Empire Metals (LSE:EEE) — Investor Presentation

0:01 Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the EMPIRE METALS LIMITED Investor Presentation. Throughout this presentation, investors will in listen only mode. Questions are encouraged and could be submitted at any time via the Q and A tab situated in the right hand corner of your screen. Simply click on Q and A, type in your question and press send. Company may not be in a position to answer every question received during the meeting itself. However, the company review all questions submitted today, publish responses where it's appropriate to do so. These will be available via your investment company dashboard, and we'll notify you once they're ready for your review. I'd also like to remind you

0:32 this presentation is being recorded. Before we begin, we would like to submit a poll, and this will appear on your screen momentarily. I would now like to hand you over to Mike Struthers, Non Executive Director Sean Bunn, managing director and Greg Kinzel, finance director of EMPIRE METALS LIMITED. Good morning. Good morning, Paul. Thanks, and morning, everybody. I'll kick off the proceedings here. So welcome to EMPIRE METALS presentation. For those of you who are new to the story, just a little bit of background on the company first. EMPIRE METALS formally was Georgian Mining Corporation. That company was formed back in 2015 on the basis of a joint venture in Georgia with a with a local explorer with a large land package over there. It was about just over 1% of the country.

1:28 And it was a very prospective copper gold region. But cut a long story short, you know, it was a we had a challenging period over there. We had a lot of interference in the company's sort of plans and exploration permits and what have you. So, finally, we we divested out of out of Georgia. You might have seen a recent announcement where we we sold our interest there in the joint venture with Drew. And back in August 2020, we picked up the first of our series of projects in Australia, which we'll be talking to to now. And so we've changed the focus of the company, really, from from Georgia into new jurisdictions and and, of course, mining friendly Australia. So a very good address for us. So what we're gonna do is is talk about those assets and the company's plans going forwards.

2:19 And if I can click the slides, the usual disclaimer, please read. Okay. So an overview then. EMPIRE METALS. We're an aim listed exploration resource development company. The LSA ticker is triple e. Really, the strategy is develop a series of of a pipeline of projects at different stages in development. We are exploration and resource development focused. We have the capacity, as we'll see when we talk about the team, to take things through to production. The current focus is the the high grade Eclipse Gold project. This is about 55 kilometers northeast of Kalgoorlie, the famous mining town in Australia Western Australia.

3:05 And the Eclipse project's got the potential for some short term open pit production, which we're which we're working on at the moment. I'll be saying a bit more about that later. We've also got the option, which we announced recently, to acquire a 75% stake in a project called Central Menzies, another excellent address. And this is the second project in, you know, a strategy of ours to really build a a significant presence in the Western Australian or the broader Australian gold mining sector. I'll be talking now to to the management team. You can see here we've essentially a a very experienced team. Everybody says that, but, of course, we believe it's we believe we have a particularly good team.

3:52 Neil Neil O'Brien is the executive chairman of the company. He's ex Lundin Mining. He had a a long career with Lundin. He's had a very successful career in exploration and new project, new business development. He's on a poor number of boards of both private and public companies. Sean well, we're very pleased that Sean's just recently joined us as MD. Sean came over to us from Hummingbird, London company, as their SVP projects. And Hummingbird had a have a number of gold projects in in West Africa. Before that, Sean works in a variety of commodities and and jurisdictions. But actually joining us is something of a homecoming because Sean's now Perth based and and gone back to his roots because he came out of Kalgoorlie School of Mines and worked in the the Western Australian Goldfields in the early stages of career. So he's happy to have to have come home again.

4:54 And myself, I'm also excellent in mining, but I had a very technical career initially in operations, Africa and Australia, and then moved into consulting and a lot of work on studies and capital projects, the likes of that. Greg and Peter both have have strong financial and corporate backgrounds in the mining sector, both either on boards or involved in supporting companies on LSE, AIM, TSX, TSXV, etcetera. So a very a very that's a very credible team. The only thing I would point out on this this standard sort of capital structure slide really is the, you know, the in terms of share price, companies in a a much better position now than we were twelve months ago. And we've got a really good foundation now for for building off these these interests that we have in in Western Australia. So looking forward to seeing that share price graphic go in the right direction.

5:56 So I wanna I'm gonna now talk about the Eclipse Gold project in Australia.

6:04 In terms of the address, it's a great address. We're within within shot of, let's say, about 55 k or so north of Kalgoorlie, But the the surrounding region has got some very famous gold operations such as Canalabelle, Paddington, Kundana, Golden Mile, etcetera. So a very good address. We we acquired we acquired the Eclipse project, as I mentioned, back in August 2020. It's a high grade mining license. We've got an option to acquire the additional 25% at the at the timing of our choosing. So, look, a very good address. The Western Australian industry has been has been buzzing in the last twelve to eighteen months or so.

6:57 And it's also been operating in something of a COVID bubble. So although the the borders the interstate borders in Australia have been closed, Western Australia itself has been very active, and the mining industry there is literally, as I say, buzzing. It presents some challenges for us in securing drill rigs and geologists and the like, but we've been actually successful in doing so. And and so, yeah, operations are are running with, you know, with COVID restrictions, but they're running fairly normally. And we've been able to run our activities on the ground there also without much interference or or delay. Those things are under our control, I should say. Because, you know, one of the challenges we face is is assays and and and the like, but we'll come to that.

7:47 So, yeah, high grade mining license. It's been held by a local prospector, Lamelle Dela Costa, for for something like thirty years. It did originally produce back in the early nineteen hundreds, something about a thousand tons, about 25 grams per ton gold. So high grade. There are it is nuggetty, and I'll as I'll come to, but you can see an example there of some of the nuggets that were found within the license area. We've we've with our work has demonstrated that the the mineralized system at Eclipse is actually different to what it was thought of previously. It isn't just a single vein, as I'll show you in a moment. It's actually a complex system of veins, so sub parallel veins, which contain the gold mineralization.

8:39 The vein widths vary from sort of one to two meters or so, but some intersections have been significantly wider. The region is it's a good address again from a from a treatment point of view. It's likely that the Eclipse project is not going to be large enough to, you know, to justify a standalone processing facility. But as is common practice in in that part of Australia, you know, we have toll treatment options available to us in the region. And, you know, we've we've started considering some of those. There is also an opportunity to in terms of permitting for a project like ECLIPSE, which is gonna be, you know, it's going to be relatively small scale if it if it is indeed does indeed become a pit.

9:27 There's a small scale mining permit scenario available under the Western Australian regulations, you still have to do certain qualifying studies, but it does shorten the time frame within which you you can open an operation. So, you know, we we're doing the appropriate studies there in in the lead up to, you know, in parallel with our technical studies on the on the viability of a of a pit operation at at Eclipse. During our initial work programs, we also did some quite detailed geophysics over the footprint as a whole. And there are a couple of other targets further along to the along strike to the Northwest called Houdini and EEEEEE prospects, which we've done a little work on, but but they still remain to be to be tested fully.

10:18 So this is an illustration on the right there of the the vein systems around the old Eclipse shaft. You can see that in the close to the center of the view. So our work is, as I said, is shown that the rather than being a single vein, the Eclipse vein, this system is actually a series of parallel, sub parallel veins, which come together around the eclipse shaft and presumably then will separate again further along strike. And you can see over on the left side there what an area which has also got some old workings called Jack's Dream. Now Jack's Dream, the intersection there is it it showed us that we had a a quite a different style of mineralization.

11:05 Around the Eclipse vein of this Eclipse shaft, we have, as I said, a single more or less a single vein and gold mineralization within parts of that vein. What we see at Jack's Stream, though, is is what we call stock works file mineralization. So a cluster of very closely spaced small veins, but with some you know, all of them carrying some gold tenors. So we ended up with an intersection there and one drill hole of 24 meters at 1.4 grams. That included, I think, 11 meters is about 2.3. So a very interesting intersection on that side. And our our recent work program, what we've called our phase three work program, has included a lot of drilling around that area and also testing the connection between the Eclipse shaft area and Jack's dream.

11:58 So it'll be very interesting to see what we get for that. We are we are waiting on the assays for that drilling program.

12:07 So that'll be very interesting. And that you know, it'd be interesting to see the the scale of what we might have at Junkstream and whether or not that connects to Eclipse Shaft. And if it does, what are the implications for a any potential pit operation? And you can see the last bullet there. We've done just over eight and a half thousand meters of drilling so far in just over a 100 holes. So a fair bit of work done already and and more to come. This the table on the left there just illustrates some of the some of the better intercepts that we've had in that drilling program. This is all cut at about five five grams a ton. And you can see the grade. There's some spectacular grades in there.

12:55 They vary a lot, and that's an illustration of what we call the nugget effect. So, fundamentally, there are gold nuggets present within the veins, and it's a matter of of luck and and sampling density as to whether you hit a hit a nugget in in one of those drill holes.

13:13 We also don't really see a as as is common with these types of deposits, we don't see a trend of grade with depth. In fact, the old the old timers mined stopes at a clip shaft right up at surface, and they were chasing, you know, high grades. But you can see that the the work we've done so far has extended down to about a 130 meters. And on the illustration there, you can see it's open in a number of directions. We're focused at the moment on the upper levels, but, you know, there is scope at depth. And you also can see on the on the left there that same intercept over at at the Jack Stream Old Workings, which we're, as I said, we're we're waiting on further assays for that area.

14:02 The the work program that we've been following, as I said, we call it phase three. We we issued a press release on a a non compliant resource, an initial sort of maiden resource for that area around around the Eclipse Shaft, 92,000 tons at 2.2 grams. That was limited to the Eclipse Shaft area where we've done most of the historical most of our historical work. In order to make that compliant and in order for us to be able to advance our, you know, our understanding of the of the Eclipse Shaft area and the potential for an open pit. There are a number of other things that we're doing. We've done some geotechnical logging of diamond drill holes to give us some slope design criteria.

14:51 We've got a a suite of metallurgical test work under underway. We're waiting on the results for for both of those, and they will feed into, as I say, a compliant resource, but but it also importantly, open pit notes. We've done aerial topo. That's completed. We've done some baseline studies for environmental work as well. This is also completed. So, really, where we stand at the moment with with the Eclipse is waiting on the assay result for for all the drilling we did in the last phase, but particularly over by in the area of Jack's dream. And the receiving reports on on these various things, particularly the MET test, I think, which will, you know, allow us to understand recoveries. Initial indications that we've got from that are are very positive, but, you know, we need to see the final complete set of information once we receive the report.

15:47 So that's essentially our our situation with Eclipse. One of the interesting features that we've we've found in our work is that the sum the the distribution of mineralization in the upper levels in in what is the oxidized zone at Eclipse is is variable. The the historical miners, as I said, mined high grade stopes right up to surface. And also but also in some of our work, we see we see areas of the in the in the oxidized zone where the gold seems to have been remobilized down at you know, back down to depth. So we're currently studying that. It has an effect on on open pit scenarios. So we're we're looking at at that further.

16:33 And looking forwards to getting the assay results from from this recent phase of drilling. So, yeah, news flow coming. We'll we'll obviously, once we receive those results, we'll we'll publish the results and and be able to take our take our next steps for you know, towards the assessment of an open pit potential. So news flow from Eclipse follows. And I think on that note, I pass over to Sean. Sean's gonna talk to the central Menzies project. Yes. Thanks, Mike, and and good morning. The the focus here on Central Menzies, you know, Mike talked briefly about the, the importance of having the good location, a good real estate. So Menzies to us is the next

17:27 obvious target to get an exploration program on good ground. It's different geology, a host geology to what we see at Eclipse. Menzies the gold fields around Menzies sit on what is the traditional greenstone granite belt that that extends right through the gold fields and to the North and further to the South as as you as you look at the as the map of WA. So what we're interested in here is the what they call the Menzies Shear. It is a fault line that's running down through the town of Menzies. Menzies is an old mining town as many of these towns sprung up, you know, a couple of hundred years ago as the prospectus moved through these regions. So it's not a great surprise to find townships on the middle of a gold mining area.

18:28 There's been over a million ounces of gold identified along the strike, the 10 or 15 case to the north of us. And we think this is another area that has been underexplored. It's similar to the deal that we've done with the Eclipse. The same prospect Mel Della Costa will we've negotiated. We'll talk a little bit more about the structure of that deal further in the presentation. The other interesting thing here is that some of our peers in the exploring junior explorer field, King West has recently announced a resource, jaw compliant resources that contain over 300,000 ounces.

19:22 Their licenses envelope the Central Menzies project tenements that we've picked up. And there's also been recent news flow coming from a company called Energy and Resources that have been announcing the potential to develop small scale mining slightly to the East Northeast of us. So we're very excited by this particular acquisition. One of the other highlights I think point out here is that of the 1,100,000 ounces that have been pulled from this region, 640,000 ounces came out at a grade of 22.5 grams a tonne. So this is not a small high grade deposit with a large halo effect of lower grade.

20:18 This is a genuine high grade vein system that we think should extend down through the shear and we certainly expect to find an extension on our property.

20:35 To further support that logic, we could run through some of the highlights that we've put out recently. The area that we're talking about is directly along the Goldfields Highway. It's 110 or so kilometers North Kalgoorlie and very close again to toll treatment plants that we can access both in this occasion down south to Kalgoorlie but we could also toll treat to the north. There's a couple of plants that are operating up there that will take toll treatment. So we've got multiple options here at Menzies. As I mentioned, the tenements straddle the Menzies Shear and this sits within this classic granite green stone belt that extends for hundreds and hundreds of kilometers up and down the western side of this, what we call the Eastern Goldfields but it's basically main structure that runs up and down that side of WA.

21:45 We've recently put out an announcement where we showed some drilling, we'll get to that but there's also been surface exploration on the tenements. The one immediately to the west of where we've got old workings has yielded 20 ounces in near surface clearing and prospecting. So we're very excited by the quality and the prospectivity of this region. We announced today some historical drilling that we, the owner of the tenement had completed over his tenure there and some of the best intercepts are reported here.

22:39 We've got for highlights, five meters at just under 20 grams per tonne within 30 meters of surface. There's other intercepts encouraging three meters at five, two meters at 5.5. So this is quite a different, as I said, type of target for us than we see at ECLIPSE. The vein system here

23:09 looks to be slightly more substantial and certainly we're getting very good grade intercepts near surface so this could could give us a near term cash flow option as we move forward with our with our exploration program. I'll just move on to the next comments. So what we're doing here at the Menzies is effectively a repeat of the process that we applied at ECLIPSE.

23:47 So we're currently building a database built around the historical workings. There's been a lot of reports that we've accessed through the West Australian mining exploration registers so we have access to historical data. We have access to some geochemical data in the area. Most importantly however we've been able to purchase airborne geophysics data from our neighbour, Kings West who've, as I said, are operating just to the north and east of us. What's been encouraging is that they flew a survey back in the last quarter of twenty nineteen so it's very recent.

24:37 We've been able to purchase that data and we're in the process now of putting together

24:45 a geophysics survey which will enable us to pinpoint any of the fault lines and structures that sit across our license. We are about to undertake surface geochemistry soil sampling. We're designing a grid across those tenements at the moment. We would like to be able to kick that into play. Quite possibly we can commence that in very early July so within a couple of weeks and that would give us further targets to add to our planned drilling program. We've recently in the last week or so completed an aerial drone survey. So we've picked up all the old workings.

25:32 There are substantial

25:34 workings from previous prospecting and from previous artisanal type mining the early days. So we're able to pinpoint all those and start to put a geological database together that allows us to focus our drilling campaign. And we would intend to do a substantial campaign here at Menzies within the next couple of months so that we're able to move forward on a decision about the option that we've acquired.

26:08 Just to touch upon that, the terms of the option agreement. We have a nine month option agreement. So we basically have kicked that away at the end of May. So a decision on that on these tenements would be due very early next year, in February. The option is to acquire 75% the tenements. We also would have a trial to pick up the other 25% if we decided to do so at the future. So it gives us control and ownership. We've paid out $350,000 to acquire the option, 250,000 of that was in cash.

26:52 We've also agreed to spend upwards of AUD500000 within that nine month period. So that would easily cover the exploration program that we've set ourselves, the drilling and the geophysics, etcetera. And yes, we look forward at this stage to being able to make a decision on this particular project well within the nine month period that we've set ourselves. I'll just, on that note, hand over to Greg, who is, I think, going to give us a quick summary of where we stand with the project in Austria.

27:40 Okay. Thanks, Sean, and good morning to everyone. As as some of you may know, the company has some legacy projects, three main license areas in Austria.

27:52 Whilst up until 2020, there has been no work undertaken, on these licenses as a result of the very low carry cost. I think it's it's in the vicinity of a few thousand euros a year. It costs us to keep these licenses. We've just had them sitting there, just sitting in the background. Late last year, the company was actually approached by a party interested in potentially acquiring these these licenses. We did a very small program up in Altenberg, one of the areas we did a a rock chip sampling program where we collected 58 samples.

28:34 And just under half had grades between four and a half to 31 grams a ton gold. We're not intending on completing any additional work there ourselves. The work we undertook last year allowed us to renew, the main license portion for another five years. But interestingly, in the last few months, we have actually been approached by a couple of other companies who are interested in acquiring these projects. So we're we're pursuing those at the moment. One's a an aim listed company, one's an ASX listed company, and then we have a a private group who are acquiring small gold mining projects across Central And Western Europe at the moment.

29:18 So, we'll continue to to progress that. As I said, there's been been very minimal carry costs. So hopefully, we can look at monetizing these assets sometimes in the near future. Okay. I'll give Sean and Mike a breather for a second. I might just do the, the investment summary as well. So look, as as as Mike and Sean have have, I guess, clearly to run through today, The company has two very clear focuses now. The Eclipse Gold Project, which really was a was a starter for the company. I mean, it was a foothold in a new jurisdiction.

30:04 The same commodity, but but given the trials and tribulations we experienced in Georgia, getting getting something in a in a safer, more secure jurisdiction was was obviously a a priority for the company. I mean, interestingly, we had been discussing Central Menzies with Mel Della Costa back when we entered into the Eclipse option. And, having having that target of growing a a bigger pipeline of projects, it was it was really about getting the Eclipse deal done, making sure the parties all got on well together and, and worked well together, and then Central Menzies opened up to us. So we've got a really good pipeline now between the the small scale production potential at Eclipse plus the expansion at Jack Drain Jack Stream, and then, of course, earlier stage, but with the potential for a significant discovery at Central Menzies.

31:03 So in summary, Eclipse is offering us the potential for short term cash flow, but I'll caveat that by, again, reiterating that it's not just about the the work around the the existing mining operations, the shaft that eclipse. We have Jack Stream, and we have the potential for further extensions there. Having just completed the sale of the Georgian assets, which was a was a long and drawn out end to a long and drawn out period in Georgia. We managed to achieve what we feel was a very good result, given where we've gotten to, selling the assets for 3,300,000 in cash. And as we announced recently, that's left the company with circa £3,100,000, in cash. So we're very well funded for the work programs at Eclipse and Central Menzies and, to exercise the central men's Menzies option if we decide to move ahead, with that one.

32:05 And I guess to to to follow on from that, there's there's excellent scope to continue to to grow the company. We're we're very focused on Eclipse and Central Menzies. But given the jurisdiction, given the opportunities, that that may present themselves, and there are significant opportunities. I mean, there there are a number of new discoveries that have been made just in the last couple of years, and it's one of the most exciting things about this West Australian region. It offers the company a very, very safe jurisdiction area to work in, these days where travel's restricted. We've got all of the the experience and knowledge with consultants and contractors, albeit the time timelines are sometimes stretched a little as we've seen at the moment with the the assays.

32:57 But it is a it's a tremendous opportunity. It's a fantastic jurisdiction. Having Sean join us recently is a is a real positive, and I know he's looking forward to to, getting back to his roots in Kalgoorlie and, helping us grow a significant company. I think that is it. Thank you very much. I think we'll move over to the questions. Investors there. Ladies and gentlemen, please do continue to submit your questions using the Q and A tab situated on the right hand corner of your screen. Just while the team take a few moments to review those investor questions submitted already, I'd like to remind you that the recording of this presentation, along with a copy of the slides and the published Q and A, can be accessed via your investor dashboard on the Investor Meet company platform. I'd also like

33:49 to remind you that your feedback is important to the company. And immediately after the presentation has ended, you'll be redirected for the opportunity to provide your feedback in order that the company can better understand your views and expectations. Guys, we did receive a number of pre submitted questions from investors and perhaps I can start off the Q and A session with these. I think the first one addressed to you actually, Greg. Can you explain what the acquisition process for Central Menards is likely to be and what the spending slash payment terms are? Yeah. Sure. We we paid $350,000 to enter into Australian dollars to enter into the option, $2.50 in cash and 100 in stock. Exchange rate at the moment's about $1.82 to the pound, so it's, yeah, just a a little over, a little over half.

34:41 We have nine months on that option. And as I think Sean pointed out, we've got work underway and expect to have drilling underway in the next couple of months, so we don't have any issues with that nine month option period. We've agreed to spend 500,000, Australian dollars again within that period. We had a similar similar structure with Eclipse. We were required to spend $300,000 during the option period. Think by the end of it, we'd spent sort of $5,600. So it's a it's a low bar. And, you know, assuming there's no major major issues at the start, I I expect we'd, we'd probably spend in excess of that. So and then to exercise, $1,300,000 in total. So it's around £1,600,000, just over half in cash, $1,750,000 in cash, 1,250,000 Australian dollars to be settled by the issue of shares in the company at a small discount thirty day volume weighted average price at the time of the exercise.

35:49 So hopefully hopefully, that's clear. That's great. Greg, thank you very much indeed. Next one, I think, is for you, Sean. Now that Georgia has been divested, does this mean that EMPIRE is only going to look at assets in Western Australia? And a two part question, are you looking for additional assets now? And if so, would you consider commodities outside gold? Well, I think our focus has to be in the next, you know, obviously, the near term to bring eclipse option whether we can bring that into a small scale mine quickly and advance the option at Menzies. That's our focus. However, the longer term strategy, certainly, I would be looking to extend, you know, to me, you know, the Australian mining industry is significantly greater than the Eastern Goldfields.

36:39 And I know a lot of good discoveries are now being made in less traditional target areas. Certainly in the Northern Territories, there's been a couple of big fines recently. So my view would be we should, you know, concentrate our technical base here in Western Australia, use our expertise, access to skilled mining people. However, I don't think, you know, a two or three hour flight to the North or to the East should prevent us from acquiring, you know, quality assets without within the Australian continent. So, you know, yeah, I I think we look further afield as we build the portfolio.

37:31 That's great, Sean. Thank you. And the next one's actually here for you. How much time Sean expected to be on-site at Eclipse and Central Mendez? If you could answer that, that would be great. Oh, certainly. I've made a visit. I've made one visit so far. I intend to be able to get up there on a on a, obviously, a regular basis. It's only an hour's flight. So I would imagine I would be certainly, when we have drilling activities, exploration, field work, I'll be up there. But I would imagine, you know, every couple of months, I'll be I'll be making a visit. So six, seven times a year, probably. That's great. Thanks, Sean. And again, the next one actually for you. I've heard that operators in the area say that in situ gold is valued at a premium in the region due to the infrastructure majors operate in the area looking for potential m and a targets. Do you think this is true?

38:25 It premium. It's there's certainly competitive tension here in this part of the world at the moment. The the mining industry here has largely been, you know, not been disrupted by the the pandemic. The Australian fortress, if you like, has meant that we've had reasonably free travel within the within the country. And within Western Australia, we we see the mining industry, the fly in, fly out activity is is just booming. And so that's putting pressure, I think, on, you know, acquisition of these types of exploration targets. And when you acquire one, if you are successful, it's certainly there are a lot of bidders coming to the table to, you know, to add to their portfolios.

39:25 You know, the small fish eats, you know, gets eaten by the bigger fish. So, yeah, there's certainly price pressure due to competition. That's great. Sure. And the final one for you is when do you expect results from the expansion drilling at Jack's Dream? Well, that's imminent. I think Mike flagged that we were, you know, steadily advancing the work program at ECLIPSE. We've completed the last drilling program some weeks ago, and the assaying system here at the moment is it's got quite a long backlog. However, we are we are in the we are in the system. I believe the final assays would have gone through last week. And we're just waiting for the QAQC data. So once we've had all that and we've able to update the database and the models, we'll, you know, we'll have another news release.

40:22 That's brilliant. Thank you. And the final pre submitted question, can I address this to you, Mike? What do you as the board believe to be the share price catalyst over the next three to six months? Well, I suppose we've touched on that really in the sense that it's really about news flow. And we're we're generating more news flow as as Sean was just explaining, you know, with our next round of result at at Eclipse and the ongoing other work at Eclipse, you know, like the metallurgical test work, etcetera. So generating news flow there, continuing with news flow there, I should say. I suppose a milestone at Eclipse is, you know, is understanding then once we have a we have a a dual compliant resource, and we'll do our pit optimization assessments, you know, once all the necessary input data is is in. And we've, I think, importantly, understood what the intersections at Jack's stream mean for us, whether there are areas actually in interconnection between them and the other area of the clip shaft or not.

41:27 And our and our other studies looking at this near surface mineralization that I mentioned briefly. So, yeah, ongoing work at Eclipse. And, obviously, with, you know, with a high grade, very prospective prospect like Central Menzies, getting our work program moving there. We expect, you know, once we've done our preparatory work and done some good drill targeting, then we would expect some some good results from that drilling. So generating useful life from from central measures as well. So that's really gonna be our focus over the next few few weeks and months. We've got, obviously, work to do on central measures to make a decision on the option. We'd hope to be able to do that, you know, before the option period.

42:15 But some some of these some of these factors like assay results are are, you know, are are outside of our control. But we're planning a a concentrated single drill program there to give us all the information we need rather than two or three rounds like we did at Eclipse because that will be more efficient in terms of dealing with some of these delays outside of our control. So, yeah, that's essentially it, I think. Focus on these two projects. Obviously, there are, you know, being opportunistic, there will be other assets that may come across the table that we should consider. But focus right now is, you know, is on these two assets, generate some real value from from both of them and see where that leads for us. Mike, thank you very much indeed. That concludes the pre submitted question. Investors have obviously submitted questions throughout today's live event. Mike, if I may, could I just ask to click on q and a and you'll you'll see those questions there? If you could, where appropriate to do so, please just read out the question, either answer it or distribute it amongst the team, that'd be fantastic. Thank you. Sure. Yes.

43:19 Well, we've got one here from Julian c, which I'll take. Julian asked, is the style of mineralization ECLIPSE likely to host some large gold nuggets? Well, the answer to that is is is clearly yes. I mean, one of our slides shows some gold nuggets that were that were found by by the owner, Mel Dalla Costa, within the license area. And, you know, and we've explained, I suppose, the the nuggetty nature of the mineralization, meaning that these veins do contain nuggets. And it's a matter of good fortune or whatever that whether your drill hole hits them or not. So in the process of developing a resource, you know, we take these things into account. We we top cut the resource. We we take away the highest grade so as not to introduce too much bias.

44:08 But, you know, you are taking into account that negative effect when you generate a resource model. So so the short answer is yes, indeed, we do. There's if I just go scroll through the list, there's one here from from Paul, Paul w. Good morning. I'm glad to see you're looking to sell on the Austrian prospects. Is there a sign of any interested buyers yet? Greg, would you like to Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. As I as I mentioned, we've we've actually got three, parties who we are talking to at the moment. So, yes, there there are interested interested buyers. All of them have existing operations within that Central Western European area.

45:00 So we are we are progressing them at the moment. There's quite a significant database of of information, as I'm sure you can imagine given, you know, the operations there there was mining there back in the eighteen hundreds. So combined with various exploration programs over the last century or so, there's a lot of data to go through. But, yeah, we are we are moving forward and hope hope to be in a position to provide the market with an update soon. Great. Thanks. There's another one here from Elias Jay. Do you feel the current market cap of 8,700,000 sterling fairly reflects where the company is at? I suppose any one of us could take that one.

45:48 I I I I would say from my part, no. I don't really think so. I I think we're in a very good position now. I think, you know, having having changed the focus of the company away from the Georgia and the challenges we had there, and and, you know, it's been a long process to enable us to do that. But now with these with these assets, this foothold into the Australian industry, gold industry, and, you know, the prospects not just of the two projects we have, but being being very well funded and, you know, and the very dynamic nature of the Australian mining industry at the moment anyway, particularly WA. I think we're in a we're in a very good position. And, you know, the the the prospect for growth and growth and adding value on these assets that we we currently hold is is very good. So, no, I don't I don't I think we're a little undervalued. But I don't know if either Greg or Sean wanna add anything to that.

46:45 No. No. I'd I agree. Look, you know, given given our cash at bank at the moment, you know, just under half of the market cap is is cash. So it's it's it's giving a very low enterprise value to to two very prospective projects. But the market is is fickle for junior explorers in particular. So, you know, we we continue to to try and pump out news and, and doing events like this, we hope we'll we'll get the company and our new strategy back on investors' radars. And, you know, a a lot of it is about drumming up more interest in the company now. So with with continued news flow expected, hopefully, we can we can rectify that.

47:38 And there's just perhaps finally, there's one more here from Paul w. I think he's referring to a comment that you made, Sean, about fish. Just now, you talked about big fish eat big fish eating up little fish. Has EMPIRE already had approaches from larger companies even at this stage? Well, I given I raised that comment, no. I'm I'm not aware of any approaches directly to to the to the board. The comment, I guess, is is a reflection of what's happened here in the gold fields over the last, you know, probably last five or so years is a lot a lot of smaller companies have merged or or taken out others and started to grow a substantial portfolio of gold projects or producers.

48:36 And, you know, you're seeing companies now worth over $1,000,000,000 There's several examples, you know, Northern and Evolution and others have just slowly, slowly grown and combined with the increasing gold price have seen substantial market value. We're not in that position at the moment, but we would obviously like to start to grow the portfolio. And as we as I think as Greg mentioned, you know, with some exploration success, certainly here in Australia, market has been rewarding companies, quite handsomely for good news flow.

49:26 And whilst our shareholder base clearly is not entirely domiciled here in Australia, I think we'll get the same reaction. I think people will see exploration success news, you know, news coming out of EMPIRE will hopefully translate to recognition of value. And perhaps perhaps finally, there's there's a a few questions relating to, you know, when are we gonna generate cash flow or when's production going to start at Eclipse and this sort of thing. I'll perhaps, you know, lump all of those together and and tackle that. As we've explained, I mean, there's a there's a process to go through with these types of projects. And on Eclipse, we're, you know, we're working through that process. We're fairly well advanced, but as we said, we're waiting for some critical sort of inputs to being able to to run, you know, pit up what are called pit optimization studies, which is really a, a, you know, wrapping a a a shell, a pit shape around the the resource model.

50:36 And and with a a series of technical constraints, making a determination of the, you know, the scale and the viability, the financial viability of of an open pit. So that work is in progress. We're not gonna put a time frame on it. We, you know, we need to let those those studies complete. Then we can look at some pit optimization, you know, studies taking account of things like what our draw results of Jack Stream tell us. Is there a connection between Jack Stream and and the Eclipse shaft area itself? What are we, you know, what are we learning from our our investigations of the near surface mineralization in the oxide zone where it's present high grades in some areas and and not high grades in other areas? And so there's a number of things for us to sort just to continue to study before we can understand, you know, to make a determination of the viability of a pit. So the process to go through there and and that's what we're doing. There's no there's no no sense in jumping ahead or making guesses here. We have to follow the the logical process, and then we'll be able to reach conclusion.

51:44 I guess that's that's it, I think, in interest Yeah. I was gonna say, Mark, I think you you you pretty much covered off all those questions you can for investors. We are just approaching the hour mark as well, so thank you very much indeed. Perhaps just as we before we redirect investors to give you some feedback and of course any further questions that come through, the company will be able to review and respond where appropriate to do so. Those responses will be available on the Investor Me company platform. But perhaps Mike, Sean, perhaps we could ask just for a few closing words just to wrap up before we redirect investors to give you some feedback. Sure. Yes. Well, I'll take it first. I wanna thank everybody for the session today. I hope it's been I hope it's told you something about, you know, what what EMPIRE METALS is about now.

52:31 Having been through the the frustrations of the last three or four years with with Greg and our and our other colleagues on the board. It's a it's a real pleasure to to now, you know, have had some had success in in in in divesting ourselves out of those frustrations in Georgia and and truly transforming the future of the company into, you know, a gold focus in in in the Australian industry. We are in a much stronger position than we were a year or eighteen months ago, and it's, you know, it's really exciting to see now we've got a foothold into Australia. And, you know, I think we'll continue to see a lot of growth there, not just at the assets that we have already, but others will come across our our table as well. We're in a very good position to to grow now and develop that presence in WNS.

53:19 Well, in Australia generally. So that's what I would say. Sean, do you wanna add anything? Yes. Certainly. I'd so I'm very pleased to have had the opportunity to to present today. It's obviously just joined the company and and only really been in the chair for a couple of weeks. But I've, you know, I was attracted to this particular opportunity because of the upside potential I see. You know, we do have a very strong board. I think it's a fantastic testament to Mike and Greg that they've been able to, you know, extract a deal that gets us out of the Georgian situation and allows us to go forward with considerable funds in the bank. So I think we've got a big upside here in initially in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.

54:15 But I as I said, I think we've got to start looking for a bigger you know, bigger targets within the entire continent or even, you know, the Australasian sort of region. So I think we're well placed. You know, we're well financed. And I think we should have a a pretty good news flow coming out of the company over the next six to twelve months. So I look forward to other calls such as this one and and continuing the story. Thank you. Fantastic, Sean. Thank you very much, Sean. Mike, Greg, thank you very much indeed for updating investors today. Could I please ask investors not to close this session as you'll be automatically redirected for the opportunity to provide your feedback in order that the management can better understand your views and expectations.

55:06 So it only take a few moments for you to review and it'd be greatly valued by the company. On behalf of the management team of EMPIRE METALS LIMITED, that concludes today's session. Thank you very much for attending. Thank you. Thanks.