Clara Resources Launches First Mareeba Drill Program in 37 Years Targeting 30 g/t Gold

Program confirmed: maiden drilling at Mareeba after 37-year gap

Clara Resources Australia (ASX: C7A) has finalised planning for a maiden drilling program at its Mareeba Gold Project in Far North Queensland, marking the first drilling at the site since WMC’s Hodgkinson Joint Venture concluded in 1989. Planning is complete, funding is secured, and the Company is now moving to complete permitting and mobilise the rig.

The program has two strategic objectives: delineating a maiden JORC Mineral Resource along the Kingsborough Fault corridor, and drill-testing beneath the Victory and B.B. historic mines, which produced gold at grades above 30 g/t Au and have never been drill tested. The initial phase covers 25 RC holes for approximately 3,750m across three target areas, with the global program extending to up to 86 RC holes for 12,900m across five target areas. A placement to raise A$1,165,000 (before costs) fully funds the work.

Five target areas, two distinct objectives

The global program is structured across five target areas, all within EPM 13944. The table below sets out the program by area.

Note: hole counts and metres are nominal. Collar positions carry a tolerance of up to 10 metres and hole angles may be adjusted in the field.

Resource delineation along the Kingsborough Fault corridor

A total of 68 holes for 10,200m are planned across NEBF, Lady Burdett Coutts, and Rebo / Caledonia North. These holes are designed at a nominal 25m spacing, half WMC’s original 50m spacing, drilled alongside and between the historic holes.

The WMC campaign of approximately 200 holes is usable exploration data, but it was shallow reconnaissance work, with most holes stopping within 60m of surface and none carried through to a Mineral Resource estimate. Drilling at the new spacing serves two purposes simultaneously: it confirms the historic intersections using modern sampling and assay procedures, and it materially upgrades the density of information along the corridor.

At Rebo / Caledonia North, the program will also test the ground around the 1986 Freeport percussion holes, including a result of 2m at 45.05 g/t Au from 6m — the highest-grade drill intercept in the Project’s historic database. This is a historical result sourced from Queensland Government open file company reports; it has not been verified by Clara as an Exploration Result under the JORC Code and should not be relied upon as such.

Drilling beneath Victory and B.B. — never been drill tested

An initial 18 holes for 2,700m are planned beneath the two historic mines, nine holes at each, designed to test ground below the old workings to depths of up to 180m.

The historic production records from both mines are exceptional:

• Victory: 1,809t ore treated, 2,058 oz gold recovered at 35.4 g/t Au, operated 1877 to 1896, never drill tested
• B.B.: 1,833t ore treated, 846 oz gold recovered at 31.6 g/t Au, operated 1877 to 1890, never drill tested

Neither mine was abandoned due to depletion. At Victory, historical records indicate the 33-foot quartz reef was still present at the 100-foot level when the mine was abandoned to water ingress. The reef is interpreted to continue south toward the Nelson workings, where high-grade gold was also discovered. Drilling at Victory is therefore designed to test both the depth extension of the reef and its strike continuation into ground that was opened but never fully exploited due to water-related challenges rather than geological limitations.

At B.B., the historical record shows the reef thinned out at 185 feet but had reappeared at the bottom level as the mine was abandoned. This geological context is what makes both targets compelling for first-pass drill testing.

Duncan Gordon, Executive Director, Clara Resources

“This is the first drilling at Mareeba since WMC walked away at the end of the 1980s. We have two key aims. Firstly, we want to infill the historic drilling along the Kingsborough Fault corridor and drive additional results to deliver a JORC compliant Mineral Resource. That historic drilling is good data and we have located every one of those collars, but it was shallow reconnaissance work at twice the spacing we need, so we are going back over it properly. The second aim is potentially even more exciting. We will tackle the depth extent of some particularly high grade historical mining operations on our tenements that have never been drilled. Victory and B.B. both produced above 30 grams per tonne by hand. At B.B. the old records show the reef reappearing at the bottom level as the mine was abandoned to water. Together with our exceptional wall-rock gold sampling results and the polymetallic signature returned by the maiden field program, these targets highlight the exploration upside across the Clara footprint. The Company is now moving to complete permitting and mobilise the rig.”

What is a JORC Mineral Resource, and why does it matter here?

The JORC Code is the Australian and international standard that governs how mineral resources must be reported by publicly listed companies. A JORC Mineral Resource estimate gives the market a defined, independently auditable quantity of gold in the ground, classified by geological confidence as Inferred, Indicated, or Measured.

For a junior explorer, moving from historic reconnaissance data to a JORC-compliant resource is a meaningful de-risking milestone. It tells the market that the mineralisation has been characterised with sufficient rigour to meet a public reporting standard, which typically supports project credibility and can contribute to re-rating.

This is precisely why drill spacing matters. The JORC Code requires sufficient drill density to demonstrate geological and grade continuity across a deposit. WMC’s 200 holes at 50m spacing were shallow reconnaissance work, and that data was never converted to a resource estimate. Clara’s infill program at 25m spacing — half WMC’s original spacing — is specifically designed to generate the data density needed to support that conversion. Every hole drilled alongside and between the historic collars brings the project one step closer to a resource that investors can evaluate and the market can price.

Placement fully funds the program — directors backing their own bet

Clara has received firm commitments to raise A$1,165,000 (before costs) through a two-tranche placement of 388,333,333 fully paid ordinary shares at A$0.003 per share. The placement carries no attaching options and is not underwritten.

The raise is structured across two tranches:

• Tranche 1: 230,000,000 shares (A$690,000) issued under ASX Listing Rule 7.1
• Tranche 2: 158,333,333 shares (A$475,000), subject to shareholder approval under ASX Listing Rule 10.11 and Chapter 2E of the Corporations Act; includes A$225,000 from directors and related parties

Director commitments within Tranche 2 are as follows:

• Duncan Gordon (Executive Director): A$100,000
• Angus Middleton (Non-Executive Director): A$100,000
• Richard Willson (Non-Executive Chairman): A$15,000
• Peter Harding-Smith (CFO and Company Secretary): A$10,000

On completion of both tranches, the placement will represent approximately 14.8% of the Company’s enlarged issued capital, with Tranche 1 alone representing approximately 9.3%. Total shares on issue post-placement will be 2,620,844,750.

The intended use of funds is as follows:

• Maiden drilling program: $225,000 (19.3%)
• Tenement acquisition and consolidation: $345,000 (29.6%)
• LiDAR completion, geology, logistics and field services: $243,000 (20.9%)
• Settlement of legacy obligations: $79,000 (6.8%)
• General working capital and corporate administration: $191,450 (16.4%)
• Placement fees and transaction costs: $81,550 (7.0%)

Director participation at this level is a notable signal. All four participants are subscribing on the same terms as external investors, with no preferential pricing or structure.

What comes next for Clara Resources

The near-term catalyst pipeline is sequenced and clearly defined. All dates below are indicative only, per the announcement’s indicative timetable.

1. Finalise native title arrangements and the conduct and compensation agreement for EPM 13944, together with completion of field inspection processes
2. Appoint drilling contractors and finalise the program of work, quality-assurance protocol, and statutory notifications ahead of mobilisation
3. Despatch Notice of General Meeting for Tranche 2 shareholder approval (indicatively the week of 14 September 2026)
4. General Meeting to approve Tranche 2 (indicatively c. October 2026)
5. Commence the initial 25 holes on previously cleared ground at NEBF, Lady Burdett Coutts, and Rebo / Caledonia North
6. Report assay results progressively to the market as they are received and validated
7. Compile historic and new drilling data toward estimation of a maiden JORC Mineral Resource over the Kingsborough Fault corridor
8. Victory and B.B. drilling to follow once new pads and access tracks are established

The progressive assay reporting commitment is worth noting for investors tracking the stock. Results will not arrive in a single batch. Each validated assay release creates a discrete news event, meaning the drilling program is expected to generate ongoing news flow across its staged campaigns.

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