South Pacific Metals Taps K92 Exploration Veteran To Lead Anga And Osena Project Drilling In PNG’s Kainantu Gold District

Dean Williamson Joins to Execute Drill Program Mandate – Former K92 exploration operator/manager with extensive experience and knowledge of Kainantu area mineralization and operations;

Irinke Prospect Assays – Surface program results have defined a 2 km-wide mineralized NE trending corridor at SW Anga Project, with orientation and strike continuations comparable to K92’s Arakompa Discovery and lode-gold drill program, less than 3 km away;

Anga and Osena Project Drill Planning Nearing Completion – Additional exploration programs set to kick off at both Anga and Osena / K92 border areas, with a new Anga anomaly discovery at Binano less than 1,500 metres from K92 Mining’s Plant Site, an expanded Irinke Prospect, and the recently identified Ontenu Northeast lode-gold target at Osena; and

Positioned for Discovery Success – Leveraging a shared 45 km mineralized corridor that runs through both Anga and Osena Projects, the close proximity to K92’s active exploration and infrastructure positions projects for near-term discovery and development scenarios.

Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – November 13, 2024) – South Pacific Metals Corp. (TSXV: SPMC) (OTCQB: SPMEF) (FSE: 6J00) (” SPMC ” or the ” Company “) is pleased to announce Dean Williamson has joined the Company as Exploration Manager in Papua New Guinea. Mr. Williamson brings extensive experience gained from his +30 year exploration career, which most recently includes a five-year tenure at K92 Mining, where he led critical exploration initiatives that delivered significant gold-copper discoveries. His geological and operational expertise will play a key role in advancing forthcoming Anga and Osena Project drill programs within the Kainantu Gold District.

Previously, Mr. Williamson was principal leader of the K92 Mining exploration team that discovered the Blue Lake Copper-Gold Porphyry and yielded a major maiden inferred resource estimate, as well as acting as a key leader in managing the infill and extensional drilling of the Kora and Judd lodes. With a demonstrated ability to drive results in complex terrains, Mr. Williamson’s leadership and desire to be in the field will accelerate exploration on SPMC’s adjacent properties.

The Anga and Osena Projects hold substantial promise as K92-adjacent properties with geology and mineralization similar to the prolific Kainantu deposits. Extensive geological work by the Company has indicated potential for lode-gold and large-scale copper-gold porphyry, vein and skarn systems at both Anga and Osena. Recent surface sampling programs have already identified high-priority targets, setting the stage for targeted drilling efforts under Williamson’s direction.

Michael Murphy, Executive Chair of South Pacific Metals, commented, “Dean Williamson’s track record in achieving high-impact discoveries at K92 Mining aligns perfectly with our mission to unlock district-scale potential in Papua New Guinea. His insights and proven exploration acumen will be instrumental as we advance Anga and Osena, two of our most prospective properties adjacent to K92’s operations.”

K92 is targeting a maiden mineral resource estimate for Arakompa by Q1 2025, and reports mineralization is open in both directions along strike, at depth and only approximately 40% of the +1.7 km mineralized corridor strike length has been drill tested to date.

Anga Gold-Copper Project Update

The Company is pleased to announce promising results of its preliminary surface sampling program conducted in July-August 2024 at its Anga Gold-Copper Project, located in the gold-copper-producing Kainantu District (see news releases dated July 25, 2024 and September 5, 2024). The exploration program at the Irinke Prospect was designed to target lode-gold and base-metal rich mineralization known to exist on the adjacent property, only 3 km to the southwest at the Arakompa lode-gold drill program and nearby Kainantu Gold Mine.

Recent Project Highlights:

Multiple occurrences of gold mineralized veins and structurally hosted breccias, and Au-Be-Ti-Cu anomalous soils has helped to define a 2 km-wide mineralized NE trending corridor 3 km along strike from Arakompa;

Recent surface sampling at Irinke returned notable gold assays in rock chip samples, including 3.28 g/t Au, and 1,292ppm Cu;

New and expanded gold in soil anomalies – coincident Au-Be-Ti-Cu (important district pathfinders), with an expanded anomaly at Irinke now over 1000 x 300 meters and a new anomaly at Binano over 700 x 300 metres;

Surface results to date show similar style host rocks, alteration and metal associations to that of Arakompa, in particular, the recently identified 17 x 2 metre shear zone; and

The total anomalous Au-Cu in soil and rock footprint at Anga is 4 by 3 km – suggesting a possible large sub-surface mineralized system present at Anga.

The SW Anga Project and new anomalies are located within 1.5 km of K92 Mining’s processing plant (Figure 1). The project area consists of meta-sediments (phyllites) and porphyry intrusions, both of which are coincident and proximal to mineralization on the adjacent Kainantu Mine Area. The structures are generally oriented N-S to NNE-SSW and provide strike continuations to the impressive Arakompa discovery located less than 3 kilometres along strike from the project area. As previously reported (see news release dated March 10, 2022) a Mobile MT geophysical survey presents conductivity anomalies also comparable to those anomalies the Kainantu deposits currently being mined.

2024 Irinke Expanded Exploration Program

The ongoing 2024 Irinke Exploration Program comprised comprehensive surface sampling and structural and geological mapping program on the western-most portion of the Project (refer to Figure 2). The program is designed to follow up on positive preliminary surface sampling results from previous work in 2022 (under previous management as Kainantu Resources Ltd., see news release dated December 15, 2022), notably, a high-grade gold-carbonate base-metal vein was sampled that returned 2.28 g/t Au, 9.4 g/t Ag, 418ppm Pb and 1254 ppm Zn.

New results include an expanded gold anomaly which is coincident with elevated pathfinders of copper, bismuth and tellurium. The pathfinder suite, gold rock chips up to 3.28 g/t Au, and the dominant NNE-SSW trend orientation set this area as priority for follow up work (refer Figure 2).

Binano Prospect – New Anomaly Discovered

Approximately 1.5 km to the east of Irinke is the Binano area (Figure 2). Previously a rock float sample returned 0.27% Cu from a sample described as a quartz veined intrusive with disseminated pyrite-chalcopyrite. Follow up work included a soil sampling grid which has now identified a coincident gold and pathfinder anomaly over 700 x 300 metres. Similarly to Irinke, Binano contains structural fabrics of a similar orientation to Arakompa. The area between Irinke and Binano is through a valley floor with minimal outcrop. It is possible these prospects connect or there are further as yet undiscovered anomalies and targets in areas under shallow cover.

Figure 1: Anga Project Au in rock chip and Bi in soils results and recently updated mineralization halo of the Arakompa vein system only 3 km to the southwest.* The northeast striking zone of elevated Bi in soils, which is an important element associated with gold mineralization, is 700 metres in length.*

*Readers are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on the Company’s properties.

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Figure 2: Au-Te-Cu-Bi soil results zoomed into the SW Anga region showing anomalous pathfinder suite at the Irinke and Binano Creek regions.
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Next Steps

The Company is planning further surface exploration work at Anga, including more detailed soil grid sampling in the Irinke area to fill in regions of encouraging results from the recent coarse (50 m spaced) sampling. Locations for drill placement will also be assessed. Additionally, a preliminary ridge and spur and stream sampling program is being designed to explore other exciting targets at Anga that have not yet been ground truthed.

Stock Options Grant

SPMC also announces that it has granted 75,000 incentive stock options (the “Options”) at an exercise price of $0.58 per share to Mr. Williamson. The Options will vest in stages, with 38,000 vesting upon completion of a drill program and the remainder vesting after 12 months following the drill program completion date.

About the Anga Project

The Anga Gold-Copper Project comprises 461 km2 of 100%-owned exploration licenses in the highly gold-copper mineralized Kainantu Gold District. The project is located immediately northeast of, and adjacent to, K92’s Kainantu Gold Mine Project (see Figure 3), and its southwestern project boundary is only 3 km from where K92 is currently drilling on the Arakompa lode-gold vein system, where multiple wide and high-grade gold zones have been intercepted. Access to the Anga Project is via the Ramu-Markham highway to the northeast.

Across the broader, 60 km by 40 km sized Kainantu Gold District there are multiple gold and copper occurrences, prospects, and targets. Mineralization is interpreted to be associated with mid to late-Miocene intrusive rock, the NNE oriented Kainantu Transfer Structural Zone and NNW oriented arc-parallel structures, all of which are present at Anga. Since 2020, the Company has been actively engaged with local communities on the Project to ensure consent is gained and maintained to undertake field work programs.

Figure 3: Regional location map*

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QA/QC

Soil samples were collected on a nominal grid pattern of 50m x 100m, where access allowed, and by field teams using sieved B-Horizon soils. All samples were assayed by Intertek Laboratory in Lae, Papua New Guinea using Aqua Regia analysis (code AR01/MS OES) with detection limits 0.1 ppb Au, 0.02 ppm Bi, 0.05 ppm Cu and 0.02 ppm Te.

Rock samples were collected selectively from natural outcrop, or small hand-dug excavations. Samples were assayed by Intertek Laboratory in Lae, Papua New Guinea using Fire Assay (code FA25) for gold with a detection limit of 0.01 ppm; and 4-acid ICP analysis for multi-element including copper with a detection limit of 1 ppm. Standards (certified reference material), duplicates and blanks are inserted into the sample submission to monitor laboratory performance.

Recently received rock sample results > 0.05ppm Au (Coordinates, WGS84 Zone 55).