ADVANCED CABAÇAL COPPER-GOLD PROJECT

Preliminary Economic Assessment (Base Case After-Tax) – NPV5 USD 573 M & IRR 58.4%

Cabaçal deposit is a potential open-pit standalone project. Mineralization extends over ~ 2km and remains open with near mine satellite prospect

Predefined Copper-Gold-Silver VMS mineralization with high-grade gold overprint over 11km mine corridor

Licenses covering 50km of the 55km VMS belt and hosts two previous selective high grade underground mines

Brazil is a Tier 1 mining jurisdiction, with recent M&A for Copper and Gold assets

Meridian Mining is focused on the development and exploration of the advanced stage Cabaçal VMS gold‐copper project, and on regional scale exploration of the Cabaçal VMS belt in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Cabaçal is a gold‐copper‐silver rich VMS deposit with the potential to be a standalone mine within the 50km VMS belt.

Cabaçal’s base and precious metal‐rich mineralization is hosted by volcanogenic type, massive, semi‐massive, stringer, and disseminated sulphides. A later‐stage sub‐vertical gold overprint event has emplaced high‐grade gold mineralization cross‐cutting the VMS layers. The Cabaçal Mineral Resource estimate consists of Indicated resources of 52.9mt at 0.6g/t gold, 0.3% copper and 1.4g/t silver and Inferred resources of 10.3mt at 0.7g/t gold, 0.2% copper & 1.1g/t silver, including a higher‐grade near‐surface zone supporting a starter pit.

The PEA outlines base case after‐tax NPV5 of USD 573m and 58.4% IRR from a capital cost of USD 180m, leading to repayment in 10.6 months (assumed metals prices USD 1,650/oz gold, USD 3.59/lbs copper, and USD 21.35/oz silver). Cabaçal has low ASIC of USD 671/oz gold equivalent for the first five years, driven by high metallurgical recovery, a low life‐of‐mine strip ratio of 2.1:1, and the low operating cost environment of Brazil.

Cabaçal Tenure

Advanced permitting covering 928 km² :

Cabaçal – Mining Lease Application
St Helena – Mining License
Cabaçal Extensions – 7 x Exploration Licenses
Jaurú & Araputanga belts – 7 x Exploration license

Cabaçal Cu-Au Mine

Polymetallic VMS system Cu-Au + Ag-Zn-Pb
Defined multiple thick shallow dipping zones of Copper-Gold plus Silver-Zinc-Lead mineralization
Indicated Resource – 52.9Mt @ AuEq 1.1 g/t (Au 0.64 g/t / Cu 0.32% / Ag 1.4 g/t)
Inferred Resource – 10.3Mt @ AuEq 1.1 g/t (Au 0.68 g/t / Cu 0.24% / Ag 0.96 g/t)
Starter Pit ~ 3Mt @ 2.5 g/t AuEq

Cabaçal PEA

Preliminary Economic Assessment (Base Case After-Tax) – NPV5 USD 573 M & IRR 58.4%
Low Initial Capex – USD 180 M
NPV5 to Capex Ratio – 3.2 X
Payback After-Tax – 10.6 months
AISC (Y1-5) – USD 671 / oz

Cabaçal PEA superior economics, driven by:

High-grade starter pit
Simple processing
High metallurgical recoveries
Low strip ratio Low-cost hydroelectric power
Brazil’s low-cost operating environment

Cabaçal is a camp scale VMS project endowed with near surface Copper-Gold-Silver-Zinc mineralization with optimal geometry for open-pit development.

Located on grazing farmland in the State of Mato Grosso, and there is good community support backed by past operational history. Cabaçal benefits from existing local infrastructure including Road access, Rail ~385km, and Power Substation ~20km. The region is a net exporter of sustainable Hydroelectricity, with several locations within 50km of the project. The regional capital of Cuiabá is 4.5 hours by car to the west while the state has an active, well serviced and producing mining sector.

Advanced permitting covering 928 km²:

Cabaçal – Mining Lease Application
St Helena – Mining License
Cabaçal Extensions – 7 x Exploration Licenses
Jaurú & Araputanga belts – 7 x Exploration license

Cabaçal was only discovered by BP Minerals in 1983, then operated as a small-scale underground gold mine from 1987 to 1991 mining ore at a high-grade + 3g/t Gold cut-off grade. This focus on high-grade Gold, left behind known layers of extensive, open, shallow Copper-Gold-Silver mineralization for Meridian to expand and develop.

The mine was acquired by RTZ (Rio Tinto), as part of the purchase of BP Minerals in 1989. It was decommissioned in 1991 during a global slump in commodity prices. Cabaçal was held via a single Brazilian private Co, until 2020 when Meridian signed the option agreement. Meridian has recovered an extensive part of the Cabaçal database that it is using to guide its development. In 2021 Meridian commenced an extensive field program leveraging off this data, that has hugely successful in confirming and expanding Cabaçal’s Copper-Gold-Silver mineralization.

The Cabaçal and St Helena deposits and other known targets form part of a Paleoproterozoic VMS system in deformed metavolcanic-sedimentary rocks of the Alto Jauru Greenstone Belt.

The package consists of a bimodal sequence, similar to many major VMS districts. Cabaçal’s stacked mineralisation lenses with cumulative thicknesses up to 90 meters and are variably enriched in Cu-Au-Ag-Zn.

VMS camps like, Cabaçal, typically host a cluster of deposits, not uncommonly spaced at 4 to 6km intervals, making both near-mine and regional exploration targets attractive. The production history of the worlds VMS camps has been defined over decades, sometimes +100 years, with their near surface resources largely exhausted. Cabaçal presents the opportunity for Meridian to create value from this undeveloped VMS camp.

Mineral Resource estimates were generated by Simon Tear (PGEO), of H&S Consultants Pty Ltd, (“H&SC”) based in Brisbane, Qld, Australia. The effective date of the MRE for the Cabaçal Au-Cu-Ag deposit is the 21st of August 2022. The MRE reported in this section have been classified under the 2014 CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves.

The MRE are based on 848 historic and recent diamond core holes with logged geology and assays, totalling 87,268 m.

Grade interpolation used the Multiple Indicator Kriging (“MIK”) technique for gold used for reporting the Mineral Resources. Ordinary Kriging (“OK”) was used for the grade interpolation of the copper and silver composite values.

Overall average density of the deposit is 2.79 t/m³.

It is also assumed that the deposit will be mined by open pit method. The MRE have been reported using a 0.3 g/t gold equivalent (“AuEq”) cut-off grade, within the notional pit.

Gold equivalents are calculated as:

AuEq(g/t) = (Au(g/t) * %Recovery ) + (1.492*(Cu% * %Recovery)) + (0.013*(Ag(g/t) * %Recovery)), where:

• Au_recovery_ppm = 5.4368*ln(Au_Grade_ppm)+88.856

• Cu_recovery_pct = 2.0006*ln(Cu_Grade_pct)+94.686

• Ag_recovery_ppm = 13.342*ln(Ag_Grade_ppm)+71.037

Recoveries based on 2022 metallurgical testwork on core submitted to SGS Lakefield.

Gold price assumptions: USD1,650.00/oz; Silver USD21.35/oz; Copper USD3.59/lb (Metal prices used were derived from CIBC August 2022 long-term banking consensus).

Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

See latest Technical Report (Effective 1st March 2023) for additional information.

Managing our energy transition risk with a leading community-based ESG and SDG programs

Brazil energy matrix ~ 65% of its energy generated by
hydropower plants
Local hydroelectric facilities:
- Jaurú Cascade – 235.9 MW (6 Facilities)
- Juba Cascade – 139.4 MW (4 Facilities)

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