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Tarcoola Mineral Resources Update (Perseverance Mine)

~20koz Au shallow Mineral Resources with further extension potential

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / July 2, 2024 / Barton Gold Holdings Limited

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Tarcoola JORC (2012) Mineral Resources increased to ~20koz @ ~2 g/t Au at Perseverance

  • Resources within 60 - 80 metres of open pit floor, with potential depth / strike extensions

Fig 1 - Plan view showing Perseverance open pit JORC MRE outline and key geological controls

Barton Gold Holdings Limited (ASX:BGD),(FRA:BGD3),(OTCQB:BGDFF) ( Barton or Company ) is pleased to confirm an updated Mineral Resources Estimate for its South Australian Tarcoola Gold Project ( Tarcoola ).

Approximately 1,688m of recent Barton drilling has delivered an updated JORC (2012) Mineral Resources Estimate (MRE) of 19.9koz Au within 60 - 80m of the Perseverance Mine open pit floor. The total Tarcoola MRE is now 29.5koz Au (0.54Mt @ 1.70 g/t Au) , with ~45% classified as ‘Indicated' category, including 9.6koz Au contained in lower-grade existing stockpiles next to the Perseverance Mine.

Commenting on the Perseverance Mine's JORC MRE update, Barton MD Alex Scanlon said:

"This is an excellent starting point for the second phase of our regional strategy. Tarcoola now holds ~530,000 tonnes of JORC Resources in stockpiles and in the pit floor, with potential extensions, on an existing Mining Lease.

"With an existing fully permitted mill, even minor pit extensions can offer high-value ounces. We plan to continue incrementally building these Resources while testing priority regional targets for new Tarcoola mineralisation."

Background & Recent Drilling

The historical Tarcoola Goldfield produced ~77koz Au at an average grade of ~37.5 g/t during 1893 - 1955 from shallow workings on Barton's Mining Lease 6455, and a small open pit mine (Perseverance) produced ore grading 2 - 4 g/t Au to Barton's Central Gawler Mill during 2016 - 2018. [1] Notwithstanding this ~130 year history, relatively little has been historically invested to evaluate the goldfield's architecture or locating prospective ‘repeats' of shallow, high-grade mineralisation in the surrounding area.

Barton's regional development strategy is to establish large-scale, bulk open pit mineralisation combined with nearby higher-grade blending feed to realise the benefits of economies of scale, and to potentially support an early ‘Stage 1' operation leveraging the existing Central Gawler Mill to process these materials.

Barton has rapidly grown the neighbouring Tunkillia Gold Project ( Tunkillia ) to a JORC MRE of 1.5Moz Au (51.3Mt @ 0.91 g/t Au) over the past two years. [2] A preliminary Scoping Study is now underway to test a prospective 5Mtpa processing model, and to identify key cost drivers for subsequent optimisation.

Barton is now evaluating the Tarcoola Goldfield for potential higher-grade mineralisation. In December 2023 and April 2024 Barton drilled 1,688m (26 holes) in the Perseverance pit floor, confirming high-grade extensions of pit floor mineralisation grading up to ~12 g/t Au, and new structures below the open pit. [3]

Barton has remodelled the open pit mineralisation to include these recent drilling results, and has also identified extensions for additional investigation and further potential JORC MRE growth.

Fig 2 - Tarcoola Gold Project map showing ML6455 and priority ‘western targets' zone

Updated Tarcoola Block Model & MRE

Updated modelling shows two key areas where mineralisation has been converted to an updated JORC MRE in the north and central open pit floor areas. The updated MRE has been estimated to 25mRL only, with all JORC Resources within 60 - 80 metres of the southern and northern pit floor areas (respectively).

Mineralisation also extends below the new MRE, and into the Deliverance zone south of the pit (see Figure 3). These areas are not yet JORC classified and present opportunities for further drilling and MRE growth.

Fig 3 - Long Section showing updated Perseverance MRE and unclassified mineralised extensions
Fig 4 - Hole TBM0109 showing Granite Vein extensions in the north end of the Perseverance Mine [4]

Updated Tarcoola JORC MRE Statement

The Tarcoola JORC MRE was last estimated during November 2020. [5]

Further to the updated Perseverance Mine JORC MRE detailed in this announcement, Tarcoola's overall Mineral Resource endowment has grown by ~87% to a total 29.5koz Au (0.54Mt @ 1.70 g/t Au).

The updated Tarcoola JORC MRE (as at June 2024) is shown below at Table 1.

Table 1 - Tarcoola MRE (June 2024)

The previously reported Tarcoola MRE (as at November 2020) is shown below at Table 2.

Table 2 - Tarcoola MRE (November 2020) 9

Ongoing Tarcoola Goldfield Drilling

Barton's December 2023 and April 2024 drilling program was the first since the Company published a new regional architectural map of the Tarcoola Goldfield following two years of geophysical investigation in parallel with its Tunkillia growth drilling programs. [6]

This modelling has identified multiple local structures analogous to the structure which hosts the Perseverance Mine and is the first time in the ~130 year history of the Tarcoola Goldfield that all known historical gold occurrences can be put into a consistent structure framework.

Following the completion of open pit drilling at the Perseverance Mine, Barton commenced a ~7,000m reverse circulation ( RC ) drilling program as a preliminary test of multiple interpreted priority targets, including Tolmer, Mulgathing and Warburton. [7]

The objective of this program is to test for the existence of interpreted structures, validate and refine new methodologies and techniques that Barton is developing for exploration under cover in the region, and to define a new regional structural model. Barton also hopes to identify new potential sources of higher-grade mineralisation similar to that produced in the area of and surrounding the Perseverance Mine.

This program was subsequently expanded to ~9,000m and remains ongoing. The program is anticipated to complete during July 2024. Certain priority samples dispatched to Barton lab services provider for fire assay analyses and Barton expects to publish the results of all drilling during July and August 2024. [8]

Fig 5 - Interpreted 3D architecture of the historical high-grade Tarcoola Goldfield[9]

Updated Global Barton JORC MRE Statement

Further to the updated MRE detailed in this announcement for the Perseverance Mine, Barton's total attributable JORC (2012) Mineral Resource endowment has grown by approximately 1% to a total 1,588koz Au (52.3Mt @ 0.94 g/t Au). Table 3 below provides the full details of Barton's global MRE endowment.

Table 3 - Barton Global JORC MRE Inventory (June 2024)

Mineral Resource Estimation Methodology and Data

The following summary information is provided in accordance with ASX Listing Rule 5.8.1. Further detail is provided in the attached JORC Table 1.

Summary

The Tarcoola Project is located 70 km NNW of Barton Gold's Tunkillia Project in South Australia, and comprises ~1,640km2 of tenements, including the open pit Perseverance Mine at the brownfields Perseverance Deposit. The mine, which operated during 2017 and 2018, is held within Mineral Lease (ML) 6455 located 3 km west of the Tarcoola Rail Siding in South Australia's Gawler Craton. The Tarcoola Project is 100% owned by Tunkillia 2 Pty Ltd which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Barton Gold Holdings Limited.

The Tarcoola Project lies within the north-western Gawler Craton, and centred over the historic Tarcoola goldfield where Archaean and Proterozoic rocks form the basement to an extensive cover of Phanerozoic sediments. Gold mineralisation is hosted within the sedimentary Tarcoola Formation and the Paxton Granite, both of Proterozoic age. A suite of later intrusions (Lady Jane Diorite) cut both the sedimentary rocks and the granite.

The resource is reported above a depth of 25 m RL and above a 0.5 g/t gold cut off. 25 m RL is approximately 125 m below the surface and 60 m below the pit floor.

Mineral Resources are not Ore Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. Inferred Resources have less geological confidence than Indicated Resources and should not have modifying factors applied to them. It is reasonable to expect that with further exploration most of the Inferred Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Resources.

Geology and geological interpretation

The Tarcoola Project lies within the north-western Gawler Craton, centred over the historic Tarcoola Goldfield, where Archaean and Proterozoic rocks form the basement to an extensive cover of Phanerozoic sediments. The Archaean basement has been extensively deformed, whereas the Proterozoic rocks have been weakly to moderately deformed.

At the Perseverance Deposit, gold mineralisation is controlled by a sub-vertical NE-NNE trending fault zone within the sedimentary rocks of the Tarcoola Formation and the Paxton Granite, both of Proterozoic age. A suite of later intrusions (Lady Jane Diorite) cut both the sedimentary rocks and the granite. These high level mafic intrusives are associated with the 1590 Ma Hiltaba Magmatic Event, and are considered to control the spatial setting of both gold and base metal mineralisation.

Gold has locally been remobilised and enriched in the weathering profile. The base of complete oxidation occurs typically 10-40 m below surface, and the base of partial oxidation occurs at a depth of 20-60 m.

Within the primary zone, sericite-quartz-pyrite alteration zones are spatially associated with the mineralisation and overprint earlier hematite-magnetite alteration. An outer halo of chlorite (+/- leucoxene and pyrite) is developed. Pyrite, galena and sphalerite are the main associated sulphide minerals, with subordinate amounts of chalcopyrite, bornite and/or arsenopyrite noted.

Veins can be discrete or form wider stockwork zones and are surrounded by broader quartz-sericite alteration envelopes, which can host haloes of lower grade background mineralisation. Dispersed supergene mineralisation in the oxide zone can be largely detached from veining.

The Perseverance Deposit extends over approximately 500 m from the Southwall Fault to include Last Resource north of the White Hope Fault. Mineralisation has been identified south of Southwall Fault but is not considered in this mineral resource estimate.

Drilling techniques

A total of 694 RC and diamond drill holes for 77,250 m have been drilled within the area defined by the Tarcoola mineral resource. 694 of these holes are RC (45,468 m), with 50 holes (7,386 m) being either diamond or pre-collared diamond and 986 short RC grade control holes (24,395 m). Barton Gold's drilling since 2020 comprises 4,239 m of RC drilling (42 holes). The Barton Gold RC drilling was undertaken by Egan Drilling using a track mounted Sandvik 400 series with an on-board compressor and an auxiliary booster to provide approximately 2000 cfm ay 1000psi. The drill rig utilised a down hole hammer with a 5 ¾" face sampling bit.

Drill holes across the deposit are spaced at nominal 40 m x 40 m centres, with the mined-out areas drilled with grade control drilling on 5 m centres. Drill programmes are orientated perpendicular to strike and on east-west sections, although some grade control holes are drilled on north-south sections. Pierce points below the pit are commonly on 40 m sections.

The locations of historical drill holes have been verified by Barton Gold with both surface drill collar pick-ups and by validation of existing mineralisation with recent infill drilling.

Sampling and sub-sampling techniques

RC drilling by Barton Gold utilised a 5 ¾" face-sampling hammer, with a rig-mounted cone splitter attached to the cyclone providing one-metre sample intervals. Field duplicates were collected at a ratio of 1:30.

Sample analysis

Two to four kilogram RC splits and half-drill core were sent to Bureau Veritas in Adelaide for preparation and analysis using 40 g fire assay techniques for gold. Bureau Veritas' FA1 method uses a 40 g lead collection fire assay with AAS finish to a 0.01 ppm detection limit. Samples from an earlier phase of Barton Gold drilling were sent to Intertek Genalysis in Adelaide for preparation and analysis using 50 g fire assay techniques for gold and ICPOES/MS for multielement geochemistry.

A variety of analytical techniques and laboratories have been utilised over the course of the project's history and are considered suitable for resource estimation purposes.

QAQC

Barton Gold inserted certified reference materials (CRM's) supplied by OREAS into the sampling sequence every 50 samples. CRM's were selected on the basis of gold levels relevant to the deposit being drilled. Barton Gold's overall QAQC protocols utilised CRM's, field duplicates and certified coarse blanks inserted at an overall ratio of 1:44 routine drill hole samples for the RC drill program.

Based on the results of Barton's QA/QC analysis, in addition to the internal QA/QC standards, repeats and blanks run by the laboratory, the laboratory was deemed to provide an acceptable level of accuracy and precision.

Estimation methodology

The geological interpretations are based on pit mapping and drill hole data. Drill core and RC chip logging has been used to define the main geological units and weathering profile boundaries.

Mineralisation above the base of weathering is assumed to be affected by supergene or weathering effects and is interpreted as having been dominantly mined out. Eleven fresh rock mineralised structures were interpreted, based on continuity of grade at a lower cut-off of 0.8 g/t Au at the Perseverance Deposit. Three mineralised structures were orientated along the Perseverance Fault and seven were interpreted to strike N-NNW. Structures were grouped into geostatistical domains based on grade similarities and structural orientation.

Several small mafic dykes (Lady Jane Diorites) cross-cut the deposit. The northwest and northeast trending dykes appear to control narrow mineralised zones along the contacts. Due to their small volume and associated mineralisation the Lady Jane Diorites were not depleted from the mineral resource estimate.

The Mineral Resource statement reported herein is a reasonable representation of the Tarcoola Project's Perseverance Deposit, based on pit exposures and current sampling data. Grade estimation was undertaken using Geovia's Surpacâ„¢ software package (v7.7.2). Ordinary Kriging ("OK") was selected for grade estimation.

The block model utilises parent blocks measuring 10 m x 20 m x 5 m with sub-blocking to 0.625 x 2.5 x 1.25 m (XYZ) to better define the volumes. Blocks above topography are flagged as air blocks. Estimation resolution was set at the parent block size.

Informing samples were composited down hole to one metre intervals. Grade capping was applied to outlier composites. Experimental variograms were generated where possible in Supervisor, (no transformations were attempted). For domains where experimental variograms could not be created, the variogram models were orientated along strike and down dip, composite data was viewed in three dimensions to determine if a plunge should be incorporated into the variogram. A two-pass estimation process was employed, with the first pass (60 m search) requiring a minimum of either 4 or 8 composites and a maximum of between 8 and 12 composites depending on the size of the domain. The second pass (120 m search) reduced the minimum composites required by half and the maximum of composites required by four-fifths. Density values are assigned to blocks based on lithology and weathering; the average density of the mineralisation is 2.64 t/m3.

Block model validation consisted of visual checks in plan and section, global comparisons between input and output means and alternative estimation techniques.

Cut-off grades

The Mineral Resource is reported above a 0.5 g/t gold grade and within 125 m of the surface (25 m RL), approximately 60 m below the pit floor. The following assumptions were considered.

Resource Cut Off Assumptions

Item

Units

Value

Gold Price

AUD$/oz

$3,000

Gold Price

AUD$/g

$ 96.45

Recovery

%

95%

Effective Revenue

AUD$/g

$ 91.63

Less Royalty

%

6.0%

Less per g Costs

AUD$/g

$ 1.20

Realised Revenue

AUD$/g

$ 84.93

Cost to Mine/t ore

AUD$/t

$ 14.59

Costs to Process (+G&A)

AUD$/t

$ 27.95

Cut-off (in place)

g/t

0.50

Dilution

%

5%

Resource Cut-off Grade

g/t

0.53

Criteria used for classification

The Resource Estimates were classified in accordance with the JORC 2012 code. The Tarcoola resources (Perseverance Deposit) are classified based on data quality, drill density, number of informing samples, kriging efficiency, average distance to informing samples and vein consistency (geological continuity). Geological continuity has been demonstrated at 40 m grid spacing over the entire strike of the deposits. Short range variability has been established with grade control drilling (5 to 10 m spacing) in mined out areas, with grade control drilling extending up to 30 m below the pit floor in the better proportion of the deposit. Areas drilled with at least 20 m sections and including tighter infill drilling may be classified as indicated, predicated on geological confidence. Areas of 40 m x 40 m or greater have been classified as inferred. Areas of limited geological confidence or at a depth beyond a reasonable open pit depth remain unclassified. A Mineral Resource is not an Ore Reserve and does not have demonstrated economic viability.

Mining and metallurgical methods and parameters and other material modifying factors considered to data

Barton Gold foresees mining via open pit and conventional grinding and leach recovery. The Competent Person notes that this is a reasonable assumption but should not be regarded as rigorous at this stage of the project. The current Mineral Resource does not include any dilution or ore loss associated with practical mining constraints. The Tarcoola mineralisation sampled has been shown to be amenable to direct cyanidation for gold extraction. The Perseverance Deposit was processed at the Challenger CIL plant between 2017 and 2018. Metallurgical work (1988, 1998 and 2013) show good recoveries between 95 and 98% on P80 75µ oxidised and fresh material.

Authorised by the Board of Directors of Barton Gold Holdings Limited.

For further information, please contact:

Alexander Scanlon
Managing Director
a.scanlon@bartongold.com.au
+61 425 226 649

Shannon Coates
Company Secretary
cosec@bartongold.com.au
+61 8 9322 1587

Competent Persons Statements

The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results for the Tarcoola Gold Project (including drilling, sampling, geophysical surveys and geological interpretation) is based upon, and fairly represents, information and supporting documentation compiled by Mr Marc Twining BSc (Hons). Mr Twining is an employee of Barton Gold Holdings Ltd and is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Geoscientists (AusIMM Member 112811) and has sufficient experience with the style of mineralisation, the deposit type under consideration and to the activity being undertaken, to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves" (The JORC Code). Mr Twining consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based upon this information in the form and context in which it appears.

The information in this announcement that relates to the estimate of open pit Mineral Resources for the Tarcoola Gold Project geological interpretation and resource estimates) is based upon, and fairly represents, information and supporting documentation compiled by Mr Ian Taylor BSc (Hons). Mr Taylor is an employee of Mining Associates Pty Ltd and has acted as an independent consultant on Barton Gold's Tarcoola Gold Project, South Australia. Mr Taylor is a Fellow and certified Professional of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (FAusIMM (CP Geo) 110090) and has sufficient experience with the style of mineralisation, the deposit type under consideration and to the activity being undertaken, to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves" (The JORC Code). Mr Taylor consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based upon this information in the form and context in which it appears.

The information in this announcement that relates to the estimate of stockpile Mineral Resources for the Tarcoola Project is based upon, and fairly represents, information and supporting documentation compiled by Dr Andrew Fowler MAusIMM CP (Geo). Dr Fowler is an employee of Mining Plus Pty Ltd and has acted as an independent consultant on Barton Gold's Tarcoola Project, South Australia. Dr Fowler is a Member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and has sufficient experience with the style of mineralisation, the deposit type under consideration and to the activity being undertaken, to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the "Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves" (The JORC Code). The Company confirms it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the relevant market announcement and in the case of estimates of mineral resources all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the relevant market announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed.

About Barton Gold

Barton Gold is an ASX, OTCQB and Frankfurt Stock Exchange listed Australian gold developer targeting future gold production of 150,000oz annually, with ~1.6Moz Au JORC Mineral Resources (52.3Mt @ 0.94 g/t Au), multiple advanced exploration projects and brownfield mines, and 100% ownership of the only regional gold mill in the renowned central Gawler Craton of South Australia. *

Competent Persons Statement & Previously Reported Information

The information in this announcement that relates to the historic Exploration Results and Mineral Resources as listed in the table below is based on, and fairly represents, information and supporting documentation prepared by the Competent Person whose name appears in the same row, who is an employee of or independent consultant to the Company and is a Member or Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM), Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG) or a Recognised Professional Organisation (RPO). Each person named in the table below has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and types of deposits under consideration and to the activity which he has undertaken to quality as a Competent Person as defined in the JORC Code 2012 ( JORC ).

Activity

Competent Person

Membership

Status

Tarcoola Mineral Resource (Stockpiles)

Dr Andrew Fowler (Consultant)

AusIMM

Member

Tarcoola Mineral Resource (Perseverance Mine)

Mr Ian Taylor (Consultant)

AusIMM

Fellow

Tarcoola Exploration Results (until 15 Nov 2021)

Mr Colin Skidmore (Consultant)

AIG

Member

Tarcoola Exploration Results (after 15 Nov 2021)

Mr Marc Twining (Employee)

AusIMM

Member

Tunkillia Exploration Results (until 15 Nov 2021)

Mr Colin Skidmore (Consultant)

AIG

Member

Tunkillia Exploration Results (after 15 Nov 2021)

Mr Marc Twining (Employee)

AusIMM

Member

Tunkillia Mineral Resource

Mr Ian Taylor (Consultant)

AusIMM

Fellow

Challenger Mineral Resource

Mr Dale Sims (Consultant)

AusIMM / AIG

Fellow / Member

The information relating to historic Exploration Results and Mineral Resources in this announcement is extracted from the Company's Prospectus dated 14 May 2021 or as otherwise noted in this announcement, available from the Company's website at www.bartongold.com.au or on the ASX website www.asx.com.au . The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the Exploration Results and Mineral Resource information included in previous announcements and, in the case of estimates of Mineral Resources, that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the Prospectus continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the applicable Competent Persons' findings are presented have not been materially modified from the previous announcements.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This document may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "expect", "target" and "intend" and statements than an event or result "may", "will", "should", "would", "could", or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions. Forward-looking information is subject to business, legal and economic risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among other things, risks relating to property interests, the global economic climate, commodity prices, sovereign and legal risks, and environmental risks. Forward-looking statements are based upon estimates and opinions at the date the statements are made. Barton undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements for events or circumstances that occur subsequent to such dates or to update or keep current any of the information contained herein. Any estimates or projections as to events that may occur in the future (including projections of revenue, expense, net income and performance) are based upon the best judgment of Barton from information available as of the date of this document. There is no guarantee that any of these estimates or projections will be achieved. Actual results will vary from the projections and such variations may be material. Nothing contained herein is, or shall be relied upon as, a promise or representation as to the past or future. Any reliance placed by the reader on this document, or on any forward-looking statement contained in or referred to in this document will be solely at the readers own risk, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof.

JORC Table 1 - Tarcoola Gold Project

Section 1 Sampling Techniques and Data

Criteria

Commentary

Sampling techniques

Nature and quality of sampling (e.g. cut channels, random chips, or specific specialised industry standard measurement tools appropriate to the minerals under investigation, such as down hole gamma sondes, or handheld XRF instruments, etc.). These examples should not be taken as limiting the broad meaning of sampling.

Include reference to measures taken to ensure sample representivity and the appropriate calibration of any measurement tools or systems used.

Aspects of the determination of mineralisation that are Material to the Public Report. In cases where ‘industry standard' work has been done this would be relatively simple (e.g. "RC drilling was used to obtain 1 m samples from which 3 kg was pulverised to produce a 30 g charge for fire assay"). In other cases, more explanation may be required, such as where there is coarse gold that has inherent sampling problems. Unusual commodities or mineralisation types (e.g. submarine nodules) may warrant disclosure of detailed information

Sampling during Barton Gold's RC drill programs at Tarcoola was obtained through reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling methods. Historic RC and diamond drilling methods were also used in drilling campaigns completed since the mid-1990s.

Rotary air-blast (RAB) and aircore drilling has also been completed. These holes were used to guide interpretation but were not used for modelling or grade estimations of the reported mineral resource in the accompanying Announcement.

The drilling program used a Metzke cone splitter attached to the cyclone. One-metre splits were constrained by chute and butterfly valves to derive a 2-4kg split on the cyclone. Samples above 1m depth were not collected.

Diamond core for drilling has been sawn in half using an automated core saw. Field duplicates were derived from using quarter core for the designated interval.

Historic diamond core has been sawn in half or quarter using a core saw.

Historic RC samples were collected using various splitting methods over the project's history. A splitter was generally used; however, spear samples were taken for a period of time in some holes.

The sample preparation for drilling conducted in 2023 and 2024 of the one-metre sampling for Barton Gold's RC and diamond drill program was conducted by Bureau Veritas (Adelaide) using method FA1 where the 2-3kg split sample received at the laboratory is weighed, dried, crushed to 10mm, pulverized to 75 micron and split to provide a 40g sample for fire assay analysis.

The sample preparation of the one-metre sampling for Barton Gold's 2021 RC drill program was conducted by Intertek Genalysis (Adelaide) using method SP1 where the 2-3kg split sample received at the laboratory is weighed, dried, crushed to 3mm, pulverized to 75 micron and split to provide a 50g sample for fire assay and adequate pulverized material for possible future multi-element analysis.

Historically RC and diamond drilling samples were analysed by various laboratories by either fire assay or Aqua Regia digest, detection by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) or a Pulverise and Leach (PAL) process. 1 m RC or diamond samples were generally collected.

Drilling techniques

Drill type (e.g. core, RC, open-hole hammer, rotary air blast, auger, Bangka, sonic, etc.) and details (e.g. core diameter, triple or standard tube, depth of diamond tails, face-sampling bit or other type, whether core is oriented and if so, by what method, etc.).

The RC drilling by Barton Gold used a face-sampling 5 ¾" RC drilling techniques undertaken by Egan Drilling. Egan drilling used an air delivery systems comprising primary and auxillary compressor plus booster, delivering nominal air capacities of approximately 1000psi/2000cfm.

Historic drilling has taken place over numerous periods since the

mid- 1980s as follows:

  • 1987-1989 BHP Gold/Aberfoyle JV (RC and HQ3 DD)

  • 1991-1994 Queens Road Mines/Grenfell Resources(RC)

  • 1996-1998 Grenfell Resources (RC, RCD, HQ3 DD)

  • 2001-2002 AngloGold/Gravity Capital (RC/RCD)

  • 2008 LIDDS (NQ DD)

  • 2012 Tunkillia Gold (RC and HQ3 DD)

  • 2016-2018 Tarcoola Gold (RC).

Drill sample recovery

Method of recording and assessing core and chip sample recoveries and results assessed.

Measures taken to maximise sample recovery and ensure representative nature of the samples.

Whether a relationship exists between sample recovery and grade and whether sample bias may have occurred due to preferential loss/gain of fine/coarse material.

Drilling recoveries were qualitatively described for each drilled interval in the field database along with an estimation of moisture content. In general recoveries were good in the order of 30-40kg for each one-metre interval of RC drilling and less than 1% of intervals noted any moisture content. Diamond core recoveries beneath the base of weathering were >98%. Samples submitted to the laboratory were weighed on a dry, as-received basis and reported along with assay results.

No relationship between grade and recovery has been identified.

Drilling recoveries prior to 2012 were not recorded for both RC chips and diamond core. Some earlier reports noted difficult drilling. Grenfell noted that care was taken to maximise recoveries and minimise contamination and wet drilling conditions were not often encountered. AngloGold noted no major problems with drilling conditions.

TGL RC drilling programmes noted good recoveries, with weights of 30-40kg achieved in fresh material. Within the weathered zone, sample weights were more variable. Holes collared in the Quaternary overburden yielded poor or no recovery from the upper unconsolidated cover sequence, which does not host gold mineralisation.

Diamond core recoveries were recorded by TGL. Local zones of core loss were noted in the oxide zone however core recoveries were generally good.

The RC drilling was closely monitored by the site geologist to ensure optimal recovery and that samples were considered representative.

Historically, HQ triple tube (HQ3) drilling was used for some holes to maximise core recovery. Re-entry holes were not triple-tubed as they were drilled straight into fresh bedrock. Drilling rates were controlled, and short drill runs were often used through the oxide zone to maximise core recovery.

Logging

Whether core and chip samples have been geologically and geotechnically logged to a level of detail to support appropriate Mineral Resource estimation, mining studies and metallurgical studies.

Whether logging is qualitative or quantitative in nature. Core (or costean, channel, etc.) photography.

The total length and percentage of the relevant intersections logged.

The RC drilling program electronically logged a number of parameters direct into a database including: Stratigraphy, lithology, weathering, primary and secondary colour, texture, grainsize, alteration type-style-intensity and mineralisation type-style-percentage.

Diamond drilling used the same logging methodology, although additional strip logging was undertaken to aid in geological interpretation and correlation between adjacent drill holes.

Logging practices varied over the project's history, however AngloGold attempted to standardize the logging by relogging holes in 2002. Approximately 17,000m of diamond and RC drilling and conversion of historical data into a consistent coding system. Some inconsistency in the logging is evident in the current database, however significant mapping has been completed in the pit which, in conjunction with the logging, provides a sound geological basis to prepare a Mineral Resource estimate.

Logging from drilling is generally qualitative in nature.

All diamond core and RC drilling has been geologically logged.

Subsampling techniques and sample preparation

If core, whether cut or sawn and whether quarter, half or all core taken

If non-core, whether riffled, tube sampled, rotary split, etc. and whether sampled wet or dry.

For all sample types, the nature, quality and appropriateness of the sample preparation technique.

Quality control procedures adopted for all subsampling stages to maximise representivity of samples.

Measures taken to ensure that the sampling is representative of the in-situ material collected, including for instance results for field duplicate/second-half sampling.

Whether sample sizes are appropriate to the grain size of the material being sampled.

SADME (1964) - Diamond holes were quarter-cored by Grenfell.

Aberfoyle (1979-1985) - Samples of open holes TP001-021 were collected in a PVC bag via a cyclone, and then split downto approximately 1.5kg.

Newmex Exploration Limited/Tarcoola Gold Ltd (1987-1988) - RC samples from TRC001-TRC025 were collected over 1m intervals via a cyclone with an incorporated splitter.

Approximately 3kg was collected for analysis. RC samples from TRC026-TRC138 were collected over 1m intervals and riffle split to collect a sample. The weight of the sample was approximately 2kg.

BHP (1987-1989) - RC holes were sampled at 1m intervals with rock chips homogenized via a cyclone before being split and sampled. A 4m composite sample weighing approximately 2.5kg was initially submitted for analysis. The 1m samples were only submitted if the original 4m sample returned a value of >0.5 g/t Au. Diamond core was apparently half-cored, with samples generally taken at 1m intervals.

Grenfell (1991-1993) - RC holes were sampled at 1m intervals were collected in full in plastic bags. The plastic bags were rolled several times to help ensure mixing prior to collecting a 1-2kg sample using a short plastic tube inserted diagonally several times into the material. A 4 m composite was initially submitted for analysis. 1m samples were only submitted if the original 4m sample returned a value of >0.3 g/t Au. Diamond core was apparently half-cored, with samples generally taken at 1m intervals.

Grenfell (1995-1997) - RC holes were sampled at 1m intervals were collected in full in a plastic bucket, and then poured through a three-tier riffle splitter. Buckets were emptied through the splitter at 0.5m intervals. A 3kg sample was collected in a calico bag for assay, and the remaining sample collected in a large plastic bag. Poor sample recovery was apparently only noted within a small number of drillholes.

Diamond core was apparently half-cored, with samples generally taken at 1m intervals.

AngloGold (2001-2002) - RC holes were sampled at 1m intervals. Detail surrounding the RC subsampling techniques was not provided to CSA Global. Diamond core was apparently half- cored, with samples generally taken at 1m intervals.

Subsampling is performed during the preparation stage according to the assay laboratories' internal protocols.

During the RC drilling program a field duplicate was collected off a second chute on the cyclone splitter at a frequency of 3 for each 100-original sample intervals.

To the best of the Competent Persons knowledge, no RC field duplicates were taken prior to 1995. After 1995, field duplicates have generally been inserted in the sample stream at a rate of one in every 20 samples. No data was provided for the AngloGold drilling program however (2001-2002). Results generally give confidence in sampling procedures .

Sample sizes are considered to be appropriate to the grain size of the material being sampled.

Quality of assay data and laboratory tests

The nature, quality and appropriateness of the assaying and laboratory procedures used and whether the technique is considered partial or total.

For geophysical tools, spectrometers, handheld XRF instruments, etc., the parameters used in determining the analysis including instrument make and model, reading times, calibrations factors applied and their derivation, etc.

Nature of quality control procedures adopted (e.g. standards, blanks, duplicates, external laboratory checks) and whether acceptable levels of accuracy (i.e. lack of bias) and precision have been established.

Analytical techniques have varied somewhat over the projects history and are summarised below.

SADME (1964) - Diamond holes were sent to Amdel in Adelaide for analysis by Aqua Regia digest flame AAS with a 0.02 detection limit. Any samples returning grades >1 g/t Au were re-assayed by fire assay with an AAS finish.

Aberfoyle Exploration (1985-1987) - Samples were submitted to Classic Laboratories in Perth for fire assay using a 50g charge.

Newmex Exploration Limited, Tarcoola Gold Limited (1987- 1988) - Samples from TRC001-TRC025 were submitted to Genalysis in Perth for analysis using Aqua Regia digest and AAS finish after roasting to oxidise sulphides. Fire assay was carried out on all samples containing >1 g/t Au determined following Aqua Regia. Samples from TRC026-TRC138 were submitted to Classic Comlabs, Adelaide for analysis by fire assay.

BHP Gold (1988-1991) - Samples were submitted to Amdel Laboratories in Adelaide for analysis. The analytical method is not known.

Queens Road Mine/Grenfell Resources (1992-1994) - Samples were submitted to Amdel for digest by Aqua Regia (two parts hydrochloric acid to one-part nitric acid), followed by extraction into organic solvent (D.I.B.K.). A 50g subsample was then analysed by AAS with a 0.02 g/t Au detection limit.

Grenfell Resources (1996-1998) - Earlier samples were submitted to Amdel for analysis by Aqua Regia digest with AAS finish. Any samples returning grades >1 g/t Au were re-assayed by fire assay with and AAS finish. Later holes were submitted to Aqua Regia digest with graphite furnace AAS.

AngloGold, Gravity Capital Limited (2001-2002) - Earlier holes (up to TCRC0029) were submitted to Genalysis in Adelaide.

Sample preparation was completed in Adelaide, and then sample analysis was completed in Perth via a 50g fire assay with AAS finish (Method FA50/AAS). Later holes were submitted to Analabs in Perth for analysis by fire assay.

Low Impact Diamond Drilling Services (2008) - Two core holes were submitted to Onsite Laboratory Services, Bendigo for analysis by 25g fire assay with AAS finish. Subsampling techniques are not known.

Tunkillia Gold (2012) - Au analysis was completed by IntertekGenalysis in Adelaide, via a 50 g lead collection fire assay with AAS finish to a 0.005 ppm detection limit (Method FA50/AA).

Tarcoola Gold (2016-2017) - Samples were dried at 90 ÌŠC to eliminate the impact of moisture on sample processing. After drying samples are crushed via a Boyd Crusher to <10mm in size then split through a rotary splitter to produce a sub-sample. The crusher is cleaned regularly and has barren bricks crushed between sample groups to prevent contamination. Analysis is through the pulverising and leach (PAL) process. This process reflects the site mill extraction process where: each process is pulverised in aqueous solution with cyanide bearing assay tabs and a collection of assorted sized ball bearings.

Each sample is pulverised for an hour, resulting in an Au-CN complex bearing solution and remnant pulverised sample, and the pulverised material is 95% passing 75 microns. Following PAL processing, samples are decanted, centrifuged and prepared for analysis in an AAS with a solvent separation with a DIBK and residence time of 20 minutes. The sample is then aspirated through the AAS to produce a reading.

Barton Gold (2020) - 2-4kg splits were sent to MinAnalytical in Perth for preparation and analysis using photon assay techniques for gold and ICPOES/MS for multielement geochemistry. The received samples used MinAnalytical's PAP3502R method for preparation which included weighing before drying and crushing to 3mm. A 500g charge was split for analysis using MinAnalytical's PAAU2 photon assay method for gold which is a fully automated technique designed for the analysis of ores. It uses high energy x-rays to excite the atoms so liberation from the surrounding material is not required. The ~500g single-use jars allows for bulk analysis with no chance of cross contamination between samples.

Barton Gold (2021) - 2-4kg splits were sent to Intertek Genalysis in Adelaide for preparation and analysis using 50g fire assay techniques for gold and ICPOES/MS for multielement geochemistry. Whilst preparation and some fire assays were undertaken in Adelaide Intertek also sent some batches to their Perth laboratories for analysis. Intertek's FA50/OE04 method uses a 50 g lead collection fire assay with ICP-OES / MS finish to a 0.005 ppm detection limit. Multielement samples were analysed using Intertek's method 4A/MS48 which is a 4-acid digest followed by analysis using ICP-OES and MS for 48 elements.

Barton Gold (2022) - 2-4kg splits were sent to Bureau Veritas in Adelaide for preparation and analysis using 40g fire assay techniques for gold. Bureau Veritas' FA1 method uses a 40 g lead collection fire assay with AAS finish to a 0.01 ppm detection limit.

No geophysical studies were used in this latest drilling program.

Barton Gold's RC drilling program included a comprehensive QAQC component with Field Duplicate samples taken at every 30 th sample; Certified Standards (selection of OREAS CRM's considered most appropriate for expected grade and composition) were inserted randomly in sequence for at every 50 th sample submitted; blanks were inserted in sequence at every 50 th sample submitted. Additionally, the laboratories provided their internal QAQC which included check samples, CRM's, blanks and repeats.

Analysis of the duplicate samples was reasonable given the majority fell below detection. Some significant variation was noted however this is considered consistent with the interpreted high nugget style of mineralisation. There was some limited evidence of cross-contamination in the submitted blank samples, but insignificant and not considered material to the results.

Bureau Veritas' analysis for gold using fire assay performed well with all batches falling within the +/-3SD test of the expected value for the given standards (3 OREAS CRM's).

Historically, the amount of sampling and analytical QC data that has been collected has varied over the project's history.

Limited sampling and analytical QC data is available to support drilling programs completed prior to 1992, which represents a relatively minor portion of the dataset.

Between 1992 and 1994, the only meaningful QC data appears to be a comparison of spear and riffle split sampling results. No significant bias was noted between the methods.

Between 1996 and 1998, standard results indicate no significant bias, and blank results suggest no issue with carry-over contamination. Field duplicate results reveal a reasonable amount of scatter, which implies poor sample precision, however no bias was noted. Check (umpire laboratory) assay results also revealed considerable scatter but no significant bias which further attests to the accuracy of the analytical data.

It is understood no QC samples were submitted between 2001 and 2008.

Tunkillia Gold used blanks to monitor carry-over contamination and no significant issues were detected. Field duplicates were used to assess sample precision, while CRMs were used to assess analytical accuracy. Some pulps were also sent to an umpire laboratory as a further check on analytical accuracy.

Field duplicate results provide some confidence sample precision. The scatter which is observed is understandable given the moderate to high nugget effect evident at Tarcoola. The CRMs reasonably demonstrated the accuracy of the laboratory. Pulp repeats were higher than the original results, which did cause some concern however, given the CRM results the Competent Person had reasonable confidence in the accuracy of the primary laboratory.

Tarcoola Gold collected field duplicates to monitor sample precision and submitted one main CRM to monitor analytical accuracy. The field duplicate results give some confidence in sample precision, with the scatter which is observed likely a consequence of the high-nugget nature of the mineralisation. Although only one CRM was used, no bias was noted.

Verification of sampling and assaying

The verification of significant intersections by either independent or alternative company personnel.

The use of twinned holes.

Documentation of primary data, data entry procedures, data verification, data storage (physical and electronic) protocols.

Discuss any adjustment to assay data.

Alternative company personnel have verified significant intersections.

No twinned holes were used in the course of this program.

All data collected in the reported program including collar details, drilling records, sampling records and geological logs are recorded directly into spreadsheets in the field which includes comprehensive interval validation processes.

Gyro downhole surveys and Assay results were provided in digital format.

All relevant historical data was entered into a DataShed database where various validation checks were performed. Data was exported into an Access Database.

No adjustments were made to any assay data in this release.

Location of data points

Accuracy and quality of surveys used to locate drillholes (collar and downhole surveys), trenches, mine workings and other locations used in Mineral Resource estimation.

Specification of the grid system used.

Quality and adequacy of topographic control.

All 2023 RC collars were sited using a Garmin hand-held GPS system, with drill collars picked up using a Leica DGPS system post-drilling (<0.1m accuracy). The RL was generated from the LiDAR survey collected at the completion of drilling.

All Barton RC holes were downhole surveyed using a Reflex EZ-Gyro system which provided measurements at 10m intervals up and down hole.

Collar location and downhole survey methods have varied somewhat over the project's history. Almost all hole collars have been surveyed by GPS, DGPS or total station methods, with checks completed against the topographic DTM.

Downhole survey methods have varied somewhat over the projects history and are summarised below.

Aberfoyle (1979-1985) - Holes not surveyed. Set-up positions were used and are well documented.

BHP (1987-1989) - Holes not surveyed. Set-up positions were used and are well documented.

Grenfell (1991-1997) - A single shot Eastman camera was used, with surveys taken every 30-50m (GP, GL series). Early generation holes completed by Grenfell/Queens Road were not surveyed at the time of the drilling. Grenfell conducted a campaign of Eastman surveys for open historical holes, using Fugro Survey as a contractor.

AngloGold (2001-2002) - A single shot Eastman camera was used, with surveys taken every 30-50m (TCD, TCRC series).

Tunkillia Gold (2012) - A reflex Ezi-shot downhole camera was used, with readings taken every 30m for diamond holes (TADD series) and end-of-hole for RC holes (TARC series). TGL completed validation checks on the downhole surveys including consistency checks on available databases, comparison of digital databases against hard copy records, and against original Eastman camera discs, cross checks on grid to magnetic conversions and visual review.

Tarcoola Gold (2016-2017) - In February 2017, Kinetic

Technologies was engaged to perform a downhole optics survey for a geotechnical review. A total of seven holes were downhole surveyed for deviation using a directional survey probe.

Readings were taken at 10m downhole intervals. Results showed minor lifting in holes deeper than 28m. The majority of grade control holes are drilled to 23m; hence hole deviation is not considered to be significant

All site data is reported in Geocentric Datum of Australia 1994 (GDA94) and Vertical Datum in Australian Height Datum (AHD). The map projection is MGA Zone 53. Historic Survey Data has been converted to GDA94.

In March 2020 Barton gold engaged Aerometrex to collect LiDAR and high-resolution ortho-imagery over the entire Tarcoola Mining Lease. All datasets are levelled to the LiDAR survey.

Data spacing and distribution

Data spacing for reporting of Exploration Results.

Whether the data spacing and distribution is sufficient to establish the degree of geological and grade continuity appropriate for the Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve estimation procedure(s) and classifications applied.

Whether sample compositing has been applied.

The diamond drilling at Perseverance West was designed to provide overlapping vertical coverage to aid with geological interpretation.

The spacing of RC drill holes was determined in accordance with the requirements to provide drill coverage to augment and complement existing drilling coverage within and beneath the open pit. The data spacing is considered appropriate for Mineral Resource estimation.

Sample compositing was not applied.

Orientation of data in relation to geological structure

Whether the orientation of sampling achieves unbiased sampling of possible structures and the extent to which this is known, considering the deposit type.

If the relationship between the drilling orientation and the orientation of key mineralised structures is considered to have introduced a sampling bias, this should be assessed and reported if material.

The siting of RC drill holes and the design dip and azimuth of the RC drill holes was influenced and constrained by available drill positions within the open pit to enable testing of specific target positions. Some drill holes were drilled oblique to the targeted mineralised structure and whilst no sampling bias has been introduced, reporting of estimated true widths has been provided where possible to ensure representative reporting.

Sample security

The measures taken to ensure sample security .

Barton Gold staff oversaw the sampling on the RC drill rig and maintained oversight of sample security whilst onsite during the drilling programs. Split samples were inserted into pre-printed calico bags. These tied bags were, in batches of 5, ziplocked into labelled poly-weave bags which were inserted into ziplocked Bulka-bags. The bulka bags were strapped onto pallets and loaded by a Barton Gold representative on to a semitrailer for transport to the laboratories in Adelaide and Perth. The trailers were not unloaded whilst in transit.

Diamond drill core was either cut on site or transported from the project site to Adelaide and cut by experienced and reputable service providers. The core cutting agents undertook sampling of the drill core and subsequent delivery of samples to the laboratory. Barton Gold staff undertook regular visits during core cutting and sampling processes to verify the integrity of processes being undertaken.

Barton does not have detailed information in regard to sample security measures taken by previous owners of the Tarcoola project. However, Barton understands that these procedures have been in accordance with commonly adopted standard industry practices

Audits or reviews

The results of any audits or reviews of sampling techniques and data

An internal peer review of the exploration data processes has been completed by Barton Gold which has included a detailed review of the assay, survey and QAQC data.

MacArthur carried out a review of sampling techniques and data in 2013.

Mining Plus undertook a comprehensive audit of the historical drilling database in 2020 and have in part rebuilt the database using original assay results and incorporated significant supporting metadata.


Section 2 Reporting of Exploration Results

(Criteria listed in the preceding section also apply to this section.)

Criteria

Commentary

Mineral tenement and land tenure status

Type, reference name/number, location and ownership including agreements or material issues with third parties such as joint ventures, partnerships, overriding royalties, native title interests, historical sites, wilderness or national park and environmental settings.

The security of the tenure held at the time of reporting along with any known impediments to obtaining a licence to operate in the area.

The Tarcoola ML Project area lies within Mineral Lease (ML) 6455. ML6455 covers an area of 725.35 ha and is situated completely within Exploration Licence (EL) 6210 which was owned by Tarcoola 2 Pty Ltd a wholly owned subsidiary of Barton Gold Pty Ltd. The Mining Lease is covered by a registered Native Title determination held by the Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara Aboriginal Corporation (AMYAC). Tarcoola 2 has a deed of agreement with AMYAC and all work programs have been approved by AMYAC. Adjacent to the Perseverance Deposit and the Deliverance/Eclipse Target areas are registered State Heritage Places.

The Tarcoola deposit is currently held under a Mining Lease which is listed as Under Care and Maintenance. There are no known impediments to obtaining future licences.

Exploration done by other parties

Acknowledgment and appraisal of exploration by other parties.

The Tarcoola deposit has been subject to sporadic exploration by numerous parties since alluvial gold was first discovered in 1893. Companies who have undertaken drilling include: Newmex Exploration, BHP, Grenfell Resources, AngloGold, Stellar, Hiltaba Gold, Tunkillia Gold and Tarcoola Gold.

Geology

Deposit type, geological setting and style of mineralisation.

The Tarcoola Project covers a portion of the north-western Gawler Craton centred over the historic Tarcoola goldfield, where Archaean and Proterozoic rocks form the basement to an extensive cover of Phanerozoic sediments. The Archaean basement has been extensively deformed, whereas the Proterozoic rocks have been weakly to moderately deformed.

At Perseverance (current Tarcoola open pit mine), gold mineralisation is hosted within sedimentary rocks of the Tarcoola Formation and granite, both of Proterozoic age. The granite is variably in fault contact with or unconformably overlain by the sediments, which consists of conglomerate, limestone, sandstone, siltstones, and shale. A suite of later intrusions (Lady Jane Diorite) cut both the sedimentary rocks and the granite.

Mafic high level intrusives associated with the 1590 Ma Hiltaba Magmatic Event are considered to control the spatial setting of both gold and base metal mineralisation.

Three deformation events have been recognised in the area. D1 is characterised by open folding and NNW-directed thrusting, responsibly for the southerly dip of the sedimentary package at Perseverance. Steeply dipping NW and NE trending brittle faults developed during D2. These structures host and control the gold mineralisation in the Tarcoola Ridge area. The third deformation event (D3) is represented by the late E-W trending barren quartz veins.

Gold has locally been remobilised and enriched in the weathering profile. The base of complete oxidation occurs typically 10-40m below surface, and the base of partial oxidation occurs at a depth of ~20-60m.

Within the primary zone, sericite-quartz-pyrite alteration zones are spatially associated with the mineralisation and overprint earlier hematite-magnetite alteration. An outer halo of chlorite (+/-leucoxene and pyrite) is developed. Pyrite, galena and sphalerite are the main associated sulphide minerals, with subordinate amounts of chalcopyrite bornite and/or arsenopyrite noted.

Veins can be discrete or form wider stockwork zones and are surrounded by broader quartz-sericite alteration envelopes which can host lower grade background halos of mineralisation. Dispersed supergene mineralisation in the oxide zone can be largely detached from veining.

For more detail see: Budd, A & Skirrow, R, 2007. The Nature and Origin of Gold Deposits of the Tarcoola Goldfield and Implications for the Central Gawler Gold Province, South Australia. Economic Geology, 2007.

Drillhole information

A summary of all information material to the understanding of the exploration results including a tabulation of the following information for all Material drillholes:

  • Easting and northing of the drillhole collar

  • Elevation or RL (Reduced Level - Elevation above sea level in metres) of the drillholecollar

  • Dip and azimuth of the hole

  • Downhole length and interception depth hole length.

  • Hole length

If the exclusion of this information is justified on the basis that the information is not Material and this exclusion does not detract from the understanding of the report, the Competent Person should clearly explain why this is the case.

The drilling results provided in this release relate to an existing mining area with extensive previous drilling. All previous drilling relevant to providing material context to the current estimate have been used.

Historical data presented and referenced in diagrams is provided in Tables 2 and 3

Data aggregation methods

In reporting Exploration Results, weighting averaging techniques, maximum and/or minimum grade truncations (e.g. cutting of high grades) and cut-off grades are usually Material and should be stated.

Where aggregate intercepts incorporate short lengths of high grade results and longer lengths of low grade results, the procedure used for such aggregation should be stated and some typical examples of such aggregations should be shown in detail.

The assumptions used for any reporting of metal equivalent values should be clearly stated.

Reported intersections used the following criteria:

  • Reported intervals have been determined by applying a 0.5g/t Au cut-off (minimum 1gram-metre accumulation, ie the multiple of the interval in metres and the weighted average grade) and allowing for a maximum of two consecutive intervals of dilution.

  • No high-grade cut-offs were applied to the reporting of exploration results

  • Results for quarter-core field duplicates from diamond drilling were averaged across the pair of samples to provide a result consistent with routine half-core sampling.

Four extreme high-grade outliers were quarantined before grade capping analysis, the resulting top cut determined was applied to all samples (including the quarantined samples).

No metal equivalents were calculated

Relationship between mineralisation widths and intercept lengths

These relationships are particularly important in the reporting of Exploration Results.

If the geometry of the mineralisation with respect to the drillhole angle is known, its nature should be reported.

If it is not known and only the down hole lengths are reported, there should be a clear statement to this effect (e.g. "downhole length, true width not known").

Drillholes have been designed to intersect the mineralisation zone as perpendicular as possible, where possible..

Sectional interpretations have been undertaken, snapping to drill holes to ensure the true width is accounted for.

Diagrams

Appropriate maps and sections (with scales) and tabulations of intercepts should be included for any significant discovery being reported These should include, but not be limited to a plan view of drillhole collar locations and appropriate sectional views .

See figures included in the body of this announcement. Relevant commentary relating to diagrams is discussed under the heading of Balanced Reporting.

Balanced reporting

Where comprehensive reporting of all Exploration Results is not practicable, representative reporting of both low and high grades and/or widths should be practiced to avoid misleading reporting of Exploration Results.

Balanced reporting of Exploration Results is presented. The Perseverance Pit has extensive previous drilling and only past results that are materially relevant to the current results have been included with figures included in this release.

Other substantive exploration data

Other exploration data, if meaningful and material, should be reported including (but not limited to): geological observations; geophysical survey results; geochemical survey results; bulk samples - size and method of treatment; metallurgical test results; bulk density, groundwater, geotechnical and rock characteristics; potential deleterious or contaminating substances.

No substantive exploration data not already mentioned in this table has been used in the preparation of this Announcement and the Perseverance Pit was successfully mined by TCG in 2017- 2018.

There are however extensive geological, geophysical, geochemical, geotechnical and metallurgical datasets available for this project area

Further work

The nature and scale of planned further work (e.g. tests for lateral extensions or depth extensions or large-scale step-out drilling).

Diagrams clearly highlighting the areas of possible extensions, including the main geological interpretations and future drilling areas, provided this information is not commercially sensitive.

Barton Gold is planning further work which will be focused on testing for dip extensions and strike extensions and to confirm grade and geological continuity implied by the current model.

Diagrams have been included in the body of this Announcement

Section 3 Estimation and Reporting of Mineral Resources

(Criteria listed in the preceding section also apply to this section.)

Criteria

Commentary

Database integrity

Measures taken to ensure that data has not been corrupted by, for example, transcription or keying errors, between its initial collection and its use for Mineral Resource estimation purposes.

Data validation procedures used.

Mining Associates (MA) has undertaken limited first principal checks using of results and sectional interpretations.

Historical Independent Technical Reports accept the integrity of the database, Current Barton staff manage the database and have access to previous tenement holders databases.

The geological database has been managed by different tenement holders over the years. The database is currently managed by the Barton Gold using MS Access. Preceding historic data was obtained from open file reports and cross validated against electronic archives.

Basic database validation checks were run, including collar locations, drill holes plot on topography, checks for missing intervals, overlapping intervals and hole depth mismatches.

Site visits

Comment on any site visits undertaken by the Competent Person and the outcome of those visits.

If no site visits have been undertaken indicate why this is the case.

The Competent Person (CP, Mr I.Taylor) visited site on the 4th November 2022 during the 2022 Tunkillia drill program to review the geology, pit exposures.

Data collection and discussions with the Barton geologists were undertaken in the head office between the 27 th and 31 st of May 2024 in preparation of this mineral resource estimate, the primary focus of the visit was to gain a greater understanding of the geological setting and appreciation of Barton's Gold Procedures.

Geological interpretation

Confidence in (or conversely, the uncertainty of) the geological interpretation of the mineral deposit.

Nature of the data used and of any assumptions made.

The effect, if any, of alternative interpretations on Mineral Resource estimation.

The use of geology in guiding and controlling Mineral Resource estimation.

The factors affecting continuity both of grade and geology.

Confidence in the geological interpretation is considered moderate to high, dependent on the differing drill hole spacing in parts of the deposit.

Interpretations are based pit exposures and drill hole data. 97% of drill metres are RC (includes RC grade control), which limits the available information on structures, the limited diamond data is supplemented by Pit Mapping. Diamond holes are strategically placed for maximum structural understanding.

Drill core and RC chip logging has been used to define the main geological units and weathering profile boundaries.

Observations from diamond drill core and pit mapping indicate that mineralised veins generally overprint but can be concordant with the Perseverance fault. The main mineralisation is strikes oblique to the Perseverance fault.

Alternative interpretations of mineralised domain boundaries affect tonnage and grade, although the CP is confident that the current model is the best representation of the deposit based on available data.

Eleven fresh rock mineralised structures were interpreted, based on continuity of grade at a lower cut-off of 0.8 g/t Au at the Perseverance Deposit.

Lodes were grouped into geostatistical domains based on grade similarities and structural orientation. Perseverance fault strikes north-south and dips steeply west, the Granite Vein strikes NNE and dips steeply west.

Two identified syn -mineralisation mafic dykes (Lady Jane) intersect the mineralisation, the resulting volumes were not depleted from the estimated mineralisation.

Minor cross faulting does exist at the project, the offsets are considered too small to be significant at a resource scale The two larger cross cutting faults, Southern Fault and White Hope Fault are significant at a resource scale and are modelled as breaks in the mineralisation.

Additional work is required to determine the nature of the structural controls on mineralised domain boundaries.

Dimensions

The extent and variability of the Mineral Resource expressed as length (along strike or otherwise), plan width, and depth below surface to the upper and lower limits of the Mineral Resource.

The Perseverance 223 deposit (and Last Resource) is defined with approximately 500 m strike and is between three and ten metres wide. The depth of the deposit had been defined beyond 125 m below the surface. The reported resource has been reported to approximately 125 m below the surface, equal to 60 m below the pit floor.

The dominant Mineralisation strikes NNW (UTM) and dips steeply to the NW ~80°.

Estimation and modelling techniques

In the case of block model interpolation, the block size in relation to the average sample spacing and the search employed.

Any assumptions behind modelling of selective mining units.

Any assumptions about correlation between variables.

Description of how the geological interpretation was used to control the resource estimates.

Discussion of basis for using or not using grade cutting or capping.

The process of validation, the checking process used, the comparison of model data to drill hole data, and use of reconciliation data if available.

The deposit is drilled on 40 m sections with drill centres commonly spaced 20 m sections resulting in down dip pierce points are commonly 20 m. RC Grade Control drilling was undertaken during the open pit mining phase, grade control drill spacing is variable between 5 and 10 m centres. The grade control holes protrude the floor of the pit approximately 60 kt @ 2.8 g/t of the resource has been grade control drilled.

MA chose a parent block size of 10 x 20 x 5 m to add detail in the commonly tighter drilled areas and the likely finial mining scenario, (open pit benches). The sub blocking was chosen to reflect a likely SMU of and open pit operation, (0.625 x 2.5 x 1.25 m (XYZ))

Search ellipses were based on variogram ranges and were optimised to 60 m in the long axis.

A two-pass estimation process was employed, the first pass (60 m search) required a minimum of either 4 or 8 samples and a maximum of between 8 and 12 composites depending on the size of the domain, the second pass (120 m search) reduced the minimum composites required by ½ and the maximum of composites required by 4 / 5 th .

The deposit is best suited to open pit mining methods, the sub block size chosen (0.625, 2.5, 1.25 m (XYZ) was chosen to reflect a reasonable smallest mining unit assuming 5 m blasts and 2.5 flitches. The smallest mining unit and common sample lengths were considered when selecting an appropriate composite length.

Limited silver assays are available and not correlations can be drawn, silver mineralisation is too low a grade to be economically significant.

The geological model included weathering profiles, and rock units. The base of weathering is considered a soft boundary during estimation, limited tonnes remain within the weathered zone.

One metre composite assays were reviewed, extreme outliers were checked against primary assay results (scanned hard copies or laboratory import files) and in relation to the remainder of the domain.

Global drill hole and sample means were compared. Localised Swath plots were checked, both at the deposit scale and domains scale.

Grade tonnage curves from a Nearest neighbour and ID2 estimate were compared to the OK grade tonnage curve.

Reconciliation is not possible, only the dominant mineralised structures were extended up into the pit, areas completely mined out were not modelled.

Moisture

Whether the tonnages are estimated on a dry basis or with natural moisture, and the method of determination of the moisture.

Tonnages are based on dry tonnes. Dry bulk density has been assigned to the host rocks.

Cut-off parameters

The basis of the adopted cut-off grade(s) or quality parameters applied.

The resource is reported above a 0.5 g/t Au lower cut-off. Considering likely open pit mining, conventional heap leach or CIL processing and administration costs a head grade of 0.50 g/t is assumed profitable.

Key Assumptions:

• Open pit mining method

• 1.25m minimum mining width (2 x sub block width),

• 5:1 strip ratio

• Mining and Processing cost of AUD$30.86/tonne for mineralised material.

• Gold price AUD 3,000/oz

• 95% Metallurgical recovery

• 5.0% Dilution

• 6.0% Royalty

• These assumptions are in line with costs used by Barton Gold for the Tunkillia Project Scoping Study, being undertaken in parallel with this resource estimation work and applying similar parameters.

Mining factors or assumptions

Assumptions made regarding possible mining methods, minimum mining dimensions and internal (or, if applicable, external) mining dilution. It is always necessary as part of the process of determining reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction to consider potential mining methods, but the assumptions made regarding mining methods and parameters when estimating Mineral Resources may not always be rigorous. Where this is the case, this should be reported with an explanation of the basis of the mining assumptions made.

No mining factors or assumptions have been applied to the resource.

MA considers the Tarcoola project amenable to open pit mining methods and assumes the likely mining scenario will have 5 m benches and 2.5 m flitches. These assumptions have influenced, composite length, block size and resource cut off parameters.

Metallurgical factors or assumptions

The basis for assumptions or predictions regarding metallurgical amenability. It is always necessary as part of the process of determining reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction to consider potential metallurgical methods, but the assumptions regarding metallurgical treatment processes and parameters made when reporting Mineral Resources may not always be rigorous. Where this is the case, this should be reported with an explanation of the basis of the metallurgical assumptions made.

No metallurgical factors have been applied to the in-situ grade estimates.

Metallurgical Recovery is assumed, and a 95% gold recovery is used in the reasonable prospects of economic extraction analysis, no account of silver recovery is considered.

The Perseverance Deposit has previously been processed at the Challenger CIL plant between 2017 and 2018. Metallurgical work (1988, 1998 and 2013) shows good recoveries of between 95 and 98% on P80 75µ oxidised and fresh material.

Environmental factors or assumptions

Assumptions made regarding possible waste and process residue disposal options. It is always necessary as part of the process of determining reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction to consider the potential environmental impacts of the mining and processing operation. While at this stage the determination of potential environmental impacts, particularly for a greenfields project, may not always be well advanced, the status of early consideration of these potential environmental impacts should be reported. Where these aspects have not been considered this should be reported with an explanation of the environmental assumptions made.

The Tarcoola Project has been the subject of past historic mining and mineral processing activities on site. Environmental baseline mapping has not identified any matters that are likely to preclude the future development of a mining operation that requires the on-site management of wastes and process residues (waste rock and process tailings). The consideration of a conventional open-cut mining and CIP gold processing operation, including associated ancillary activities and stand-alone infrastructure, fits within the scope of the South Australian government's approval frameworks and processes for a project such as the Tarcoola Project.

Audits or reviews

The results of any audits or reviews of Mineral Resource estimates.

There has been no independent audit of the data or mineral resource.

Discussion of relative accuracy/confidence

Where appropriate a statement of the relative accuracy and confidence level in the Mineral Resource estimate using an approach or procedure deemed appropriate by the Competent Person. For example, the application of statistical or geostatistical procedures to quantify the relative accuracy of the resource within stated confidence limits, or, if such an approach is not deemed appropriate, a qualitative discussion of the factors that could affect the relative accuracy and confidence of the estimate.

The statement should specify whether it relates to global or local estimates, and, if local, state the relevant tonnages, which should be relevant to technical and economic evaluation. Documentation should include assumptions made and the procedures used.

These statements of relative accuracy and confidence of the estimate should be compared with production data, where available.

No geostatistical confidence limits have been estimated. The relative accuracy and confidence in the Mineral Resource Estimate is reflected in the Resource Categories.

The ordinary kriging result, due to the high level of smoothing, should only be regarded as a global estimate, and is suitable as a life of mine planning tool. High grade domains were used to restrict the high grade material.

Inferred Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than that applying to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to an Ore Reserve.

Should local estimates be required for detailed mine scheduling techniques such as Uniform conditioning or conditional simulation should be considered, ultimately grade control drilling is required.

Comparison with the previous estimates indicates that the changes implemented in the current Mineral Resource Estimate produced results that are in line with expectations.

The Perseverance Deposit was open pit mined between 2017 and 2018.


Table 2: Drillhole Collar Details for Historical Drill Holes Mentioned in this Announcement

Hole ID

Easting

Northing

RL

DIP

TAZ

Total Depth (EOH)

Type*

Completion

Target

GP002D

454598

6602465

156

-61

093

375

DD

5/03/1996

Perseverance West

GP003D

454673

6602584

149

-60

066

423

DD

13/03/1996

Perseverance West

GP004R

454815

6602733

165

-60

090

107

RC

4/11/1996

Perseverance South

GP005D

454793

6602749

164

-58

065

279

DD

15/04/1996

Perseverance South

GP005R

454664

6602561

164

-70

091

174.5

RC

7/11/1996

Perseverance South

GP022RD

454621

6602563

163

-70

091

261

RCD

17/12/1996

Perseverance West

GP031RD

454580

6602527

160

-59

119

301.8

RCD

28/02/1997

Perseverance West

GP032RD

454785

6602787

163

-63

111

313

RCD

8/03/1997

Perseverance South

GP053R

454610

6602448

154

-60

093

96

RC

14/04/1997

Perseverance West

GP054R

454781

6602673

160

-61

091

120

RC

15/04/1997

Perseverance West

GP057R

454790

6602702

163

-60

092

102

RC

17/04/1997

Perseverance South

GP069R

454689

6602523

148

-60

268

120

RC

21/03/1997

Perseverance West

GP098RD

454768

6602540

163

-60

270

220

RCD

9/09/1997

Perseverance South

GP100RD

454904

6602741

164

-60

270

216.4

RCD

3/09/1997

Perseverance South

PWR003

454601

6602421

140

-60

331

120

RC

6/04/1993

Perseverance West

PWR006

454602

6602421

140

-90

000

75.5

RC

9/04/1993

Perseverance West

PWR009

454606

6602415

140

-59

329

50

RC

23/06/1993

Perseverance West

PWR012

454618

6602427

141

-61

241

60

RC

7/07/1993

Perseverance West

PWR022

454609

6602422

140

-62

248

40

RC

11/10/1993

Perseverance West

QR120

454860

6602730

164

-90

000

80

RC

13/06/1993

Perseverance South

QR121

454838

6602777

165

-90

000

84

RC

14/06/1993

Perseverance South

QR146AD

454882

6602739

164

-61

237

207.1

RCD

25/10/2012

Perseverance South

QR166

454861

6602720

163

-59

235

93

RC

26/08/1993

Perseverance South

QR186

454824

6602705

162

-59

058

100

RC

28/08/1993

Perseverance South

QR251D

454919

6602755

164

-60

248

260.8

RCD

12/10/2012

Perseverance South

TBM0017

454757

6602702

162

-55

135

174

RC

2/08/2020

Perseverance West

TBM0019

454739

6602658

158

-55

136

138

RC

3/08/2020

Perseverance West

TBM0020

454712

6602686

158

-55

135

186

RC

4/08/2020

Perseverance West

TBM0021

454684

6602716

158

-55

137

234

RC

4/08/2020

Perseverance West

TBM0023

454692

6602652

155

-60

132

198

RC

6/08/2020

Perseverance West

TBM0026

454674

6602615

151

-60

135

198

RC

9/08/2020

Perseverance West

TBM0029

454860

6602624

148

-60

317

250

RC

26/07/2021

Perseverance South

TBM0030

454877

6602607

147

-60

314

270

RC

25/07/2021

Perseverance South

TBM0031

454855

6602575

151

-60

317

318

RC

25/07/2021

Perseverance South

TBM0032

454876

6602556

152

-60

315

312

RC

24/07/2021

Perseverance South

TBM0034

454832

6602535

152

-60

315

336

RC

19/07/2021

Perseverance South

TBM0037

454748

6602837

156

-60

130

300

RC

19/08/2020

Perseverance Shear

TBM0095D

454653

6602666

154

-60

110

291.6

DD

17/09/2023

Perseverance West

TC046

454496

6602286

144

-60

261

52

RC

14/10/1987

Perseverance West

TCRC047

454525

6602277

143

-60

310

199

RC

5/10/2002

Perseverance West

TGC1256

454831

6602777

100

-90

315

38

RC

1/06/2018

Perseverance Shear

TGC1258

454838

6602773

100

-60

000

12

RC

1/06/2018

Perseverance Shear

TGC1260

454843

6602773

100

-60

000

12

RC

1/06/2018

Perseverance Shear

*RC=Reverse Circulation, DD=Diamond Core, RCD=RC precollar with Diamond Core tail.

Table 3: Significant Intersections for Historical Drilling Mentioned in this Announcement 1,2,3

Hole ID

From

To

Metres 1

Au (g/t)

Comments &/or including

GP002D

140

141

1

11.4

GP002D

197

203

6

11.7

GP002D

278

279

1

1.72

GP003D

108

109

1

40.1

GP003D

137

139

2

0.63

GP003D

199

200

1

34.7

GP003D

216

217

1

5.34

GP004R

48

49

1

0.89

GP005D

92

93

1

2.59

GP005D

101

102

1

1.31

GP005R

136

137

1

0.58

GP022RD

112

113

1

0.56

GP031RD

112

113

1

0.74

GP031RD

152

154

2

1.29

GP032RD

162

164

2

0.89

GP053R

80

81

1

0.55

GP053R

92

93

1

1.34

GP054R

48

49

1

0.6

GP054R

54

55

1

0.62

GP054R

66

67

1

1.73

GP057R

52

53

1

0.79

GP057R

76

77

1

8.15

GP069R

88

89

1

1.45

GP098RD

94

98

4

2.47

GP098RD

105

107

2

0.65

GP098RD

112

116

4

1.77

GP098RD

121

125

4

0.75

GP098RD

129

133

4

1.74

GP098RD

143

145

2

12.45

GP100RD

117

118

1

0.51

GP100RD

127

128

1

1.04

GP100RD

137

143

6

1.94

GP100RD

149

152

3

1.15

PWR003

19

25

6

1.76

PWR006

8

9

1

0.8

PWR009

20

21

1

0.82

PWR012

29

30

1

1.8

PWR012

38

41

3

5.66

PWR022

34

35

1

1.14

QR120

59

71

12

3.1

QR121

72

74

2

41.5

QR146AD

88

89

1

1.22

QR146AD

92

95

3

2.58

QR146AD

101

106

5

0.54

QR146AD

110

111

1

3.269

QR166

82

88

6

0.92

QR186

51

52

1

1.68

QR186

55

62

7

1.58

QR251D

231.7

234

2.3

1.586

TBM0017

59

61

2

2.85

TBM0017

115

117

2

0.83

TBM0017

123

125

2

4.04

TBM0019

94

95

1

2.62

TBM0019

118

121

3

3.39

TBM0020

108

112

4

0.85

TBM0020

129

138

9

1.29

TBM0021

220

223

3

77.22

TBM0023

112

113

1

1.28

TBM0026

165

167

2

10.57

TBM0029

184

185

1

1.411

TBM0030

229

230

1

5.918

TBM0031

216

221

5

1.083

TBM0031

225

227

2

0.652

TBM0032

239

240

1

4.8

TBM0032

245

250

5

1.366

TBM0034

226

233

7

0.59

TBM0034

239

248

9

8.82

TBM0037

227

228

1

2.72

TBM0037

241

242

1

3.45

TBM0095D

213

214

1

1.87

TBM0095D

232

236

4

0.56

TBM0095D

241

246

5

1.26

TC046

24

26

2

0.9

TC046

32

33

1

2.3

TCRC047

31

32

1

1.47

TGC1256

18

25

7

2.62

TGC1258

11

12

1

12.27

TGC1260

5

15

10

1.04

1 Note - Not true widths.

2 Note - Calculated applying a 0.5g/t Au cut-off and allowing up to 2m internal dilution.

3 Note - presented intersections are spatially located within a +/-30m window of the modelled position of the Deliverance target .


[1] Refer to Prospectus dated 14 May 2021

[2] Refer to ASX announcement dated 4 March 2024

[3] Refer to ASX announcements dated 22 April and 30 May 2024

[4] Refer to ASX announcement dated 30 May 2024

[5] Refer to Prospectus dated 14 May 2021

[6] Refer to ASX announcements dated 28 November 2023, and 22 April and 30 May 2024

[7] Refer to ASX announcement dated 14 May 2024

[8] Refer to ASX announcement dated 20 June 2024

[9] Refer to ASX announcement dated 28 November 2023

* Refer to Barton Prospectus dated 14 May 2021 and ASX announcement of today's date. Total Barton attributable JORC (2012) Mineral Resources include 833koz Au (26.9Mt @ 0.96 g/t Au) in Indicated and 754koz Au (25.4Mt @ 0.92 g/t Au) in Inferred categories.

SOURCE: Barton Gold Holdings Limited



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