CERTAIN INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS ANNOUNCEMENT WOULD HAVE BEEN DEEMED INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (EU) NO 596/2014 ("MAR") WHICH HAS BEEN INCORPORATED INTO UK LAW BY THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018 UNTIL THE RELEASE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.

28 December 2023

Great Southern Copper plc

("GSC" or the "Company") 

Interim Results

Great Southern Copper plc (LSE: GSCU), the company focused on copper-gold and lithium exploration in Chile, announces its results for the six months ended 30 September 2023.

Highlights:

Especularita

·     Received results from mapping and sampling activity at various prospect locations across the Especularita project.

·     Assay results for rock chip samples at Victoria returned grades up to 6.9% Cu and 1.85g/t Au

·     Assay results for rock chip samples at Teresita returned grades up to 5.97% Cu and 13.9g/t Au

·     Stream sediment sampling survey was completed at Especularita which set the stage for a regional follow-up mapping and sampling campaign designed to identify new prospects

·      Post period on 10 October 2023, announced the results of the drone-magnetics survey at Especularita, which identified high grade Cu-Au prospects, Abundante and Teresita as magnetic anomalies and began plans to drill at these prospects

·      Post period on 18 October 2023, received results from its exploration programme at the Aurelia prospect at Especularita, delivering another high-grade copper target into the pipeline, with assay grades up to 6.76% Cu

San Lorenzo

·     Received the results of reconnaissance sampling at the newly acquired Suyay prospect with results up to 4.13g/t Au and 1.75% Cu. Results are indicative of potential porphyry-type mineralisation

Monti-Lithium project

·      Expanded into lithium exploration by acquiring an option over the Monti Lithium Project in Chile, with a total concession application area of 235km², exercisable for a total of US$2.26m  (mainly payable 2026)

·      Post period on 31 October 2023, expanded the total concession application area of the Monti Lithium project to 33,100 ha, strategically targeting areas which the Group believes have the potential lithium-rich brine fluid-flow into the Salar de Atacama basin, enhanced by large-scale geological structures

Corporate

·    Completed a £1m funding before expenses in May 2023 through a placing and subscription and convertible loan facility

·     Announced the appointment of Martin Page as CFO and as a member of the Board

·     Post period on 23 November 2023, completed a fundraising through a placing and subscription, to raise a total of £905,000 before expenses

Sam Garrett, Chief Executive Officer of Great Southern Copper, said: "It has been very positive first half of the year as we continue to make strong progress across our prospects and in particular at Especularita where our exploration campaigns have delivered encouraging results and helped to delineate promising prospects for further exploration. In addition to these projects, during the period we also took our first foray into lithium with the acquisition of an option over the Monti-lithium project, a highly prospective project in a tier one jurisdiction within the world's second largest lithium producing country, Chile. As the green energy transition continues to progress, we expect to continue to see accelerating demand for critical minerals such as copper and lithium and we believe this provides the ideal economic context as we continue to advance our projects."

Enquiries:

Notes for Editors:

About Great Southern Copper

Great Southern Copper PLC is a UK-listed mineral exploration company focused on the discovery of copper-gold and lithium deposits in Chile. The Company has the option to acquire rights to 100% of two projects in the under-explored coastal belt of Chile that are prospective for large scale copper-gold deposits. In addition, the Company has the option to acquire rights to 100% of a lithium project located in the Salar de Atacama district of Chile. Chile is a globally significant mining jurisdiction being the world's largest copper producer and the second-largest producer of lithium.

The two, early-stage Cu-Au projects comprise the San Lorenzo and Especularita Projects, both located in the coastal metallogenic belt of Chile which hosts significant copper mines and deposits, including Teck's Carmen de Andacollo copper mine, and boasts excellent access to infrastructure such as roads, power and ports. Significant historical small-scale and artisanal workings for both copper and gold are readily evident in both exploration project areas.

The Company's Monti Lithium project is strategically located in the pre-Andean region of Salar de Atacama which is Chile's premier lithium-producing region with well-established lithium mining operations and infrastructure.

Great Southern Copper is strategically positioned to support the global market for copper and lithium - both critical battery metals in the clean energy transition around the world. The Company is actively engaged in exploration and evaluation work programmes targeting both large tonnage, low to medium grade Cu-Au and Li deposits as well as high-grade Cu-Au deposits.

Further information on the Company is available on the Company's website: https://gscplc.com

INTERIM MANAGEMENT REPORT 30 SEPTEMBER 2023

During the six months to 30 September 2023, Great Southern Copper has made excellent progress across both its Especularita and San Lorenzo projects, where exploration work has shown highly promising results and has laid out highly prospective targets for further drilling. The Company also added the Monti-Lithium project to the Company portfolio, which the Company views as a natural complement to its existing copper-gold projects. Additionally, the Company completed a successful fundraise, as well as an additional one post period, which raised a total of c$1.9m before expenses in order to fund the Company's exploration efforts.

Great Southern Copper's projects are all located in Chile, a tier one mining jurisdiction. The Especularita and San Lorenzo projects specifically are located within Chile's underexplored coastal metallogenic belt, alongside other major deposits including Teck's Carmen de Andacollo copper mine and Pucobre's El Espino project. The Company's newly acquired Monti Lithium Project is similarly well located within the Salar de Atacama, Chile's premier lithium producing region.

Chile is the world's largest producer and exporter of copper, as well as the second largest producer of lithium. With a long history of mining and metal processing, the country boasts one of strongest economies in South America. Not only does it enjoy a strong mining culture, but the country also benefits from an experienced and educated mining workforce, first-class infrastructure and a robust legal framework, which includes provisions for foreign companies to own 100% of mining assets.

Especularita

Reconnaisance work at Especularita has been ongoing throughout the period, including mapping and sampling, magnetics surveys and stream sediment sampling. The work has aimed to delineate high-grade copper-gold targets related to both porphyry-epithermal-skarn and IRGS type mineral systems.

The Company undertook and completed magnetics surveys at Especularita over the last six months. This identified high grade Cu-Au prospects, Abundante and Teresita, as magetic anomalies. It also identified mutliple NE-trending targets within the Teresita magnetic anomaly corridor, as well as bullseye anomalies that potentially represent breccia-pipe or pencil-porphyry type Cu deposits. In addition, rock chip samples returned high grade Cu-Au grades up to 3.39% Cu at Abundante and 13.7g/t Au and 7.22% Cu at Teresita.

In September 2023, the Company received results of its recently completed stream sediment sampling survey which commenced in February 2023 and was designed to provide broad-scale gold, base metal, and trace element geochemistry across the Especularita project area. The results from the survey defined multi-element zonation patterns within and surrounding the extensive area of lithocap alteration and has identified targets for follow-up prospect-scale Cu-Au exploration.

The Company is now planning to conduct Scout RC drilling at both the Teresita (IRGS quartz-carbonate vein-breccia system) and Abundante (breccia-pipe system) prospects. In addition, the Company will conduct detailed work on the Colorada lithocap designed to define prospects for later drill-testing. 

San Lorenzo

During the period, the Company received the results of reconnaissance sampling at the newly acquired Suyay prospect, within the San Lorenzo project area, with results up to 4.13g/t Au and 1.75% Cu. The anomalous geochemistry combined with our early understanding of the geology and controls on mineralisation now suggests that there is potential at Suyay for a high-level gold-rich porphyry or intrusive-related system.

The Company is now planning to advance its exploration and target definition work for large scale porphyry and IOCG type deposits at the San Lorenzo Project. The Company has identified a number of large radiometric anomalies potentially representative of porphyry-type silica-clay-sericite alteration which it intends to target in the next period with regional mapping and sampling programmes.

Monti Lithium

The Group secured rights to 100% ownership of the Monti Lithium Project located in the Salar de Atacama, Chile's premier lithium producing region. The Salar de Atacama is a tier 1 lithium production region with estimated pre-mine resources greater than 6.0 Mt LiCO₃. Lithium is hosted in subterranean brine solutions which are pumped to the surface, where the lithium is extracted via evaporation processes producing a lithium carbonate (LiCO₃) concentrate product.

The Monti Project comprises 81 concession applications for a total combined concession area of 235 km² (23,500 ha). The initial US$10,000 payment to vendors was completed with further annual cash and share payments over 3 years for a total consideration value of US$2.26m (£1.8m).

Post-period, the Company expanded the total concession application area of the Monti Lithium project to 331 km2 (33,100 ha), strategically targeting areas where the Company believes the fluid-flow of Li-rich brines into the Salar de Atacama basin is enhanced by large-scale structures.

Over the coming months, GSC will conduct due diligence on the project and prepare plans for its exploration programmes. Work will include reconnaissance field trips to undertake surface sampling and mapping programmes.

Corporate

During the period, GSC appointed Martin Page as CFO and a member of the Board of Directors. Martin is an experienced CFO, predominantly in the natural resources sector, with exposure to all elements of the value cycle including exploration and operating assets. He brings with him extensive experience of capital and debt markets, statutory and management reporting requirements and detailed tax and treasury planning. Most recently he held the position of CFO at Trident Royalties plc, an AIM quoted junior mining royalty company, where he presided over an increase in the company's market cap from c.$40 million to c.$200m.

GSC completed fundraises during the period, raising a total of £1,002,000, through a placing and subscription and convertible loan facility, in order to finance on-going exploration programmes. The Company raised £501,000 through an oversubscribed conditional placing and subscription with existing and new investors, with all directors of the Company participating in the placing. An additional £501,000 was then raised through a convertible loan facility dated 15 May 2023, with Foreign Dimensions Pty Ltd, the Company's main shareholder and the trustee of the Colin and Imelda Bourke Family Trust, the beneficiaries of which are members of the Bourke family.

Post period the Company then raised an additional £905,000 through a conditional placing and subscription. The fundraising was supported by existing, institutional and new investors, together with the Company directors and key senior geologists. The funds arising from this will be used to advance the exploration and target definition efforts at Especularita and San Lorenzo, as well as commencing exploration at the newly acquired Monti Lithium Project.

Risks and uncertainties

The Directors do not consider that the Company's principal risks and uncertainties have changed since the publication of its annual report and accounts for the financial year ended 31 March 2023 on 31 July 2023, which contains a detailed explanation of the risks relevant to the Company and is available at: https://gscplc.com/investors/documents-and-reports

Outlook

These six months have been an exciting period of activity for Great Southern Copper. The Company continues to see strong exploration progress across its prospects and looks forward to continuing to develop our pipeline of drill ready targets at Especularita and San Lorenzo, as well as in beginning exploration at the newly acquired, highly prospective Monti-Lithium Project.

The long-term market drivers for both copper and lithium remain robust, and the Board believes Chile, which is the largest producer of copper and second largest of lithium, is the ideal place to take advantage of the strong demand environment. This is further supported by Chile's recent commitments to ramp up national production over the next year to help meet global demand.  

With three compelling projects located in a tier 1 jurisdiction, and the Company well funded to advance its exploration campaigns, the Board looks forward to 2024 with confidence and is excited to unlock what it believes to be substantial potential within the portfolio.

Responsibility Statement

We confirm that to the best of our knowledge:

·      The Interim Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standard 34, 'Interim Financial Reporting' ('IAS 34'), as endorsed for use in the United Kingdom;

·     The Interim Report gives a true and fair value of the assets, liabilities, financial position and loss of the Group;

·     The Interim Report includes a fair review of the information required by DTR 4.2.7R of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules, being an indication of important events that have occurred during the first six months of the financial year and their impact on the set of interim financial statements; and a description of the principal risks and uncertainties for the remaining six months of the year; and

·      The Interim Report includes a fair review of the information required by DTR 4.2.8R of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules, being the information required on related party transactions.

The Interim Report was approved by the Board of Directors and the above responsibility statement was signed on its behalf by

Charles Bond, Chairman

28 December 2023

Forward looking statement

Certain statements in this announcement, are, or may be deemed to be, forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "believe", "could", "should", "envisage", "estimate", "intend", "may", "plan", "will", or the negative of those, variations or comparable expressions, including references to assumptions. These forward looking statements are not based upon historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth, results of operations, performance, future capital and other expenditures (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof), competitive advantages, business prospects and opportunities.

Such forward looking statements reflect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based upon information currently available to the Directors. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward looking statements, including risks associated with vulnerability to general economic and business conditions, competition, environmental and other regulatory changes, actions by government authorities, the availability of capital markets, reliance on key personnel, uninsured and underinsured losses and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Although any forward looking statements contained in this announcement are based upon what the Directors believe to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such forward looking statements.