King River Resources : Speewah Project - New Vanadium Focus

NEW SPEEWAH VANADIUM FOCUS

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Australian Securities Exchange Announcement

5 April 2022

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Highlights

•  KRR to focus on new economy critical minerals like Vanadium and High Purity Alumina (HPA) for the transition to renewable energy.

•  New "green" process flowsheet under investigation to extract V, Ti and Fe from the large Speewah deposit.

King River Resources Limited (ASX: KRR) is pleased to provide this update on its 100% owned Speewah Vanadium deposit located in the Kimberley of Western Australia (Figure 1). Test work and studies are underway to develop a new process flow sheet to produce high purity Vanadium Pentoxide (V2O5), Vanadium Electrolyte (VE), Titanium Dioxide (TiO2) and metallic iron. These products are used in the manufacture of electrolyte for vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB), master alloys (Al-Ti-V materials), and titanium oxide pigments.

This announcement reports the Board's decision to expand its Specialty Metals focus to include vanadium and outlines the programmes and targeted products to achieve these new developments.

Figure 1: Vanadium deposits in Australia, including KRR's very large Speewah deposit.

(Source: Australian Critical Minerals Prospectus 2020, Geoscience Australia, page 152)

Metallurgical Testwork to develop a new Process flow sheet

In 2022, Murdoch University's Hydrometallurgy Research Group commenced a new R&D program to develop a roast process for multi-commodity production from the Speewah Vanadium deposit.

The Murdoch University work is investigating both an oxidative salt roast-water leaching process and a reductive roast approach using a high grade magnetic concentrate feed from the Central Vanadium deposit at Speewah (Figure 2).

Sample 1 used in the new test work contains 2.44% V2O5 (i.e. 2.01% V2O3) (Table 1) which has been produced from a 6 tonne RC chips sample by magnetic separation methods in 2011.

Table 1: Sample 1 - Grades of the sample as metals and equivalent assumed oxides

A second test sample will be investigated next. Sample 2 will be made from PQ drill core (currently in storage) from metallurgical holes SDH11-06, SDH11-09 and SDH11-12 from the Central deposit (Figures 2 and 3, and Table 2).

The salt roast process will aim to produce V2O5 as the main product but an important objective of the test programme is to investigate the production of metallic iron by-product by reductive roasting. The opportunity to produce an iron metal rather than iron oxide or iron-titanium calcine from the salt roast process, can avoid disposing this material as a waste or remaining as low value iron furnace feedstock. The second stage reductive roast processes will trial the use of different reductants including hydrogen gas, which is considered a green alternative to coal and/or carbon gases. The use of hydrogen could offer a carbon neutral production of iron metal, with no CO2 emissions and therefore significant environmental benefits.

In addition, the production of a second by-product which could be used a feedstock for titanium dioxide pigment production will be considered, as well as some other new extraction approaches. The programme has been planned and costed and is currently underway. Also, vanadium electrolyte production will be investigated under a separate agreement involving the Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre.

The testwork programme has begun on Sample 1 to optimise the process conditions. Initial thermochemical modelling and mineral characterisation work is complete, and the first salt roast tests are underway. KRR will provide updates as they are released.

This announcement was authorised by the Chairman of the Company.

Anthony Barton

Chairman

King River Resources Limited

Email:[e-mail]: [phone]

Background on the Vanadium-Titanium-Iron SSMP

KRR's Vanadium and Titanium Speewah Specialty Metals Project ("SSMP") is based on its 100% owned vanadium deposit located at Speewah in the Kimberley of Western Australia. The deposit comprises a Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 4,712 million tonnes at 0.3% V2O5, 3.3% TiO2 and 14.7% Fe (reported at a 0.23%

V2O5 cut-off grade from the Central, Buckman and Red Hill deposits, Figure 2) (refer KRR ASX announcements 26

May 2017 and amendments 1 April 2019 and 6 November 2019 for the full resource statement details). Speewah is Australia's largest vanadium-in-magnetite deposit based on tonnes and V2O5 content (Figures 1 and 5, KRR ASX release 27 February 2018). KRR envisages an open cut mining operation on the Central Vanadium deposit which outcrops, is fresh rock from near the surface, has shallow dipping geometry with a low strip ratio of 0.4 (Figure 4 and refer KRR ASX announcement 20 June 2018). KRR's plan is to develop an integrated process flow sheet involving beneficiation and extraction that processes high grade vanadium concentrate from the Central Vanadium deposit, produced by crushing, grinding and magnetic separation (refer KRR ASX announcements 1 April 2010, 15

July 2010, 9 November 2010, 8 February 2012 and 21 April 2017). The beneficiation process results in concentrate grades of 2.15-2.64% V2O5, which is higher than other Australian vanadium deposits (Figure 5, KRR ASX release 27 February 2018). It was developed by fine grinding of RC chips from the basal high grade zone of the Central vanadium deposit. Further magnetic separation test work is planned to produce a concentrate grading ~2.4% V2O5 with lower levels of SiO2, CaO and Al2O3, optimised for processing by roasting. This test work will use PQ drill core (available in storage) from metallurgical holes SDH11-06, SDH11-09 and SDH11-12 from the Central deposit (Figures 2 and 3 and Table 2).

Previous vanadium-titanium-iron extraction test work undertaken by KRR in 2018-2021, on various lower grade concentrates and lump material from Speewah, using hydrochloric acid and sulphuric acid leaching followed by chemical precipitation and solvent extraction showed the potential to produce high purity V2O5, TiO2 and iron oxide (Fe2O3) products (refer KRR ASX releases 27 February 2018, 25 June 2018, 23 July 2018, 7 June 2019 and 23

July 2021). In 2011 and 2019, KRR completed initial process development work for a salt roast-water leach-precipitation process involving ammonium meta vanadate (AMV) using high V2O5 grade concentrates. The results showed further testwork is required to improve and optimise the recoveries and reagent consumption, and to produce high purity ~99.5% V2O5 products. The new R&D programme at Murdoch University will focus on the pyrometallurgical approach to support and extend these earlier roasting results with the objective of developing an optimised process flow sheet to produce V, Ti and Fe products from the ore.

KRR has also joined the Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre (FBI-CRC) by providing financial support to two projects, including the development and application of Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries (VRFB)

(KRR ASX announcement 6 October 2021). For further information on the FBI-CRC visit:https://fbicrc.com.au/.

Figure 2: Location of the vanadium resources (green) and Junction V Prospect at Speewah.

Figure 3: Diamond core hole locations (black stars) and Reverse Circulation drill holes (red dots) within the Central Vanadium Deposit, including the RC holes and metallurgical core holes referred to in this announcement. Diamond core hole collar data is given in Table 2.