Empire Resources Reports Encouraging Drilling and Raises $4.8M for WA Projects

Yuinmery Drilling Highlights New Copper-Gold Zones

Empire Resources Limited (ASX:ERL) has reported encouraging preliminary results from its January 2026 air core drilling program at the Yuinmery Project, located roughly 470km northeast of Perth. The 45-hole, 1,631m campaign targeted multiple prospects including YT19, Smiths Well, and Microbe Well, returning anomalous copper and gold mineralisation near surface. Notably, hole YAC26-07 at YT19 intersected 8m grading 139ppb Au and 1,853ppm Cu from 12m depth, signalling potential extensions to known mineralisation.

Smiths Well, a long-standing copper-nickel prospect within Yuinmery, also delivered significant gold intercepts from shallow quartz veining, with assays such as 8m at 671ppb Au from 28m in YAC26-17 and multiple other hits between 100-400ppb Au. These results align with previous findings of massive sulphides and quartz veining, suggesting a complex mineralised system. The program extended mineralised strike lengths at YT12 and confirmed anomalous gold at Microbe Well, adding further targets for follow-up.

Empire plans a reverse circulation drilling program at Yuinmery in the June quarter to test these new zones more deeply, building on this preliminary data. The company’s ongoing metallurgical test work on oxide-transitional ore from the Just Desserts deposit continues, aiming to define processing characteristics for this material.

Pennys Gold Project RC Drilling Reveals Oxide Gold Mineralisation

At the Pennys Gold Project near Kalgoorlie, Empire completed an 8-hole, 904m reverse circulation drilling program in November 2025, targeting prospects PF09, PF07, and PF04. The drilling confirmed oxide gold mineralisation consistent with the style seen at the adjacent Penny’s Find Gold Mine, which holds a 429,000t resource at 4.57g/t Au.

Significant intercepts included 8m at 0.30g/t Au from 48m and 1m at 1.81g/t Au from 90m in PRC25-02 at PF09, alongside other multi-meter zones of 0.3-1.1g/t Au. These oxide zones, often flat lying and supergene in nature, offer potential for near-surface gold extraction. Results from PF07 were weakly anomalous, while PF04 showed quartz-sulphide veining with 4m at 0.20g/t Au from 64m, indicating sulphide-associated mineralisation similar to the nearby mine.

Capital Raise Strengthens Exploration Funding

Empire successfully completed a two-tranche placement during the quarter, raising approximately $4.826 million before costs at $0.008 per share. The first tranche issued 363 million shares raising about $2.9 million under existing ASX capacity, while the second tranche, approved at the March 2026 extraordinary general meeting, issued 239.75 million shares raising nearly $1.9 million, including a substantial allocation to Non-Executive Chairman Dr Michael Ruane.

This capital injection bolsters Empire’s working capital and funds planned exploration at Yuinmery and Pennys Gold. The company ended the quarter with approximately $4.4 million cash on hand and loan facilities totaling $1.25 million provided by Dr Ruane on arm’s length terms, with interest payable quarterly. Expenditure on exploration and evaluation during the quarter was around $108,000.

These funding efforts build on earlier capital raises, including the recent 1 million share placement and the near $2 million tranche 2 raise following shareholder approval, underscoring shareholder support for Empire’s growth strategy in Western Australia.

Royalties and Tenement Strategy Provide Additional Upside

Empire retains a 5% royalty on gold recovered up to 50,000oz and 2.5% thereafter from the Penny’s Find Gold Mine, now owned by Maritana Minerals (formerly Horizon Minerals). The nearby Black Swan nickel treatment facility conversion to gold processing by the merged HRZ/Poseidon entity could enhance the economics of ore from Penny’s Find, potentially benefiting Empire’s royalty stream.

The company also maintains a 1% gross revenue royalty on tenement E51/1995 owned by Great Boulder Resources near their Side Well Gold Project, and a 1% net smelter royalty on tenement E57/1202 held by Diversity Resources as part of the Youanmi Lithium Project. Empire’s strategic tenement applications at Acra South and Kalpini South represent rare greenfield exploration opportunities in the Eastern Goldfields, with competing applications having dropped away.