Rapla Project

Title and Commitments

Three PL’s (75.3km²) over the Rapla Prospect were issued to Minco Ireland Limited on April 29^th 2024 and remain valid for a 6-year term, subject to the expenditure of €200,000 during the first 2 years of the term with a minimum of €10,000 in each of the PL’s.

Title can be maintained through the subsequent 4-year period by the expenditure of a further €500,000 to fund a Preliminary Economic Assessment of the Project.

Location

The Rapla Prospect is located 6km and 15km to the north-east of the Galmoy and Lisheen ore deposits respectively. The Lisheen Mine (22.2 Mt @ 11.5% Zn, 1.9% Pb) operated between 1999 and 2015. Galmoy (10.9 Mt @ 12.4% Zn, 1.6% Pb) operated between 1997 and 2012.

Rapla is hosted in the same geological setting, with similar mineral controlling features, as Lisheen and Galmoy.

History of Exploration

The Prospect was discovered by Arcon Exploration Plc.in the early 1990’s. The Property was explored by a series of operators, including Conroy Petroleum and Natural Resources (1987 – 1993); Arcon Exploration Plc (1994 – 2005), Lundin Mining Exploration Ltd (2005 – 2013), Vedanta Exploration Ireland Ltd (2014 – 2020) and, most recently, by Zinc Mines of Ireland (“ZMI”) (2020 – 2023). The programmes were designed to discover another Lisheen. As a result, the drilling grid was quite large.

Geology and Mineralization

The Rapla mineralization is developed within an ENE-trending zone over 3,600m of strike at / near the contact between the Waulsortian and the underlying ABL at a depth of 550 – 650m.

The mineralization is controlled by the Rapla Fault – an en echelon / relay style extensional fault analogous to the ore controlling structures at Lisheen and Galmoy.

Two styles of mineralization are present. One is massive sulphides which commonly occur proximal to the base of the Reef and are dominated by pyrite with sub-ordinate sphalerite and galena. The second is disseminated and stringer style, which tends to be more sphalerite / galena rich and pyrite poor.

Significant historic intersections include:

The historic drilling is widely spaced with a nominal grid of 400 X 400m, in a range of 170 – 700m, which is very wide for this style of mineralization.

The area immediately adjacent to the Rapla Fault is relatively untested by the historic drilling and provides an opportunity for the discovery of discrete zones of very high grade and thick massive sulphide mineralisation.

The presence of multiple deposits and prospects throughout the Rathdowney Trend indicate that it is highly prospective along a significant portion of its length which augurs well for further discoveries.

Following a review of the historic drilling results, which includes a best intercept of 7.4 m @ 14.59% Zn+Pb, Minco has established drill ready targets which warrant further investigation. It is believed that the mineralization, including the best intercept, is open along strike to the south-west, to the east, and towards the controlling Rapla Fault.

Plans

A Drilling Permit for up to 10 holes is in place and remains valid to August 2026,

The Rapla Project will be a major focus of Minco’s exploration programmes in the coming year.