Scout RC Drilling Due to Commence at Especularita

Great Southern Copper plc (LSE: GSCU), the company focused on copper-gold-lithium exploration in Chile, is pleased to announce that it has completed the necessary permitting procedures to commence its proposed scout reverse circulation (RC) drilling programme at Especularita with drilling planned to commence in the first half of December 2023.

Highlights

• Especularita drilling programme to begin in the first half of December 2023

o At the Abundante prospect, 3-4 scout RC drillholes totalling 600-800m will target high-grade Cu mineralisation associated with tourmaline breccia-pipe hosted copper mineralisation

o Construction of access tracks and drill platforms has commenced in preparation for rig arrival

• All permitting, environmental studies, OHS procedures and community engagement completed to enable drill programme to commence

Sam Garrett, Chief Executive Officer of Great Southern Copper, said: "We are very excited that drilling at Abundante will commence imminently. The scout RC drill holes are targeting high-grade copper mineralisation and are the first step in understanding how the breccia-hosted mineralisation will develop at depth beneath the existing mine workings. The results will provide critical geological, geochemical and structural information necessary for the preparation of follow-up larger-scale drill programmes designed to vector in on potential economic mineralisation.

Drilling to commence at Especularita

Earthworks required for the construction of access tracks and drilling platforms (pads) has commenced at the Abundante prospect following successful regulatory permitting of the drill programme, completion of environmental management plans and finalisation of community engagement programmes. Regulatory OH&S procedures, required for drilling projects in Chile, have also been finalised allowing drilling to now commence.

Abundante

At the Abundante mine prospect, 3-4 scout RC drillholes totalling approximately 600-800m will target outcropping high-grade Cu mineralisation associated with a tourmaline breccia-pipe. Rock chip samples collected by the Company from the exposed mine walls and mine dump material have returned assay grades up to 3.39% Cu and 0.15g/t Au1. Copper mineralisation is observed in outcrop occurring as coarse, blebby disseminations associated with tourmaline-quartz matrix in-filling the fragments of intrusive breccia. The high-grade breccia-hosted mineralisation crops out to the west of a NNE-trending normal fault which is mapped in the pit wall and interpreted to have potentially truncated the deposit.

Artisanal mining at Abundante is reported by local miners to have reached depths of approx. 45m below surface and the GSC scout holes will test below that depth on the hanging wall side of the fault. The holes are designed to cross the fault to test the potential for mineralisation on the footwall (east) side of the fault.

A secondary target at Abundante, comprising a prominent "bullseye" magnetic low anomaly identified in the recent drone magnetics survey, will also be tested (Figure 2). The magnetic anomaly is located to the east side of the interpreted normal fault, below and marginally off-set from the surface expression of the breccia and may represent a buried, structurally off-set mineralised breccia-pipe or pencil-porphyry intrusive.

RC drilling and assay results

Local Chilean company, DV Drilling based in La Serena, has been contracted to complete the RC drilling programme at Especularita utilising a truck-mounted EDM 2000 reverse circulation (RC) drill rig.

The RC drilling technique provides significant advantages to the Company in that it will deliver faster drilling times at a lower cost compared to diamond drilling techniques. No sample preparation is required as in the case with diamond core and samples will be delivered directly from the drill site to the assay laboratory so that the Company will receive the assay results sooner. In addition, sample sizes are considerably larger and therefore may be more representative of the mineralisation.

The RC samples will be delivered by the Company to ALS Laboratories in La Serena, Chile where they will be prepared (dried, weighed, crushed and pulverised) prior to assay. A 30g aliquot of each sample is then assayed for Au (FA and ICP-AES) and 48 elements (ICP-MS).

Figure 1: Location of proposed RC drill collars at the Abundante prospect, Especularita.

Figure 2: Location of proposed RC collars at Abundante prospect, Especularita with RTP mag. Mapped tourmaline breccia indicated by pattern outline.

References:

• RNS 2962G (18 July 2023): High grade Cu in rock chip samples up to 3.39% Cu from Abundante mine prospect.

Forward Looking and Cautionary Statements