Announcement PDF Manuka Resources Ltd ABN 80 611 963 225 ANNUAL REPORT 2023 Annual Report For the year ended 30 June 2023 Manuka Resources Ltd ABN 80 611 963 225 Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 1 CORPORATE DIRECTORY Directors Dennis Karp – Executive Chairman Alan J Eggers – Executive Director Anthony McPaul – Non-Executive Director John Seton – Non-Executive Director Key Management Haydn Lynch – Chief Operating Officer Company Secretary Toni Gilholme Registered Office Level 4, Grafton Bond Building 201 Kent Street Sydney NSW 2000 www.manukaresources.com.au Lawyers K&L Gates Level 31, 1 O’Connell Street Sydney NSW 2000 Auditor Ernst & Young 200 George Street Sydney NSW 2000 Share Registry Automic Group Pty Ltd Level 5, 126 Phillip Street Sydney NSW 2000 Stock Exchange Listing Manuka Resources Limited shares (Code: MKR) are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 2 Contents Page Executive Chairman’s Report 3 Review of Operations 6 Mineral Resources Statements 20 Directors’ Report 22 Auditor’s Independence Declaration 40 Consolidated Statement of Profit or Loss and Other Comprehensive Income 41 Consolidated Statement of Financial Position 42 Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity 44 Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows 45 Notes to the Financial Statements 46 Directors’ Declaration 89 Independent Auditor’s Report 90 ASX Additional Information 95 Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 3 Executive Chairman’s Report PROCESSING SILVER STOCK-PILES, RECOMMENCING GOLD PRODUCTION AND THE PURCHASE OF TRANS-TASMAN RESOURCES This Annual Report marks our third year as a producing precious metals company listed on the ASX. Our 2022-23 Financial Year started with great optimism. Just prior to the start of the year the Company had commenced silver production from the Wonawinta Stockpile Project (WSP) conveniently located on our ROM pad at the Wonawinta plant. Production was scaling up broadly according to forecasts, and we were enjoying the additional benefit of a consistent gold payable equating to 15% of silver revenues. However, as shareholders will know, over the September and December Quarters a number of factors conspired to impact forecast silver production. In particular a period of exceptionally wet weather resulted in the Cobar region being declared a state of natural disaster in September 2022. Additionally, our ore crushing contractors had failed to meet their targets to that point and the wet weather event together with the high clay content in the stockpiles further compounded our lack of processing material and thus silver output. We persevered with processing the screened silver material for a further three months and while we saw an improvement in recoveries took the decision to defer the processing of the remaining silver stockpiles culminating in final processing activities in February 2023. The WSP clearly did not meet our financial expectations due primarily to the lack of steady crushed and screened ore for processing outlined above but also due to the persistently weak Australian dollar price of silver which fell steadily from A$36 an ounce silver at the commencement of the WSP to A$27 an ounce in the last quarter of 2022. There were benefits, however, accruing from the WSP which will stand the Company in good stead as it looks towards future silver production. The first relates to the capacity of the plant which was able to be expanded to ~1.0Mtpa with the addition of relatively modest capital enhancements, and the second relates to an improved understanding of the metallurgical characteristics of the silver ores, and how best to process these, as the vast majority of the contained silver resides in the finer fractions. Both of these will make a marked difference to our silver business case over the periods ahead. Manuka holds a material position in the Cobar Basin, including the fully approved Wonawinta Silver Project and the Mt Boppy Gold Project, the substantial ~1Mtpa processing plant at Wonawinta, as well as an exploration tenement package extending over an area exceeding 1125km2. During the year the Company undertook a comprehensive Strategic Exploration Review of all its Cobar tenements which included assessing and considering over 30 years’ worth of geological and geophysical exploration data and reports focused, in particular, on the potential impact of where near-mine exploration could add to our existing mineral resource estimates and identify potential mill feed for the Wonawinta plant. As a result of this Review the Company is targeting a very substantial increase in gold resources of between 250,000-530,000oz gold @2.5g/tAu from Mt Boppy depth extensions as well as McKinnons mine and the Pipeline Ridge prospect. Exploration and drilling is now planned to commence in the December quarter 2023. As at time of writing the Company has released an initial updated gold Mineral Resources Estimate at Mt Boppy1 of 160,100oz gold at 2.01g/t Au, up from 44,850oz gold at 4.95g/t Au. 1 ASX release 25 August 2023 Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 4 The Review also concluded that there was a potentially very profitable gold-in-fines stockpile project encompassing the Mt Boppy ROM, waste-dump and tailings. Test work was completed in April 2023 screening the various materials to a -8mm size fraction. This reinforced the business case for a screening project to produce gold and commercial screening activities commenced at Mt Boppy in May 2023. Gold production through the Wonawinta plant started mid-June with the processing and first sales of gold to the refinery in July 2023. Although it’s just three months since gold sales from the Mt Boppy screening project commenced, as at time of writing I am very pleased to advise that the Company is cash flow positive, again, and gold grades as well as recoveries are on target. There is potential for several years of gold production from the screening and processing of up to 4 million tonnes of Mt Boppy waste and dump material. In addition, we currently await final test results on the screened McKinnons gold mine waste dump material which, based in initial trenching assays, appears to be commercially viable. The Company’s gold production target is for between 60,00080,000oz Au over a three to four-year period. The Strategic Review identified the potential increases in our resource inventory that a well targeted exploration program could add. This exploration program, now planned to commence in Q4 2023, will be funded by our gold production cash flows. Initial drilling target is the ‘Mt Boppy Deeps’ drilling where a program of five holes drilled to 300m-600m depth below the Mt Boppy open pit is planned. I look forward to providing these drilling updates to our shareholders over the coming months. I do see this as an exceptionally exciting time at Manuka as Mt Boppy starts hitting steady state gold production targets yielding positive cash flows allowing the Company to systematically evaluate a portfolio of highly ranked near mine and exploration base and precious metal targets on our tenements in the Cobar Basin of NSW. On 10 November 2022 Manuka received shareholder approval to complete its purchase of Trans-Tasman Resources Ltd, the owner of the Taranaki VTM (vanadiferous titanomagnetite) Project in New Zealand. The Project contains a JORC resource of 3.2 billion tonnes of iron sands and has a mining license initially permitting the mining of 50Mt a year producing 5.0Mt of VTM concentrate a year over a 20-year period. At this rate the JORC resource contains a potential 60 years of mining inventory. Manuka was attracted to this asset given its enormous scale, the extensive quantum of work already completed to advance the Project, its low-cost production base, superior environmental credentials and diversification benefits. The TTR Pre-Feasibility Study completed in 2013 and adjusted to 2022 cost structures, places the Project’s cost of iron ore production in the lowest cost quartile. Furthermore, the VTM concentrate produced will quite possibly be the lowest carbon emitter per tonne of concentrate produced of any iron ore producer. VTM titanomagnetite iron sands are in strong demand as feed for electric arc furnaces (EAF) to produce low carbon “green steel”. EAF steel making burns 50% less coal, reduces carbon emissions by more than 45% in the steel making process and can make a material contribution to net zero goal targets. Attractive in its own right as an iron sands project, nonetheless shortly after Manuka purchased the asset we completed an assessment of its vanadium potential. In March 2023 we announced a maiden vanadium resource of 1.6Mt of contained vanadium pentoxide (V2O5), ranking it as one of the larger drilled vanadium deposits globally. At an assumed production rate of 5Mtpa VTM concentrate the concentrate would contain 25,000 tonnes of V2O5 equivalent to 14,000t of vanadium metal (V) a year, making it one of the largest aspiring vanadium producers on the ASX. This project presents Manuka with a unique opportunity to securing production of VTM concentrate and a stronghold in vanadium production, a commodity which has been declared a critical mineral by the Governments of the USA, in the EU and Australia, required for hardening and strengthening Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 5 of steel and now proving essential for utility or grid scale battery storage underpinning a greenenergy fuelled global economy. In terms of moving the Project forward, TTR was granted a Marine Consent and Marine Discharge Consent to operate the Project by the NZ Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in 2017. While this Consent was subject to third party challenge, New Zealand’s highest court, the Supreme Court2, has subsequently referred the Consents back to the EPA for final reconsideration on five narrowly defined points of law, in a process which TTR initially expected to complete during Q1 2023. Due to delays in the EPA hearing process, completely beyond our control, this time-line has extended to the point we now expect the EPA decision during Q4 2023. TTR believes its environmental consents application meets the tests as laid down by the Supreme Court rulings, has provided this information to the reconvened EPA hearing, and does not anticipate further scope to challenge the re-grant of the Consents once awarded. Alan Eggers, Executive Chair of TTR and John Seton Non-Executive Director of TTR were both appointed to the Manuka Board, while Nick Lindsay stepped down from the Board at the same time and I would like to thank him once again for over four years of service with Manuka Resources. In closing, I would like to thank the entire team at Manuka Resources for their assistance in what has been an extremely challenging year. A further thank you is extended to my fellow executive director Alan Eggers, to our two Non-Executive Directors Tony McPaul and John Seton, to Haydn Lynch, our Chief Operating Officer, and Toni Gilholme our Company Secretary for all their work during the financial year. Also thank you to all our shareholders for your support during the year. We enter FY23/24 with gold production continuing at Mt Boppy, a near four-fold increases in gold resources and the expectation that there will be more increases to come. Delivery of positive results and resource upgrades from our accelerated exploration and drilling campaign on our targets in the Cobar Basin should be another key feature of the year ahead. Our exposure to vanadium through the enormous Taranaki VTM Project remains under appreciated by the share market, in the Board’s view, but we expect activity in FY23/24, with the final approval of our environmental consents behind us, to bring the potential of the Project into sharper focus. Dennis Karp Executive Chair 2 Judgment delivered 30 September 2021. Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 6 Review of Operations COMPANY PROFILE AND OPERATIONAL OVERVIEW Manuka Resources Ltd (“Manuka” or “the Company”) completed the trial phase of silver oxide stockpile processing at the Wonawinta project during the year after completion of the first phase of open cut gold production from Mt Boppy in the prior year. At the conclusion of the trial silver oxide phase a development plan to process mineralised gold material from Mt Boppy was proposed and implemented (Mt Boppy Stockpile Reprocessing). This plan centres on producing gold from the ROM and overburden dump stockpiles at the Mt Boppy mine site via a simple process of screening out the sub 8mm particle fraction which contains the majority of the gold (and associated silver). The Company continues to employ a significant percentage of its workforce, including contractors, from the Central West region of NSW as part of its concerted effort to benefit the local community as much as possible. The above mentioned Mt Boppy Stockpile Reprocessing activities commenced in May 2023 with finalisation of a bulk sampling program to enable better evaluation of project economics. This led to full scale processing commencing in late June 2023. Resource modelling for this previously designated waste material is underway and will be released during Q3 of the 2023 calendar year. This material is not previously treated ore (tails) but rather ROM material that was previously classified as barren overburden. A comprehensive review of all exploration prospects within the entire tenement package (Canbelego and Western Cobar Basin) was completed by the new Chief Geologist Mr Phil Bentley during Q1 of the 2023 calendar year 3. This resulted in a re-prioritisation of field activities with an immediate focus on further review and interrogation of historic geophysical data to better define future drill programs. Partly as a result of inclement weather conditions in the region the Company undertook limited exploration drilling during the year. The Company completed the acquisition of Trans-Tasman Resources Limited (TTR) in November 20224 . TTR hosts a significant shallow offshore iron sands and vanadium project in the South Taranaki Bight of New Zealand. The Project is at the Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) stage and currently progressing its EPA consent. A successful conclusion of that activity will trigger commencement of final detailed engineering and capital costings. Once developed the TTR project could be a major export earner for New Zealand and a significant employer in the local community producing an iron ore concentrate with significant vanadium co-product required for high grade steel alloys and with increasing application in large-scale battery storage technologies. BACKGROUND Manuka Resources Limited (ASX: MKR) is an Australian mining and exploration company located in the Cobar Basin, central west New South Wales. It is the 100% owner of two fully permitted mining projects, one gold and one silver, both within the Cobar Basin and a pre development project situated in the South Taranaki Bight in New Zealand which include the following: • Mt Boppy Gold mine and neighbouring tenements. Operations at the Mt Boppy project recommenced Q2 of the 2023 calendar year in the form of a stockpile reprocessing project, future deeper drilling in the pit will be conducted during 2H 2023 to add additional gold resources before an updated mine plan is developed. 3 ASX release 14 February 2023 4 ASX release 11 November 2022 Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 7 • Wonawinta silver project, with mine, processing plant and neighbouring tenements. The Wonawinta processing plant recommenced silver production in March 2022 in the form of a trial operation on existing silver oxide stockpiles. This trial ceased in February 2023 with the results feeding into the ongoing mine planning for the opening up of new pits on the mining lease and potential re-entry into existing pits • Highly prospective exploration targets on its ~1150km2 tenement portfolio in the Cobar Basin • Completion of the BFS on the Taranaki VTM (vanadiferous titanomagnetite) project once the New Zealand EPA consent process has completed satisfactorily. THE MT BOPPY GOLD PROJECT Operations The first phase of open pit production at Mt Boppy finished in early 20225. No mining or material movement operations were conducted after that date until Q2 of the 2023 calendar year when bulk sampling of previously classified barren overburden material was conducted. A trommel with 8mm apertures was used to sort the material on the Mt Boppy ROM into two product fractions namely a sub 8mm and a 8-20 mm fraction. Once confirmation of grade distribution was determined (average circa 1.8 g/t)6 a McCloskey R155 double deck screen was commissioned to start full scale production of screened material. This screened product is hauled to the Wonawinta plant for processing. Bulk trommel sampling was also undertaken on the existing overburden dump situated west of the pit. This has demonstrated a similar gold grade distribution as found on the ROM. The company is forecasting around four years of project life and released an updated mineral resources estimate in August 2023 for these resources7. Regional Geology Mount Boppy is hosted within Devonian-age sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Canbelego-Mineral Hill Rift Zone. Mineralisation occurs largely in brecciated and silicified fine-grained sediments of the Baledmund Formation, within and adjacent to a faulted contact with older Girilambone Group sedimentary rocks. Lodes strike approximately north-south and dip steeply west, although the widest zone of mineralisation is related to slightly shallower dips. Gold mineralisation is fine-grained and commonly associated with coarse grained iron rich sphalerite. Section 7.2 of the Independent Technical Report discusses the local geology of the project area8. Tenements The Mt Boppy Gold Project (which comprises 3 granted mining leases, 4 gold leases, and one exploration licence (which together cover an area in excess of approximately 210 km2)) is located approximately 46 km east of Cobar, on the eastern side of the highly prospective and metalliferous Cobar Basin. The Company owns (via its wholly owned subsidiary, Mt Boppy Resources P/L) 100% of the interests in the tenements detailed in the following table: 5 ASX release 8 March 2022 6 ASX release 31 July 2023 June Quarterly 7 ASX release 25 August 2023 8 See Prospectus dated 22 May 2020, ASX release 10 July 2020 Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 8 Tenement Grant Date Renewal Date Expiry Date Area (km2) GL3255 20-May-1926 08-Jul-2014 20-May-2033 8.30 GL5836 15-Jun-1965 08-Jul-2014 15-Jun-2033 6.05 GL5848 15-Feb-1968 08-Jul-2014 15-Jun-2033 8.62 GL5898 21-Jun-1972 08-Jul-2014 12-Dec-2033 7.50 ML311 08-Dec-1976 08-Jul-2014 12-Dec-2033 10.12 ML1681 12-Dec-2012 12-Dec-2012 12-Dec-2033 188.10 MPL240 17-Jan-1986 08-Jul-2014 12-Dec-2033 17.80 EL5842 19-Apr-2001 3-Aug-2022 19-Apr-2026 210 km2 (Table 1 – Tenements Mt Boppy) (Figure 1 - Tenements - Mt Boppy Gold Project) Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 9 THE WONAWINTA SILVER PROJECT The Company holds title to the pastoral lease for “Manuka”, upon part of which the Wonawinta Silver Project is located. The Manuka pastoral lease is connected to the low voltage rural power network and contains useful infrastructure namely a homestead, internet satellite connection and airstrip. Operations The Company completed the trial phase of silver oxide stockpile processing in February 20239 . The results from this trial will be used to better inform the ongoing mine planning process for opening up new pits on the Wonawinta silver project. During this phase of operations it was found that silver species in the oxide material was present in two broad size fractions. Modifications were made to the front end material handling circuit to introduce the smaller ball mill and incorporate a trommel in the flowsheet (deslimer circuit) to process the finer fractions which held a significant proportion of silver. The presence of small amounts of gold in this material was unexpected and a potential positive impact to the future project economics. This phase of operations encountered significant headwinds with wet weather making handling of the clay material in the stockpiles challenging. This trial phase was designed to highlight to the operational team any potential issues that may be encountered in a full mining operation and has provided the company with valuable data in relation to risks and potential mitigants. Regional Geology The Cobar Basin is located in central-west New South Wales, approximately 700 km north-west of Sydney. It is a complex metallogenic system containing numerous mineral deposits. “Cobar-style” mineral deposits comprise a unique class of large and commonly high-grade base and precious metal deposits hosted by marine sediments. They typically have great vertical extent but only a small surface footprint. Tenements The Company directly owns 100% of the interests in the Tenements detailed in the following table: Tenement Grant Date Renewal Date Expiry Date Area (km2) ML1659 23-Nov-11 23-Nov-2011 23-Nov-32 9.24 EL6482 18-Nov-05 27-Jan-2022 18-Nov-26 268.21 EL7345 25-May-09 27-Jul-2022 25-May-28 169.18 EL6155 17-Nov-03 23-Jan-2022 17-Nov-26 10.54 EL6302 23-Sep-04 20-Jan-2022 23-Sep-26 280.02 EL7515 7-Apr-10 9-Jun-2022 7-Apr-27 14.53 EL6623 31-Aug-06 18-Mar-2021 31-Aug-23 (Renewal in progress) 26.24 EL8498 10-Jan-17 3 –Nov-2021 10-Jan-24 114 (Table 2 – Tenements Wonawinta) 9 ASX release 28 April 2023 – March Quarterly Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 10 (Figure 2 - Tenements of Wonawinta Silver Project) Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 (Figure 3 – Existing mine infrastructure and resource outline in ML 1659) 11 Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 12 STRATEGY AND DEVELOPMENT PLANS During the year processing operations consisted of a trial phase of silver oxide stockpile processing at the Wonawinta plant. This trial phase of processing over approximately 12 months provided the Company with valuable processing and metallurgical data to better inform mine planning for the oxide silver resource at Wonawinta. This data included an evaluation of optimal ore handling in the comminution circuit. It was discovered that the majority of the silver mineral species were contained within certain discrete size fractions. Segregation of the silver bearing size fractions during this trial phase resulted in critical knowledge being developed for future front end material handling operations. Whilst the trial silver phase wound down, a program of bulk sampling on previously classified barren overburden at Mt Boppy from both the ROM area and the western waste dump was initiated. This bulk sampling program was able to produce a gold bearing product of approximately 1.8 g/t from a sub 8mm fraction derived from a simple rotating screen. These positive sampling results gave the company confidence to begin larger scale production utilising a McCloskey R155 to produce a sub 8mm and plus 8 sub 20mm product fractions. Approximately 80% of the gold appears contained in the sub 8mm fraction meaning that the sub 20mm fraction will ideally be selectively fed into the plant. The Wonawinta plant was recommissioned for this current phase of gold processing in June 2023 and required only minor modifications from its previous phase of leaching silver from the oxide stockpiles. The Company has commenced producing gold from screening rock dump and tailings material at the Mt Boppy ROM. Bulk sample evaluation has continued and has progressed evaluation of the Mt Boppy Main waste rock dump, the low grade rock dump and tailings at the TSF3 impoundment10. As at the end of August 2023, a total of 124,931t of waste and ROM material has been screened. This has generated a total of 83,262t screened material of which 74,921t is <8mm (60% of total material) and 8,341t is between 8-20mm fractions (7% of total). The grade of the screened material produced to date is consistent with initial expectations (1.7 - 1.8g/t Au). Current forecasts show the processing of these areas together with processing of the existing open pit to continue over the next four years. The Company has released an updated Mineral Resources Estimate (MRE) over the rock dump, the tailings, the Mt Boppy ROM and the Mt Boppy Main waste dump (previously classified barren overburden areas11). The company also continues to evaluate proximal and near-term silver and base metals processing opportunities which take advantage of the strategic location of the Wonawinta processing plant. This includes the potential reconfiguration of the existing flowsheet to process sulphide ore through a flotation circuit. The Mt Boppy gold mine (existing open pit) is also undergoing evaluation for a second phase of open cut mining to extract the current in pit gold resource. This could involve a cut back on the western wall of the pit after further deeper drilling. Exploration Strategy and Overview The Company’s exploration strategy to date has focussed on near mine targets at both Mt Boppy and Wonawinta in an effort to develop resources close to existing operations. The Strategic Review completed during January 2023 enabled ranking of gold and base metal targets with the emphasis on turning to account. 10 ASX release dated 25 August 2023 11 ASX release dated 25 August 2023 Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 13 Mine Development Wona Open Pits; Mt Boppy OC & UG Indicated Mineral Resources (5) Wona pits; Boundary S; Mt Boppy; Boppy S; De Nardi; Boppy and Mckinnon rock dumps Manuka Resources Resource Triangle June 2023 Inferred Mineral Resources (11) Pipeline Ridge; Wonawinta N; Mckinnons; Smith’s Tank; Hardwicks; Gundaroo (Ridge); Birthday; Goldwing Follow-up Targets with geological, geochemical, geophysical anomalies and historical drilling (8) Mckinnons N; Canbelego Central Structural Zone; Boppy N; Racecourse; Newhaven; Pipeline surrounds; Junction Winduck Shelf; Wonawinta Terrain Boundary E; Wonawinta Far N; Jackermaroo Fault; Coonara – Kuralee Terrain Boundary Canbelego E Follow-up Targets with geological, geochemical and geophysical anomalies (7) Regional Targets (5) (Figure 4: MKR Resource Triangle, 30 June 2023) MKR has continued reviewing and integrating previous exploration and public domain geoscience datasets. A geophysical review was completed during June 2023 on the Canbelego tenements held by the Company (Figure 5) and a similar study was conducted during August 2023 on the Wonawinta Project tenements (Figure 6) with results to be evaluated during Q4 of the 2023 calendar year. On the Canbelego tenements (EL5842 and Mt Boppy ML’s) the priority exploration and development targets are the Mt Boppy dump retreatment evaluation, Mt Boppy Mine deep drilling, Hardwicks (Au), and Pipeline Ridge (Au-Cu-Pb-Zn). Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 14 (Figure 5: Canbelego EL5482 and Mt Boppy ML’s area of geophysical review, simplified geology and mineral prospects) Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 15 Wonawinta Project targets (Figure 6) include the Wonawinta ML1659 (Ag-Pb-Zn) and extensions on EL7345, gold and base metal mineralisation on EL6302 (site of the historic 2g/t McKinnons gold mine) and EL8498 (Guzzi Prospect), and EL6482 (De Nardi, Gundaroo Cu-Pb-Zn; Figure 7). In a similar strategy as per Mt Boppy a bulk sampling program was initiated on the old McKinnon gold waste dump in late June 2023. Results are pending but expected to be similar to the results from Mt Boppy. McKinnon’s is approximately 50km from the Wonawinta plant with a shire road connecting the sites. (Figure 6: Wonawinta and northern exploration targets) Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 16 (Figure 7 – Gold exploration targets in the McKinnons mine area, north of Wonawinta) Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 17 (Figure 8 – Helicopter VTEM Area EL5842) Manuka Resources Ltd For the year ended 30 June 2023 18 TARANAKI VTM PROJECT Manuka entered into a Binding Term Sheet for the purchase (subject to Manuka shareholder approval) of emerging vanadiferous titanomagnetite iron sands producer Trans-Tasman Resources Limited (TTR) on 1st August 202212. In November 2022 Manuka acquired 100% of TTR for the issue of 176,938,295 new Manuka shares. A general meeting of shareholders was called under a notice of meeting distributed to shareholders on 22nd August 202213. At the General Meeting which was held on 21st September 2022 shareholders approved the issue of Manuka shares to TTR shareholders14. Shares were issued at completion of the acquisition in November 2022. Details of the acquisition are outlined in the Financial Statements attached. TTR is a New Zealand incorporated company that was granted Mineral Mining Permit MMP55581, located 22km to 36km offshore in New Zealand’s South Taranaki Bight, in 2014. The South Taranaki Bight extends into an EEZ (exclusive economic zone) controlled by New Zealand. Within the EEZ there exists 3 operating oil and gas platforms, while other commercial operations await operating approval. A Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) for an offshore iron sands project has commenced (Taranaki VTM Project). Manuka’s vision is for a project initially recovering approximately 5 million tonnes (Mt) of vanadiferous titanomagnetite (VTM) iron ore concentrate per annum over a 20 year mine life15. In 2017 the NZ Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) granted the environmental marine and marine discharge consents (Consents) to operate. The gra