Centaurus Metals reported outstanding new results from ongoing resource development drilling at its 100%-owned Jaguar Nickel Sulphide Project in the Carajás Mineral Province of northern Brazil. The results are expected to further increase confidence in the Mineral Resource before delivery of the Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) and initial Ore Reserve estimate due by the end of calendar 2022. The resource definition drilling program currently underway is expected to upgrade more of the Jaguar MRE into the Measured and Indicated categories in advance of Ore Reserve estimation as part of the DFS.

The December 2021 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) comprised 80.6Mt @ 0.91% Ni for 730,700t of contained nickel, with an Indicated component of the Resource being 43.4Mt @ 0.92% Ni for 397,000t of contained nickel, representing 54% of the Global MRE. The total MRE at Jaguar has increased by 30% since the Scoping Study Resource Estimate was announced in March 2021 and more than 40% since the Company's maiden Resource was announced in June 2020. The focus of drilling during the first half of 2022 has shifted to resource development in-fill drilling at all of the Jaguar Deposits.

In-fill drilling is designed to upgrade all resources within a constrained $22,000/t nickel price pit shell limit into the Measured and Indicated categories. The $22,000/t pit shell limit is considerably bigger than the shell used for the Scoping Study, which was generated using a $13,800/t nickel price. The Company is targeting more than 500,000t of contained nickel in the Measured and Indicated categories of the next MRE based on the extensive in-fill drill currently being undertaken and the MRE already in place.

The MRE planned for the end of Third Quarter 2022 will underpin the Jaguar Project Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) and initial Ore Reserve estimate. The current resource definition in-fill drilling is important as it will ensure that as much of the in-pit Resource as possible will be upgraded to the higher-confidence Indicated category, which in turn increases the potential production target and anticipated conversion of Resource to Ore Reserves. Additional in-fill drilling to upgrade Indicated Resources into Measured is also being undertaken inside a constrained $22,000/t nickel price pit shell, to cover the estimated project capital payback period.

The in-fill drill results continue to demonstrate the continuity of the mineralisation both down-dip and along strike both within the current Scoping Study pit limits as well as within the larger $22,000/t pit shell. Jaguar Central In-fill drilling at Jaguar Central is currently focused on upgrading as much of the mineralisation into the Measured Resource category to support project capital payback period. The new shallow results, including 46.0m at 2.17% Ni from 128.0m in JAG-DD-22-274 and 49.3m at 1.20% Ni from 31.9m in JAG-DD-22-262, continue to demonstrate that the Jaguar Central high-grade shoot consistently returns over 1.0% nickel with intersections up to 70m wide, extending over a strike length of more than 500m and plunging shallowly to the east.

With its favourable geometry, the flat-lying high-grade shoot that forms part of the Jaguar Central mineralisation lends itself extremely well to extraction via a low-strip ratio starter pit. An optimum scheduling scenario has the potential to deliver low-cost, high-grade mineralisation to the plant during the project payback period. The success of the Company's in-fill drilling strategy at Jaguar Central has further de-risked the Project by increasing confidence in the shallow open pit mineralisation that will underpin early capital payback in any future mining operation at Jaguar.

Two diamond rigs remain focused on step-out drilling at the Jaguar South and Onça Preta Deposits. Step-out drilling is part of a push to extend the high-grade underground Resources at depth with the support of the new Down-Hole Electromagnetic probe, which has the capacity to survey down to a depth of 750m down-hole. Once resource definition drilling is completed so that mineralisation within the $22,000/t nickel price pit shell has been upgraded to at least the Indicated Resource category, the drill rigs will be moved onto resource growth (extensional and step-out) and greenfields discovery drilling.

This is expected to happen towards the end of Third Quarter 2022.