Ark Mines (ASX: $AHK) Maiden Indicated Mineral Resource Estimate at Sandy Mitchell

Ark Mines Limited (ASX: $AHK) is pleased to announce the maiden Indicated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Sandy Mitchell REE deposit in North Queensland. The Indicated MRE incorporates results from Ark's initial Stage 1 drilling program completed in 2023. Stage 2 drilling, covering twice the area of Stage 1, is yet to be resourced and will be added to this maiden resource in the coming months. The MRE was carried by independent consultants HGS Australia in accordance with the 2012 JORC Code using variographically informed ordinary kriging coupled with an ID2 validation model. The Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) is wholly categorized as Indicated and totals 21.7Mt at 1,419 ppm monazite equivalent (MzEq) using a lower cut-off grade of 700ppm. Top-cuts were applied on specific elements to control statistical outliers.

Executive Director Ben Emery's Commentary on Maiden MRE

Executive Director Ben Emery expressed, 'This maiden MRE has significantly exceeded our expectations. We have consistency in grade from surface to basement for a basket of high value minerals including combined Heavy Mineral grades of 13,450ppm. The commercialization pathway for Sandy Mitchell is now more clearly defined, given the fact it is the simplest REE style of deposit to mine and beneficiate. Importantly, the MzEq grades of 1,419ppm are also indicative of potential commercial scale based on current market prices for monazite concentrate.'

Outlook and Future Plans

The maiden MRE leaves Ark Mines well positioned to execute on its stated development strategy for Sandy Mitchell, with low-cost mining of rare earths and heavy minerals combined with low-cost downstream processing through simple gravity separation. Results from the Company's Stage 2 drilling program will be incorporated into an updated MRE in the coming months. The updated MRE will form part of Ark's forthcoming pre-feasibility study for the Sandy Mitchell project, which is scheduled to be completed before the end of the 2024 calendar year.