MANTLE MINERALS LIMITED - Capital/Financing Update 2017

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ASX Announcement 10 February 2017

Exploration Update – Lithium Brine Projects

Caeneus Minerals Ltd (“Caeneus” or “the Company”) is pleased to provide the following exploration update on the progress of its Lithium Brine Exploration Projects in Nevada, USA.

Highlights:

Local gravity program underway at Scotty’s South Lithium Brine Project to integrate with highly encouraging geophysical data from recent MT geophysical program
MT and gravity program to commence at Columbus Marsh Lithium Brine Project next week to best determine prospectively ahead of maiden drill program
Ongoing analysis of project data sets in conjunction with nearby work programs to best determine optimum drilling strategy

Geophysical Work Programs in Progress

Following the highly encouraging Magnetotelluric (“MT”) survey results received at Scotty’s South, the Company has commenced a more detailed gravity survey to map the basin area. This will allow the generation of a detailed model of the basin fill thus providing the coverage to more accurately determine basin / sub-basin depth and delineate the structural setting. From this, optimal drill targets will be determined in conjunction with the MT survey data.

A complete MT geophysical survey as well as a local gravity survey will also be undertaken at Columbus Marsh. This will give the Company the most accurate understanding of the relative merits of all projects on a like-for-like basis and will allow the ability to prioritise them ahead of the maiden drilling campaign to follow.

The relatively fast turnaround time of these geophysical programs allows the Company to perform these activities immediately and will allow for the drilling campaigns to be held following this period.

The Company anticipates that given its current cash position it may strategically choose to evaluate one, two, or all projects to explore within the first round of drilling, thus resulting in economies of scale for mobilisation costs, technical consultants, and so forth.

A summary of the proposed work to be undertaken over the coming weeks is as follows:

TASK NAME	January	January	January	February	February	February	March	March	March	April	April	April	May	May	May
	B	M	E	B	M	E	B	M	E	B	M	E	B	M	E
Planning & Permitting
MT Program- Scotty's South
Gravity Program- Scotty's South
MT Program -Columbus Marsh
Gravity Program- Columbus Marsh
Drilling Program
Analysis
Data Compilation, Reporting & Modelling

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Neighbouring Properties & Work Programs in Progress

Furthermore, the Company continues to compile and analyse the large amounts of technical data from drilling currently underway on surrounding projects in conjunction with technical consultants, drillers and other specialists to best determine prospectively of interpreted brine horizons from successful cores.

The Company is attempting to make the best determination before ultimately drilling for a lithium enriched aquifer following the proven existence of lithium rich clay horizons having being discovered in relative proximity to all three of the Company’s lithium brine exploration projects.

Specifically, the Company notes recent work by Iconic Minerals (TSXV: ICM) at their Bonnie Claire Project, located immediately north of Caeneus’s Scotty’s South Project. Iconic has reported hole BC1601 contains an intercept of 1,180 feet (360 metres) averaging 1,307 parts per million lithium and over-500-part-permillion lithium values beginning within 20 feet (6 metres) of surface. BC1602 contains an intercept of 1,170 feet (357 metres) averaging 850 parts per million lithium, with the highest lithium value in BC1602 of 1,790 parts per million occurring at the bottom of the hole. ( Refer TSXV: ICM announcement Geochemical Results of Drill Cuttings From Second Drill Hole at Bonnie Claire Extend Area of Highly Anomalous Lithium )

The identical geology and geophysical signatures of these two mineralized intercepts indicates that lithiumbearing sediments may occur continuously between the two drill holes. Furthermore, Iconic has demonstrated strong recoveries associated with the ability to leach lithium from the sediments at Bonnie Claire which may represent a new method of commercial lithium extraction.