

  • o MDD028

    • ▪ 32.3 metres @ 1.08 g/t Au (aggregate) from 147.7 metres including:

      • • 11.3 metres @ 1.28 g/t Au from 147.7 metres

      • • 9.0 metres @ 1.38 g/t Au from 163.0 metres

      • • 4.0 metres @ 0.60 g/t Au from 179.0 metres

      • • 8.0 metres @ 0.71 g/t Au from 191.0 metres

  • o MDD026

    • ▪ 19.0 metres @ 1.85 g/t Au (aggregate) from 94.0 metres including:

      • • 8.0 metres @ 0.68 g/t Au from 94.0 metres

      • • 4.0 metres @ 0.76 g/t Au from 174.0 metres

      • • 7.0 metres @ 3.80 g/t Au from 204.0 metres with:

        • o 2 one metre intercepts of 12.4 and 12.5 g/t Au

  • o MDD024

    • ▪ 7.3 metres @ 5.23 g/t Au from 91.7 metres

• • Three DD drill rigs are undertaking a 10,000-metre programme along the Rise and Shine Shear Zone (RSSZ) at RAS, Come-in-Time (CIT) and Shreks (SHR) deposits. Since commencement in January 2022, 5,028 metres have been completed primarily at RAS where an MRE upgrade is underway with finalisation expected once the new extension limits are sufficiently defined.

• • The remarkably continuous higher gold grades now extend 1300 metres down-plunge at RAS and remain open. RAS has transformed the pre-2021 views that the RSSZ hosted low-grade ~1 g/t gold mineralisation. The RAS higher-grades, highlight the potential of other deposits, strengthening the belief of rapidly advancing the Bendigo-Ophir project towards multi-million-ounce non-refractory gold resources.

Santana Minerals Limited ABN 37 161 946 989

Level 15, 344 Queen Street, Brisbane QLD 4000 ∙

Tel: [phone]

∙

GPO Box 1305, Brisbane QLD 4000 Web:www.santanaminerals.com

20 April 2022 Santana Minerals Limited (ASX: SMI) ("Santana" or "the Company") is pleased to announce further significant results from the 100% owned Bendigo-Ophir Project ("the Project") where a 643Koz Inferred Gold Resource (MRE) in four Rise and Shine Shear Zone (RSSZ) Deposits has been estimated to JORC Code 2012 (ASX announcement on 28th September 2021).

Drilling from September 2021 has accelerated since January 2022 with 5,028 metres completed, primarily focused on extending mineralisation down plunge at RAS. The latest RAS assay results from four down-plunge DD holes and three DD holes within the existing MRE all intersected mineralisation and confirm continuity of mineralisation over 1.3 kilometres down-plunge.

The new RAS mineralisation halo averages 230 metres across the down-plunge axis and extends 740 metres NNE from the 2021 RAS MRE, as defined by gold intercepts in 13 DD holes. These drillhole intercepts average 22.6 metres thick and have a weighted average grade of 2.99 g/t Au (min 0.50g/t Au, uncut) which is 50% higher than the 2.0g/t Au reported for the 2021 RAS MRE.

Commenting on the results Executive Director Dick Keevers said:

"Our skilled field team continues to successfully extend the North Easterly down plunge continuation of the RAS deposit, with potentially mineable grade and thickness drill hole intercepts, so much so that we have applied for more ground to the NE; a measure of our growing confidence for the definition of a larger gold deposit, expected to contain greater than one million ounces of gold resource, for the RAS and Bendigo - Ophir gold field.

Some Covid related delays caused by staff furloughs in our team as well as our drilling and assaying contractors have slowed progress, which is now picking up again.

Note also that we have completed some successful in-fill drilling but still broadly spaced drill holes, in the upper part of RAS, to add definition to the deposit. We have also commenced deeper follow-up drilling at Come in Time, about 1 kilometre NW of RAS, where we plan to test the down plunge potential of this deposit, looking for a repeat of the RAS mineralisation style".

RSSZ Deposits - Extension Drilling

Four RSSZ deposits, CIT, RAS, SHR and Shreks East (SRE) extend 4 kilometres NW-SE along strike and contain the current 643Koz inferred gold resources (Figure 1). Resource drilling at RAS on nominal 120 metre by 100 metre centres since September 2021 has extended RAS shoot mineralisation to 740 metres north down-plunge beyond the 2021 MRE. All RAS drillholes, other than MDD012 and MDD017 (that appear to close off the shoot to the west), show mineralisation consistently occurring within the RAS shoot over a vertical interval of 40-80 metres. Concentration of gold is in the 10-20-metre-thick HWS with common grades of 1-10 g/t Au. Mineralisation is also in higher-grade stockwork within and below the HWS with individual bonanza grades to 57.5 g/t Au 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 1,320 metres down plunge from outcrop and remains open. Extension drilling is testing the margins of both RAS and CIT deposits and 3 holes are planned down plunge at SHR.

Figure 1 RSSZ Deposits / Resource Halos / Gold Metal Units (MU) & Current Drilling

Three DD rigs are now operating 24/7 with a total of 5,028 metres completed in a 10,000 metre DD programme since January 2022 (Table 1). Current drilling is primarily focused on the new northern extension at RAS (Figure 2), southern infill at RAS and at the CIT deposit (Figure 3).

Table 1: MDD023R-MDD038 co-ordinates, downhole survey detail and Status

Assays have been received and reported for seven RAS drillholes (Figures 3 & 4, Table 2, Appendix 1) with assays pending from a further six RAS and three CIT drillholes. Laboratory assay turnaround (TAT) has recently slowed with staff isolations due to the surge in Omicron virus throughout New Zealand. TAT is expected to improve as Lab staff return.

Figure 2 RAS Deposit - Dunstan Range (View south)

RAS Northern Extension - New Drill Results MDD023R, MDD025R, MDD027 & MDD031

All four drillholes with reported assays in the extension north of the RAS 2021 MRE intersected significant RSSZ gold grades and thicknesses. The three northernmost drill sections (360 metre down-plunge extent and remaining open) continued to intercept grades >10g/t of gold associated with silicified breccia, laminar quartz veinlet stockwork and arsenopyrite fill within the upper hanging wall shear (HWS) zone of the RSSZ:

• o MDD031 (Section N5017960)

  • ▪ 21.2 metres @ 4.38 g/t Au from 280.8 metres including:

    • • 5 one metre intercepts of +/-10 g/t Au

• o MDD027 (Section N5017840)

  • ▪ 11.4 metres @ 3.29 g/t Au from 267.7 metres including:

    • • 2.4 metres @ 12.17 g/t Au from 267.7 metres

• o MDD025R (Section N5017720)

  • ▪ 14.0 metres @ 9.00 g/t Au from 264.0 metres including:

    • • 3 metres @ 31.4 g/t Au from 265.0 metres

    • • 1 metre @ 13.5 g/t Au from 271.0 metres

• o MDD023R (Section N5017600)

  • ▪ 20 metres @ 0.82 g/t Au (aggregate) from 307.0 metres including:

    • • 7 metres @ 0.98 g/t Au from 307.0 metres

    • • 5 metres @ 0.51 g/t Au from 318.0 metres

    • • 8 metres @ 0.88 g/t Au from 329.0 metres

Assays for MDD031 (the northernmost drillhole) returned significant gold grades of 21.2 metres @ 4.38 g/t Au from 280.8m in a continuous zone throughout the HWS with numerous intervals +/- 10 g/t Au (Appendix 1 MDD031). Assays are pending for the balance of this drillhole (73.9 metres from 310m). The balance of MDD025R assays (80.7 metres below those previously reported in ASX announcement on 3rd March 2022) show intermittent low-grade mineralisation below the upper HWS zone of 14 metres @ 9.00 g/t Au.

Figure 3 RAS Resource Extension Drilling - New Results / Gold Distribution

Figure 4 RAS Down-plunge Section (new assays, geology & extension envelope)