First Drill Hole In Ecuador Confirms The Discovery Of A Major Gold-Copper System With A 784 Metre Intersection

Challenger Exploration (ASX: CEL) (“CEL” the “Company”)”) is pleased to announce results from the Company's first two drill holes from the El Guayabo Gold-Copper Project in El Oro Province, Ecuador. The results confirm the discovery of a significant intrusion hosted gold-copper-silver-molybdenum system with both holes encountering wide zones of mineralisation associated with intrusives and intrusive breccias. The first two holes have intersected two zones of mineralisation extending over 800 metres of strike on a 1.8 kilometre long gold in soil anomaly.

• First drill hole in CEL's 100% owned El Guayabo concession in Ecuador has intersected significant Au-Cu-Ag-Mo mineralisation over 784 metres1 from 16.2m to the end of the hole at 800.5m
• Significant intersections in drillhole GYDD-21-001 include (Refer Table 1):
  • 784.3m at 0.4 g/t AuEq2 - 0.2 g/t Au, 1.6 g/t Ag, 0.1 % Cu, 12 ppm Mo from 16.2m including;
  • 380.5m at 0.5 g/t AuEq2 - 0.3 g/t Au, 2.0 g/t Ag, 0.1 % Cu, 18 ppm Mo from 167.5m including;
  • 188.5m at 0.6 g/t AuEq2 - 0.4 g/t Au, 2.3 g/t Ag, 0.1 % Cu, 30 ppm Mo from 359.5m including;
    • 21.0m at 1.1 g/t AuEq2 - 0.8 g/t Au, 3.0 g/t Ag, 0.2 % Cu, 139 ppm Mo from 403.0m and
  • 30.0m at 1.1 g/t AuEq2 - 0.8 g/t Au, 2.6 g/t Ag, 0.2 % Cu, 25 ppm Mo from 468.5m
• Confirms the strategy for El Guaybo to provide a second gold-copper opportunity of significant scale that is complimentary to CEL's Hualilan Gold Project in Argentina where 9-rigs are drilling
• GYDD-21-001 was a low priority hole, collared significantly east of the main high-grade section of the 1.8km gold in soil anomaly, on the drill pad providing the best access for this first hole
• High priority holes GYDD-21-003 to GYDD-21-006 (assays pending) and GYDD-21-008 (in progress) have been targeted to test the main high-grade section of this anomaly
• A second rig was added at the completion of the third drill hole to expedite the program

Commenting on the results, CEL Managing Director, Mr Kris Knauer, said

“This result is an outstanding start which confirms we have a major gold-copper system at El Guayabo. The intersection of 784 metres at 0.4 g/t gold equivalent, to the end of the hole, including a higher grade core of 380.5 metres at 0.5 or 188.5 metres at 0.6 g/t gold equivalent is comparable with the results from the Tier 1 Cangrejos gold discovery adjacent to our tenement boundary.

The results are even better in the context that these first two holes were drilled on low priority locations. While GYDD-21-001 was drilled to test a 1.8 kilometre gold in soil anomaly, the high-grade core of this anomaly is being targeted in the next four drill holes. Additionally, this is the first of nine geochemical targets within the greater El Guayabo Project with drilling on the highest priority of these targets, located in Colorado V, to start in the current quarter."

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