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Filing of Maritime Concession Application

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Halo Minerals PLC has initiated the process to file a maritime concession application with Chilean authorities for the offshore area adjacent to its Playa Verde Project, potentially accessing an estimated 100 million tonnes of copper-bearing tailings. This application follows the completion of high-water line field work and represents a significant extension to the company's existing onshore JORC-compliant resource of 53 million tonnes and 32 million tonnes of ore reserves. The company believes these offshore tailings are suitable for hydraulic recovery and reprocessing, which could substantially increase copper production and extend mine life.

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Halo Minerals PLC (AIM: HALO), the copper development company focused on extracting critical minerals from legacy mining waste, is pleased to announce it has commenced the procedure to file a formal maritime concession application with the Chilean maritime authority (Subsecretaría para las Fuerzas Armadas, Dirección General del Territorio Marítimo y de Marina Mercante, "DIRECTEMAR") and Ministry of National Defence (Subsecretaría para las Fuerzas Armadas, "SSFFAA"). The maritime concession will cover the shoreline and offshore area immediately adjacent to the Company's flagship Playa Verde Project in Chañaral, Atacama Region. Based on historic bathymetric surveys, academic research, and company investigations, Halo estimates that approximately 100 million tonnes of copper-bearing tailings-originating from the same source as the 53 million tonne JORC-compliant resource and 32 million tonnes of ore reserves owned by Halo onshore-remain within its mining licenses. These licenses extend into the bay area and may be suitable for hydraulic recovery and reprocessing.

As part of the application process, the field work for the high-water line survey was completed last week, marking the first step of the procedure.

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Andrew Dennan, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"Halo Minerals was admitted to trading on AIM on the strength of its 53Mt onshore resource and the filing for the maritime concession is a natural and material extension. This secures potential access to more than double the tonnage we already have sitting onshore in shallow water and are highly synergistic materials to process through the plant that will be installed to re-treat the onshore Ore Reserves.

Our model has always been focused on the development and production of key strategic and battery metals from legacy mine waste through responsible reprocessing. Recovering these offshore tailings would significantly boost copper production, extend mine life, and directly address a 50-year legacy issue for the community of Chañaral. We will progress the application transparently with the authorities and local stakeholders."

Background - Playa Verde

  • The Group's principal asset comprises six mining concessions covering approximately 13.57km² of copper-bearing tailings located in the coastal town of Chañaral
  • JORC (2012) Mineral Resource of 53Mt at 0.24% Cu, including Proved and Probable Ore Reserves of 32.2Mt at 0.25% Cu containing 79,359 tonnes of fine copper in situ covers the "on-shore" beach and surf-zone areas only
  • Ore Reserves-only economics (CPR): post-tax NPV10 of US$154.1 million and IRR of 50.9% at US$5.30/lb Cu and US$4,300/oz Au

Maritime Concession - Key Points

  • Application area: contiguous offshore block contained within existing mining licenses extending from the low-water mark to approximately 1.5km seaward, covering the historic submarine tailings footprint at Chañaral Bay.
  • Historical context: an estimated 250 million tonnes of tailings were discharged into Chañaral Bay by the former El Salvador and Potrerillos mines between the 1930s and 1978, forming artificial beaches over 5km long and extending out into the bay area.
  • Based on historic bathymetric surveys, academic research, and company investigations, Halo estimates that approximately 100 million tonnes of copper-bearing tailings-originating from the same source as the 53 million tonne JORC-compliant resource and 32 million tonnes of ore reserves owned by Halo onshore-remain within its mining licenses. These licenses extend into the bay area and may be suitable for hydraulic recovery and reprocessing. The maritime concession, if granted, would provide Halo with exclusive rights to:
  • conduct marine surveys, sampling and environmental baseline studies;
  • undertake pilot-scale recovery trials; and
  • ultimately, subject to approval of a separate environmental impact assessment study, integrate offshore material into the planned Playa Verde processing flowsheet.

The application is consistent with Chile's policy encouraging remediation of historic coastal deposits. Reprocessing removes a source of marine environmental liabilities while recovering copper and gold without new hard-rock mining.

Figure 1 - Location of mining concessions

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Next Steps

  • DIRECTEMAR and SSFFAA public notice period (expected by end of Q2 2026)
  • Baseline environmental studies and community consultation in Chañaral, in parallel with onshore DFS optimisation work
  • Subject to the granting of the maritime concession application, a phased offshore resource definition programme to upgrade the potential ~100Mt historic estimate to a JORC-compliant Exploration Target and, in due course, Mineral Resource

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The Company will provide further updates as the application progresses. The maritime concession remains subject to grant by SSFFAA and subsequent environmental permitting; there is no guarantee of timing or outcome, and the ~100Mt figure is currently a historic, non-JORC estimate that requires verification.

The Directors of the Company are responsible for the release of this announcement.

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Cleaned text: letterheads, contacts and legal notices removed. View the original announcement ↗ · Company filings. Not investment advice.

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