Santana Minerals : Impressive Drill Assays and Metallurgical Testwork Results

IMPRESSIVE DRILL ASSAYS AND METALLURGICAL TESTWORK RESULTS

3 March 2022 Santana Minerals Limited (ASX: SMI) ("Santana" or "the Company") is pleased to announce further significant results from the 100% owned Bendigo-OphirProject ("the Project") where drilling to September 2021 resulted in Inferred Gold Resources (MRE) to 643Koz at four Rise and Shine Shear Zone (RSSZ) Deposits (ASX announcement on 28th September 2021).

Drilling has continued since September 2021 to extend mineralisation down plunge at RAS. The latest results from MDD025 and MDD025R confirm continuity of mineralisation across the down-plunge axis as previously reported in MDD021R (ASX announcement on 27th January 2022).

ForIntercepts in 10 of 12 DD holes have outlined mineralisation a further 420 m down plunge from the RAS MRE (ASX announcement on 23rd September 2021) with an average aggregate thickness of 24.3 metres at a weighted average grade of 3.06 g/t Au (min 0.50g/t Au, uncut) which is 50% higher than the 2.0g/t Au reported for the 2021 RAS MRE.

Gravity and cyanide leach metallurgical testwork on gravity products from CIT, RAS, and SRE Deposits report 92.4, 91.3 and 89.4% recoverable gold respectively which is considerably higher than 60-77% recoveries indicated from previous column leach testwork (ASX announcement on 27th October 2021).

Commenting on the results Executive Director Dick Keevers said:

"Our RAS diamond drilling continues to deliver the goods; excellent gold grade over substantial drill widths in new ground extending down the structure, clearly adding to the resource available to be incorporated into our next MRE. The RAS deposit is only part of our entire Bendigo-Ophir project, where down plunge exploration drilling will be undertaken on other near surface deposits commencing later this month now with the benefit of a better geological understanding after our success at RAS. (continued overleaf)

We have also demonstrated from preliminary gravity / leach testwork that the gold was at least 90% free and available to be recovered into a cyanide solution, the process used in a CIP / CIL gold plant. This has underpinned our decision to proceed immediately with our next more extensive series of metallurgical tests including liberation testwork and optimisation of cyanide recoveries.

onlyTHE GOLD AT BENDIGO-OPHIR HAS SO FAR PROVEN TO BE MOSTLY FREE AND NON-REFRACTORY, UNLIKE THE MOSTLY REFRACTORY GOLD AT THE MACRAES MINE, 90Km TO THE SOUTH-EAST".

RAS Deposit - Extension drilling beyond existing 2021 MRE

Resource drilling on nominal 120 metre by 100 metre centres since September 2021 has extended RAS shoot mineralisation to 420 metres north down-plunge beyond the 2021 MRE (Figures 1, 2, & 3). All drillholes, other than MDD012 and MDD017 that appear to close off the shoot to the west, show mineralisation consistently occurring within the RAS shoot over a vertical interval of 40-80 metres. Concentration of gold is in the 10-20-metre-thick HWS with common grades of 1-8 g/t Au. Mineralisation is also in high-grade stockwork within and

usebelow the HWS with individual bonanza grades to 57.5 g/t Au as in the 13 metres at an average grade of 12.6 g/t Au intersected in MDD016 (ASX announcement on 23rd December 2021).

The RAS shoot has now been defined over 1000 metres down plunge from outcrop. Currently drilling is testing continuity of mineralisation a further 300 metres northwards as well as defining the eastern margin.

personalForAt RAS two DD rigs are now operating 24/7 with a third rig imminent for extension drilling to commence at CIT. A total of 11,271 metres have been drilled since the present campaign commenced in November 2020 with 5,988 metres completed at RAS in 23 drillholes after those included in the September 2021 MRE.

1. holes MDD025 and MDD025R were collared 360 metres north of the RAS 2021 MRE on east-west drill section N5017720. MDD025R (redrill) was at the same site after the core-barrel was lost in drillhole MDD025.

New RAS Drill Results MDD025 & MDD025R

Assay results have been received and reported for MDD025 and MDD025R (redrill) (Tables 1 & 2, Figures 2 & 3, Appendix 1). Assays are pending for drillholes MDD023R, MDD025R (lower 80.7 metres), MDD026 and MDD027. Two drillholes (MDD028 and MDD029) are in-progress.

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Table 1: MDD025-MDD029co-ordinates and downhole survey detail

onlyuseIndividual assays of drillholes MDD025 and MDD025R (Appendix 1) show continuity of gold grades

immediately below the Thomsons Gorge Fault (TGF) over a 14.0 metre HWS interval in MDD025R (with 80.7 metres of assays pending below this intercept).

The MDD025R intercept is <10 metres laterally from MDD025 (which required a redrill where the core barrel was lost) and extends and mirrors mineralisation in the 4.5 metre interval to end-of hole (EOH) in MDD025. High bonanza grades (to 51.2 g/t Au) are present in both drillholes associated with mineralised quartz arsenopyrite fill vein stockwork & laminar veins that dip steeply to the north across the shoot (Appendix 1).

Figure 2 RAS Resource Extension Drilling - New Results / Gold Distribution

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The MDD025, MDD025R and MDD021R intercepts (Figures 3 & 4) on section N5017720 are the northernmost assays received to date and have an east-west envelope width of 205 metres (drillhole intercepts are 105 metres apart). The HWS / RSSZ mineralisation in MDD021R of 41.0 metres at 2.36 g/t Au is the thickest at present on this section as assays are pending for the remainder (lower 80.7 metres) of

onlyMDD025R. Mineralisation remains open both to the north and east-west in this area.

The gold-grade consistency with numerous high-grade (>10g/t Au) intervals in section N5017720 drillholes importantly illustrates the robustness of the mineralisation in the RAS extension north of the 2021 MRE.

RAS Extension - Sectional Widths and Grades

Ten of twelve drillholes have aggregate and continuous gold intercepts (Table 2, Figure 4) that define a grade envelope (>0.50 g/t Au minimum) extending 420 metres north and averaging 270 metres east-westuseacross the shoot for an overall extension average thickness of 24.3 metres @ 3.06g/t Au (weighted on

sectional envelope widths between 205m and 370 metres wide).

Drillholes MDD012 and MDD017 that appear to close off mineralisation to the west (Figure 2) are not included in the sectional summary.

personalForThese estimates (Table 2) are indicative of the grade of gold mineralisation in this extension area and show that when the area is included in our next MRE update, the gold grade and dimensions have the potential to add significantly to the overall Mineral Resources.

Drillhole MDD027 at RAS - coarse visible gold (VG)

MDD027 recently completed 120 metres north of the RAS Extension on section N5017840 (Figures 1 & 2) has coarse VG logged (Figure 5) over three intervals within a continuous zone of silicified and brecciated HWS cataclasite from 264 metres which has a strong similarity to the high-grade mineralised zones in MDD025R and MDD021R. Assays are pending for MDD027, and drilling is now in progress in MDD029 120 metres further north near Shepherds Creek on drill section N5017960 (Figure 2).

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