Talisman Mining Ltd. has commenced an extensive auger drill program to test basement geochemistry across the Central Lachlan Copper-Gold Project in NSW. The program is being conducted using in-house equipment purchased by Talisman in 2022, including an Eziprobe 1700 drill rig and Portable PPB's detectORETM analytical technology. Experienced local field services provider, Williamson Geotechnical, has assisted Talisman with establishing operational procedures and commissioning of the auger rig.

The Eziprobe 1700 drill rig is mounted on a modified Landcruiser 79 series utility and has the capacity to drill a 100mm diameter auger drill-hole and return a basement sample to a depth of up to 20 metres, subject to ground conditions. As the owner-operator of this equipment, Talisman is able to ensure availability of the drill rig to align with opportunities for land access and approvals and conduct drilling in a more cost-effective and efficient way than utilising a contracted service provider. The campaign is designed to test basement geochemistry across targets generated by regional geophysical surveys and undertake conceptual structural analysis in areas of shallow post-mineral cover.

These areas are considered suitable for cost-effective auger drilling techniques, which can be conducted more rapidly than conventional RC drilling. Drilling is planned to be conducted across several target areas on Exploration Licences (EL's) 8414, 8571, 8615, 8677, 8658, 8659 and 8719, with a total of 5,500 auger holes currently planned. The program is estimated to take four to five months to complete, depending on final hole depths across each program, with analysed samples providing a pipeline of ongoing geochemical anomalies for further work.

Talisman intends to complete internally-managed auger drilling programs before assessing options to generate additional income by providing auger drilling services to other third-party explorers. Internal drilling programs will be prioritised at all times. Base-of-hole samples will be taken from each hole for geochemical analysis.

Analytical results for geochemical assays experienced extended turnaround times in 2022, with expected six-week assay returns being delayed by three to four months. To allow for rapid target generation based on auger drilling programs, Talisman has partnered with Portable PPB Pty Ltd, an Australian private company holding the exclusive global licence to the CSIRO developed low-level gold by pXRF technology known as detectORETM. The technology is a fast, simple and robust process currently used by a number of Australian mineral explorers and producers to enable the leaching, concentrating and detection of gold from a bulk sample at parts per billion levels with high precision using conventional hand-held XRF instruments.

In conjunction with a standard sample preparation workflow to deliver a representative sub-sample, this will allow Talisman to return a fast (less than 12 hour turnaround) on-site preliminary gold and multi-element geochemistry result to guide real-time exploration, while still allowing follow-up geochemical analysis via commercial assay laboratories. Talisman is progressing systematically with the RC drilling program announced in its ASX release of 24 January 2023 with 13 holes for 2,694 metres of RC drilling completed to date. Drilling has been completed on two geophysical targets, including the Bonza target with drilling currently in progress on a third.

Drilling has been slower than expected due to unusual ground conditions and inclement electrical storms prevalent throughout the area. Drilling has intersected a range of rock types including minor base metal sulphide mineralisation associated with brecciation and quartz-carbonate veining. Based on visual results, a selection of drill-holes are currently being cased for down-hole electro-magnetic surveying.