Meridian Drills Copper Dominated Layers of
Meridian Drills Copper Dominated Layers of
Ore Grading 28.6m @ 3.5 g/t AuEq (2.6% CuEq)
at Cabacal
Highlights:
Meridian drills more multiple stacked layers of shallow high-grade Au-Cu-Ag ore at
Cabaçal;
— CD-702:
28.6m @ 3.5g/t AuEq (2.6% CuEq)
from 127.6m; including:
3.9m @ 6.1g/t AuEq (4.5% CuEq)
from 136.7m;
2.8m @ 9.4g/t AuEq (6.9% CuEq)
from 143.8;
1.8m @ 5.7g/t AuEq (4.3% CuEq)
from 149.1m;
2.8m @ 9.0g/t AuEq (6.7% CuEq)
from 155.9m;
Multiple zones of high-grade copper with
peak grades assaying 10.6% Cu and 11.0% Cu
;
— CD-693:
14.3m @ 2.9g/t AuEq (2.1% CuEq)
from 77.3m; including:
2.3m @ 9.4g/t AuEq (7.0% CuEq)
from 86.5m;
— CD-678:
19.6m @ 2.0g/t AuEq (1.5% CuEq)
from 67.4m;
Drill results continue to be consolidated for the final stage of grade and density modelling for
Cabaçal’s DFS;
Exploration results indicate a potentially northern structural repeat of Santa Helena § Exploration
programs continue to advance with two new exploration licences granted;
— Including the permit for Cabaçal’s copper prospect “
Alvorada
” now open for exploration.
London, United Kingdom--(Newsfile Corp. - July 9, 2025) - Meridian Mining UK S (TSX: MNO) (FSE:
2MM) (OTCQX: MRRDF) ("Meridian" or the "Company") is pleased to report the delineation of multiple
stacked layers of Au-Cu-Ag ore, drilled at its advanced Cabaçal Au-Cu-Ag VMS project ("Cabaçal").
Results included CD-702's
28.6m @ 3.5g/t AuEq (2.6% CuEq)
from 127.6m, in the more sparsely
drilled southeastern sector of the Cabaçal PFS
1
open-pit. Stronger than expected zones of copper ore
have been encountered here that are expected to improve local grade continuity. Today's results provide
further data to improve both grade and density modelling, as Cabaçal DFS's infill drilling program nears
its final stages. Drilling continues and more results are pending.
The Company has been granted two exploration licences (866.261/2021 and 866.753/2022). This
opens up the Cabaçal belt's untested historical copper anomaly Alvorada
2
to its first modern exploration
program.
Mr. Gilbert Clark, CEO, comments: "Our infill program continues to delineate southeasterly projections of
strong copper and gold ore within the PFS's open-pit model. These results will locally improve the ore
grades but also the density which is particularly important for modelling the more copper-rich
intersections, such as CD-702's
28.6m @ 3.5g/t AuEq (2.6% CuEq)
from 127.6m (1.0g/t Au, 1.9% Cu
& 9.7g/t Ag). This interval returned 26 samples grading over 1.0% Cu, up to a peak of 11.0% Cu, in an
area with limited historical density data. Effectively, higher density means more tonnes and more metal
locally. The Company is entering into a new phase where Cabaçal's DFS drill program nears
completion, and Santa Helena's resource drill program continues. While the expanded portfolio of new
prospects like Cigarra, Santa Fé, Sucuri South, and the recently granted Alvorada, will be tested as part
of our expanding regional exploration programs. Across all disciplines, we are focussing our efforts to
realize the potential of Cabaçal to emerge as the premier gold-copper VMS belt in South America."
Cabaçal Drilling Update
The ongoing drill program at Cabaçal has returned further strong intersections as the DFS infill drilling
program nears its final stages ("Figure 1"; "Table 1"). Most holes are targeting the first 5-year production
area, whilst some peripheral holes were drilled in the southwestern sector of the mine area to close drill
spacing in some hanging wall mineralization positions.
Figure 1: Cabaçal plan view with results reported today.
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Drilling is providing additional constraints on grade distribution but also on deposit density. The historical
database has 1798 assay interval records with over 1.0% Cu, to a peak of 21.8% Cu, of which <10%
have density readings. This lack of density data can contribute to an under-call in tonnes and Au-Cu
metal contents. Copper dominant intersections were not a focus of historical mining, leaving wide
copper mineralization intervals available to the planned Cabaçal open pit development.
CD-702 targeted the southern sector of the CCZ, in a more sparsely drilled area. The intersection
provides a good example of the copper-dominant mineralization which although intersected by a mining
void from 146.6 - 149.1m, was left extensively intact due to the past underground mining focus on gold.
The hole intersected
28.6m @ 3.5g/t AuEq (2.6% CuEq)
(1.0g/t Au, 1.9% Cu & 9.7g/t Ag) from
127.6m, with multiple high-grade sub-zones:
— CD-702:
28.6m @ 3.5g/t AuEq (2.6% CuEq)
from 127.6m; including:
3.9m @ 6.1g/t AuEq (4.5% CuEq)
from 136.7m;
2.8m @ 9.4g/t AuEq (6.9% CuEq)
from 143.8;
1.8m @ 5.7g/t AuEq (4.3% CuEq)
from 149.1m; and
2.8m @ 9.0g/t AuEq (6.7% CuEq)
from 155.9m.
Over 26 samples in the composite contain >1.0% Cu, with peak grades in samples CBDS105591
(10.6% Cu) and CBDS105594 (11.0% Cu). The
peak density value of 3.257 is already higher than
the highest of the values in the historical dataset
, highlighting the value in augmenting this dataset.
Individual sub-zones can reach composited densities of 3.05, higher than the modelled density and
locally contributing to a positive refinement of the DFS block model.
Highlights from additional Central Copper Zone holes include:
— CD-694:
20.8m @ 1.9g/t AuEq (1.4% CuEq)
from 132.0m; including:
4.1m @ 7.7g/t AuEq (5.7% CuEq)
from 148.8m;
— CD-695:
38.9m @ 0.9g/t AuEq (0.7% CuEq)
from 64.4m; including:
13.3m @ 1.8g/t AuEq (1.4% CuEq)
from 67.0m; including:
0.7m @ 15.8g/t AuEq (11.8% CuEq)
from 67.0m; and
— CD-678:
33.6m @ 1.4g/t AuEq (1.0% CuEq)
from 57.0m; including:
19.6m @ 2.0g/t AuEq (1.5% CuEq)
from 67.4m.
Results were reported for two holes targeting the down-dip region of Eastern Copper Zone hole CD-654,
which returned 9.9m @ 14.8g/t AuEq (11.0% CuEq) from 29.3m
3
. Results included:
— CD-648:
21.0m @ 2.2g/t AuEq (1.6% CuEq)
from 68.6m; including:
12.5m @ 3.1g/t AuEq (2.3% CuEq)
from 77.0m; and
— CD-693:
32.5m @ 1.7g/t AuEq (1.2% CuEq)
from 64.2m; including
14.3m @ 2.9g/t AuEq (2.1% CuEq)
from 77.3m; including
2.3m @ 9.4g/t AuEq (7.0% CuEq)
from 86.5m.
Southern Copper Zone hole CD-679 returned:
— CD-679: 48.2m @ 0.8g/t AuEq from 48.0m; including:
3.4m @ 2.1g/t AuEq (1.6% CuEq)
from 49.0m and
2.7m @ 4.5g/t AuEq (3.4% CuEq)
from 68.7m.
A series of holes were drilled into the far southwestern sector of the pit shell to better model the position
of local hanging wall mineralized extensions. Infilling an area with previously wider spaced drill data.
Exploration Update
The Company is pleased to report that two of its exploration title applications, 866.261/2021 and
866.753/2022, have been approved, adding 14,933 Ha to areas licensed for exploration ("Figure 2").
The Company is mobilizing its staff to commence land access agreements for these newly granted
areas in this increasingly prospective southern sector of the Cabaçal VMS Belt. The granted areas
include the Alvorada target, where georeferencing and digitizing of historical BP Minerals data identified
the belt's strongest peak copper-in-stream geochemical value of 164ppm Cu. This surpasses the
original copper anomalies of Cabaçal (56ppm Cu) and Santa Helena (36ppm Cu). With BP's 1980s
exploration focus on gold, and Alvorada, having no associated gold anomaly, this was not followed up at
the time despite its high copper content.
Figure 2: Location of licences newly approved for exploration, including the Alvorada Target.
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Reconnaissance teams have continued with data collection and drill planning in the Santa Fé and
Cigarra areas. At Cigarra, the Company has defined a 2km-long target corridor associated with
elevated chargeability responses and Cu-Au & Zn soil geochemical anomalies, with peak values in
Meridian infill samples of 722ppm Cu; 1211ppm Zn; 180 ppm Au (non-coincident), in an undrilled sector
of the mine sequence stratigraphy to the northwest of Cabaçal. Gold has been recovered from now
exhausted historical alluvial workings. Reconnaissance drilling is planned to be initiated during this
second half of the year.
The Company has received results from two holes to date from the Santa Fé area, which have shown
some affinity to Cabaçal-style VMS mineralization, having broader zones of disseminated copper
sulphide mineralization with low Pb-Zn contents. Economic grades are yet to be intersected, but
mineralization was encountered over a wide interval, in CD-722 (21.4m @ 0.1% Cu from 10m), and CD-
717 (16.6m @ 0.2% Cu). Drilling and down-hole bore hole EM surveys are planned.
Results from a number of other regional scout exploration holes in the mine corridor have added further
context to early-stage targets outside of the Cabaçal and Santa Helena spheres. Hole CD-615 drilled at
the Chiquito
[4]
Au-Ag discovery returned 15.0m @ 1.3g/t AuEq (1.0g/t Au, 0.1% Cu & 23.5g/t Ag) from
79.0m, confirming the down-dip continuity of the mineralization. The core of the intersection hosts a
higher-grade interval of
5.4m @ 2.1g/t Au & 29.2g/t Ag
from 81.9m, including 9.4g/t Au, 104 g/t Ag over
0.4m (Sample CBDS90212). The Company has sent a sample to SGS Canada for gold deportment
testwork to better understand the characteristics of this mineralization.
Initial holes testing other regional targets have verified active hydrothermal systems with positive
indicator elements. The Company will use the information generated to build in a vectoring study in
prioritizing ongoing drilling. The base metal, precious metal and indicator element assemblages are
consistent with hydrothermal fluids driven from a tonalitic subvolcanic intrusion. Some areas of interest
include the CD-593 drill site at Sucuri South where drilling shows strong quartz-sulphide veining in a hole
directed to the south, with a peak response from a bore-hole Mise a la Masse survey showing a stronger
chargeable source to the north-east (Figure 1).
CD-607 also verified that the Induced Polarization survey anomaly north of Santa Helena, largely
covered by colluvial scree masking the basement, has correlative geochemical responses with the
Santa Helena horizon and likely represents a structural repeat, defining a new target corridor, "Santa
Helena North".
Table 2: Exploration drill hole geochemical indicators.
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Figure 3: Example of regional drill hole with sulphidic vein assemblages and off-hole geophysical
target, CD-593, Sucuri South, 4km west of Santa Helena.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
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Figure 4: Location of CD-607, confirming the presence of mineralization remaining to be tested in a
1km strike length chargeability anomaly: Santa Helena North.
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Cabaçal DFS Program
The Company has shipped from site a large selection of diamond core to SGS Canada for the DFS
stage of metallurgical studies. The first shipment of material selected is representative of the ore that will
be mined in the early phases of open pit at Cabaçal and has arrived in Canada. The second
consignment has left the site and is being prepared for export, forming a bulk sample for mini pilot plant
testwork, that will also provide the Company with a representative sample of the copper sulphide
concentrate (with high gold and silver contents) for marketing purposes with smelter and trading groups.
During the last week of June, the Company also hosted representatives of Ausenco's expanded DFS
engineering and geotechnical team, who combined with the Company's in-house engineering team to
review infrastructure sites from the final stages of DFS planning. The site review included a
comprehensive inspection of access routes, plant and waste dump sites, to assist with planning the final
programs to data collection for the DFS study.
About Meridian
Meridian Mining is focused on:
The development and exploration of the advanced stage Cabaçal VMS gold-copper project;
The initial resource definition at the second higher-grade VMS asset at Santa Helena as the first
stage of the Cabaçal Hub development strategy;
Regional scale exploration of the Cabaçal VMS belt to expand the Cabaçal Hub strategy; and
Exploration in the Jaurú & Araputanga Greenstone belts (the above all located in the State of Mato
Grosso, Brazil).
The Pre-feasibility Study technical report (the "PFS Technical Report") dated March 31, 2025, entitled:
"Cabaçal Gold-Copper Project NI 43-101 Technical Report and Pre-feasibility Study" outlines a base
case after-tax NPV5 of USD 984 million and 61.2% IRR from a pre-production capital cost of USD 248
million, leading to capital repayment in 17 months (assuming metals price scenario of USD 2,119 per
ounces of gold, USD 4.16 per pound of copper, and USD 26.89 per ounce of silver). Cabaçal has a low
All-in-Sustaining-Cost of USD 742 per ounce gold equivalent & production profile of 141,000 ounce gold
equivalent life of mine, driven by high metallurgical recovery, a low life-of-mine strip ratio of 2.3:1, and the
low operating cost environment of Brazil.
The Cabaçal Mineral Reserve estimate consists of Proven and Probable reserves of 41.7 million tonnes
at 0.63g/t gold, 0.44% copper and 1.64g/t silver (at a 0.25 g/t gold equivalent cut-off grade).
Readers are encouraged to read the PFS Technical Report in its entirety. The PFS Technical Report
may be found under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at
www.sedarplus.ca
and on the Company's
website at
www.meridianmining.co
The PFS Technical Report was prepared for the Company by Tommaso Roberto Raponi (P. Eng),
Principal Metallurgist with Ausenco Engineering Canada ULC; Scott Elfen (P. E.), Global Lead
Geotechnical and Civil Services with Ausenco Engineering Canada ULC; John Anthony McCartney,
C.Geol., Ausenco Chile Ltda.; Porfirio Cabaleiro Rodriguez (Engineer Geologist FAIG), of GE21
Consultoria Mineral; Leonardo Soares (PGeo, MAIG), Senior Geological Consultant of GE21
Consultoria Mineral; Norman Lotter (Mineral Processing Engineer; P.Eng.), of Flowsheets Metallurgical
Consulting Inc.; and, Juliano Felix de Lima (Engineer Geologist MAIG), of GE21 Consultoria Mineral.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Meridian Mining UK S
Mr. Gilbert Clark - CEO and Director
Meridian Mining UK S
8th Floor, 4 More London Riverside
London SE1 2AU
United Kingdom
Email:
Ph: +1 778 715-6410 (BST)
Stay up to date by subscribing for news alerts here:
https://meridianmining.co/contact/
Follow Meridian on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MeridianMining
Further information can be found at:
www.meridianmining.co
Technical Notes
Samples have been analysed at ALS laboratory in Lima, Peru. Samples are dried, crushed with 70%
passing 85% passing 200µm. Routine gold analyses have been conducted by Au-AA24 (fire assay of
a 50g charge with AAS finish). High-grade samples (>10g/t Au) are repeated with a gravimetric finish
(Au-GRA22), and base metal analysis by methods ME-ICP61 and OG62 (four acid digest with ICP-
AES finish). Visible gold intervals are sampled by metallic screen fire assay method Au-SCR21.
Samples are held in the Company's secure facilities until dispatched and delivered by staff and
commercial couriers to the laboratory. Pulps and coarse rejects are retained and returned to the
Company for storage. The Company submits a range of quality control samples, including blanks and
gold and polymetallic standards supplied by Rocklabs, ITAK and OREAS, supplementing laboratory
quality control procedures. Approximately 5% of archived samples are sent for umpire laboratory
analysis, including any lots exhibiting QAQC outliers after discussion with the laboratory. In BP
Minerals sampling, gold was analysed historically by fire assay and base metals by three acid digest
and ICP finish at the Nomos laboratory in Rio de Janeiro. Silver was analysed by aqua regia digest
with an atomic absorption finish. True width is considered to be 80-90% of intersection width. Assay
figures and intervals are rounded to 1 decimal place. Gold equivalents for new results reported from
Cabaçal are calculated as: AuEq(g/t) = (Au(g/t) * %Recovery) + (1.346*(Cu% * %Recovery)) + (0.013*
(Ag(g/t) * %Recovery)), and Copper equivalents are calculated as: CuEq(%) = (Cu(%) * %Recovery) +
((0.743* (Aug/t * %Recovery)) + ((0.0094*(Ag(g/t) * %Recovery)) where:
Au_recovery_ppm = 5.402ln(Au_Grade_ppm)+88.66
Cu_recovery_pct = 3.906ln(Cu_Grade_pct)+
95.27
Ag_recovery_ppm = 30.354ln(Ag_Grade_ppm)+43.691
Recoveries based on 2022 and 2023 metallurgical testwork on core submitted to SGS Lakefield
Qualified Person
Mr. Erich Marques, B.Sc., FAIG, Chief Geologist of Meridian Mining and a Qualified Person as defined
by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed, verified, and approved the technical information in this
news release.
Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information
Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information or forward-looking statements
for the purposes of applicable securities laws. These statements address future events and conditions
and so involve inherent risks and uncertainties, as disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in
Meridian's most recent Annual Information Form filed on
www.sedarplus.ca
. While these factors and
assumptions are considered reasonable by Meridian, in light of management's experience and
perception of current conditions and expected developments, Meridian can give no assurance that such
expectations will prove to be correct. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which
it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Meridian disclaims any intent
or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future
events, or results or otherwise.
Table 1: Assay Results from Cabaçal Drilling.