Patriot Resources’ maiden RC drilling delivers exciting results

Patriot Resources Limited has announced that its maiden Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling program has confirmed a new copper-silver-zinc-cobalt discovery at the Tonic prospect (formerly target B1), within the Company’s 100%-owned mineral exploration licence 27715-HQ-LEL in the Mumbwa District of Zambia (Kitumba 27715).

Discovery hole TBRC03 confirmed broad, from-surface polymetallic mineralisation, with standout copper-silver-zinc-cobalt intervals including:

17m @ 0.41% Cu, 4.7 g/t Ag and 0.30% Zn from 29m, including:

• 7m @ 0.78% Cu, 5.1 g/t Ag and 0.38% Zn from 30m;
• 3m @ 1.19% Cu, 4.9 g/t Ag, 0.56% Zn and 0.014% Co from 31m; and

3m @ 1.06% Cu, 25.3 g/t Ag & 0.97% Zn from 54m, including:

• 1m @ 2.56% Cu, 62.3 g/t Ag & 0.76% Zn from 55m

A compelling Greenfield discovery

• New from-surface discovery confirmed on the first-ever drill program at Tonic, validating Patriot’s in-house exploration model.
• The discovery remains open at depth, along strike and laterally. TBRC04 terminated in mineralisation due to groundwater-related drilling challenges, while additional holes intersected higher-grade copper zones at depth, supporting the potential for the system to continue below the current drilling.
• Tonic interpreted as a zoned hydrothermal polymetallic system hosted within Katanga Supergroup mudstones and shales. The high-grade copper-silver-cobalt core and zinc-lead halo mineralisation observed at Tonic, is hosted within a ~1km x 0.8km zone of broader coincident IP chargeability confirmed partly by trenching and RC drilling that remains untested at depth and along strike, representing compelling follow up drill targets.
• Located 18kms from Sinomine’s US$600m Kitumba copper project which includes a processing facility and copper smelter being commissioned in 2026, offering a rare potential infrastructure pathway in close proximity to an early-stage discovery.

The result is significant because it represents the first known drilling of the Tonic target and confirms that Patriot’s internally generated geological model has successfully progressed from surface mineralisation to drill-confirmed copper-silver-zinc-cobalt mineralisation. The Company’s previous work at the Project had defined surface mineralisation, later expanded through trenching and geophysics into a potentially larger open-ended polymetallic system, with geophysical signatures extended to approximately 1km of strike, 800m width and modelled to around 100m depth by IP chargeability and resistivity surveys.

Patriot’s decision to drill Tonic followed a strategic review of the Company’s asset portfolio. As part of this review, Patriot has commenced an expression-of-interest process for its Gorman Lithium Project in Canada and reviewed the strategic value of its Zambian copper portfolio in the context of strengthening copper market fundamentals, increasing third-party interest, and the scarcity of new copper discoveries globally.

As part of the review, the Company acquired the remaining 20% interest in Kitumba 27715 for US$50,000, consolidating 100% ownership before undertaking a capital-efficient first-pass RC drilling program. This strategy was designed to determine whether the Zambian copper portfolio could deliver material value and strategic optionality.

The Tonic discovery is strategically located within the Mumbwa district, approximately 18km from the Sinomine Kitumba copper mine and associated processing and smelting infrastructure which is scheduled to commence operations in 2026 and some 7kms to the South east of Sinomine’s Target H Copper-Cobalt discovery. Subject to commercial terms being negotiated, Sinomine has previously offered access to its process plant and smelter, creating a potential future infrastructure pathway that is unusual for an early-stage Greenfields copper discovery.

The initial RC program was planned as a 2,000 m campaign to test coincident IP anomalies and surface copper sulphide mineralisation defined by previous trenching. Several holes terminated in mineralisation or ended before their planned target depth due to water ingress and/or fractured ground conditions, indicating that the discovery remains open at depth, along strike and laterally.

“This is a proud moment for our team. The Tonic prospect appears to be a genuine Greenfields discovery, the team took an undrilled target, advanced it through mapping, trenching and geophysics, and has now established copper-silver-zinc-cobalt mineralisation from surface via its maiden drilling program. The result gives us an exciting opportunity to test depth and strike extensions. While Tassa remains our flagship development priority, Tonic provides compelling optionality, located within 18kms of a new copper processing and smelting facility.” Dominic Duggan, Managing Director & CEO