May River Project

Overview

Adjacent to the Tier-One Frieda River Cu-Au Project

Acquired in 2023 and fully owned, the May River Project spans 1,697 km² of licences adjacent to the tier-one Frieda River Cu-Au Project in Papua New Guinea’s East Sepik Province. Its proximity to Frieda River—one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold projects—significantly enhances the project’s prospectivity.

The property lies within a geological and structural setting similar to Frieda River and near the northeast-trending structural corridor that also hosts the Ok Tedi Mine. A 7 km north-northwest-trending structural corridor contains two drill-confirmed high-sulphidation gold occurrences, highlighting the district’s mineral potential.

Priority targets include two confirmed mineralised districts: the Skygate Cu-Au Porphyry-Epithermal Trend and the Ufuo Polymetallic Massive Sulphide District. More than 20 identified prospects span multiple deposit styles, including porphyry Cu-Au-Mo, high-sulphidation epithermal gold, polymetallic VMS (Cu-Zn-Au-Ag-Pb), and gold-base metal vein systems.

Project: MAY RIVER – Gold & Copper
Land Package: 1,697 Km² in the East Sepik Province, PNG
Proximity: <15 km west of PanAust’s Frieda River undeveloped Cu-Au Project
Stage: Exploration

Highlights

Key Project Highlights

01

Prime Location

1,697 km² of strategic ground adjacent to the tier-1 Frieda River Cu-Au Project by PanAust in the East Sepik Province

02

Geological Richness

Geological and structural setting proximal to Frieda River, featuring a 7 km north-northwest trending structural corridor with confirmed high-sulfidation gold occurrences

03

Historical Drilling

Historical drilling intercepts include 109m of 1.53 g/t Au and 164m at 1.23 g/t Au

Investment case

Key Investment Highlights

01
District positioned in the world’s most prolific copper-gold fold-thrust belt: analogous to Frieda River (12 Mt Cu, 21 Moz Au) and located approximately 15 km to the west.
02
Drill-confirmed gold (Skiraisa): 109 m @ 1.53 g/t Au and 164 m @ 1.23 g/t Au from surface, open at depth, with a porphyry target modelled beneath.
03
Ultra-high-grade near-surface copper (VMS4): 19 m @ 11.47% Cu and 11 m @ 10.07% Cu.
04
25+ years of exploration data consolidated and evaluated:
- Early exploration by Highlands Gold, Mincor, Niuminco and others providing broad background geochemistry and geophysical data.
- Extensive surface geochemistry dataset comprising more than 7,700 samples.
- Integration of extensive geophysical datasets (airborne magnetics, ZTEM and VTEM) with geology and mineralisation to identify drill targets at Skygate and Ufuo–Tuwavi.
05
Underexplored upside:
- Five VMS polymetallic (Cu-Zn-Au-Ag-Pb) districts within the Ufuo system.
- Multiple additional targets across the Skygate Trend including Tuwavi, East/West Simia, Awopei, Iku Hill, White Scarp and Paniawai remain to be tested.
- 3D geophysical inversion confirms sub-surface intrusive targets: identified at both Skiraisa and Ufuo VMS4.

Prospects

May River Prospects Overview

The Skygate Cu-Au Porphyry-Epithermal Trend

The Skygate Cu-Au Trend occupies a regionally significant structural position along the WNW-trending Frieda Fault splay system. The same fault family that localises the Frieda River deposit 15 km to the east. The trend is further cross-cut by a NE-trending transfer structural zone that also transects the producing OK Tedi Mine, creating a structurally complex and highly prospective intersection geometry. Major gold anomalies (>100 ppb Au in soils) extend over a 2.43 km² area at the southern end of the trend.

Skiraisa Gold Breccia Deposit

Skiraisa is the most advanced prospect in the Skygate Trend. It is a gold-mineralised diatreme breccia associated with a broad lithocap, the shallow expression of an underlying porphyry-epithermal system. Historical drilling (13 DDH; 1993–1998) defined a mineralised body more than 150 m wide, extending to 150 m depth and remaining open down-dip and to the east.

Broad zones of gold mineralisation intercepted in historical drilling include:

006SK98: 109 m @ 1.53 g/t Au from surface to 109 m (open).
011SK98: 54 m @ 1.83 g/t Au from 106 to 160 m (open).
93SK001: 96 m @ 0.89 g/t Au from 0 to 96 m.

Figure 1. Skygate Cu-Au Trend geological and structural setting relative to Frieda River.

Figure 2. Skiraisa historic drill holes 006SK98, 001SK98 and 011SK96.

Figure 3. Skiraisa Gold Breccia 3D model showing the high-sulphidation gold system and underlying porphyry target.

Mountain Gate – Undrilled Porphyry Target

Mountain Gate is situated at the northern end of the Skygate Trend and represents a classic Cu-Au porphyry target with no previous drilling. The prospect hosts Cu-mineralised breccias and stockwork at surface, with gold-rich outcrop samples returning up to 3 g/t Au. Trenching has outlined a 2,000 × 800 m anomalous zone with assays up to 3,000 ppm Cu and 0.68 g/t Au over 10.5 m. Gold-in-soil values exceed 500 ppb Au, with the highest-grade zones coincident with copper values greater than 250 ppm.

Figure 4. Mountain Gate gold-in-soil anomalies.

Exploration

Exploration Work Summary

SPMC Exploration Work Summary (2024-2026)

Upon consolidating the May River licences in 2023, SPMC’s technical team undertook a systematic review, reprocessing and integration of all available historical datasets.

This work included:

Cross-validating historical drill databases;
Standardising all historical grid coordinate systems;
Reprocessing and re-evaluating airborne magnetic data using advanced 3D vector inversion techniques;
Reviewing the complete surface geochemistry dataset (7,700 stream sediment, pan concentrate, rock chip and soil samples) to identify high-priority mineralised basins and follow-up targets;
Integrating airborne EM datasets (VTEM over Ufuo and Skygate; ZTEM over Skygate) with geology and geochemistry to define drill targets;
Constructing 3D geological and geophysical models at Skiraisa and Ufuo VMS4 to identify sub-surface intrusive targets.

This work program confirmed two primary drill-ready mineralised districts and identified more than 20 additional prospects across the tenement package, the majority of which have not been drill-tested.

Historical Work and Data Compilation

The May River Project area has been subject to mineral exploration for over six decades. The data generated including geological maps, geochemical databases, geophysical surveys and diamond drill cores, was acquired by SPMC from previous operators, cross-validated against original field reports and standardised to a common coordinate system (WGS84 UTM Zone 54) for modern reinterpretation.

Exploration Timeline

Period	Operator / Activity
1960–1970	First regional exploration by Kennecott, International Nickel and Carpenteria targeting Ni, Cu, Pb, Zn and Au in the northern tenement areas. Established baseline geochemical framework.
1979	Tuwavi VMS polymetallic system discovered. Drilling intercepted 34 m at 0.5–1.0% Cu, establishing first evidence of a significant VMS presence in the northern district.
1988	Western Mining Corp conducted surface sampling in the West May River area.
1990–1994	Highlands Gold conducted regional stream sampling and geological mapping. Discovered the Foya, Mountain Gate and Skiraisa prospects within the Skygate Cu-Au Trend. Four diamond drill holes completed at Skiraisa (1990–94); three at Foya. Trenching at Foya.
1993	Ufuo VMS system discovered by Highlands Gold. Completed petrology, surface sampling, mapping, trenching, airborne magnetics and ground IP surveys. Identified the five massive Sulphide bodies.
1997	Highlands Gold completed drilling at Ufuo; 26 holes testing VMS3 and VMS4, totaling 2,347.5 m. Ultra-high-grade copper intercepts recorded (010UF97, 009UF97).
1998	Additional drilling by Highlands at Ufuo (VMS1 and VMS2; 487.6 m) and Skiraisa (12 DDH; 6 holes with highly encouraging results including 109 m at 1.53 g/t Au).
1999	Drilling at Tuwavi; regional work identified several polymetallic anomalies at 0.3–1.6% Cu.
1998–2000	Continued regional exploration by Highlands Gold before relinquishing the project.
2011–2016	Niuminco Ltd (in JV with Mincor 2011–2013) invested more than C$4M. Completed VTEM geophysical survey (3,074 line km) over Ufuo and Skygate regions and a ZTEM survey (1,977 line km) over Skygate. Drilled 2–3 confirmation holes at Skiraisa (900 m). No further work 2017–2023.
2019–2023	Hardrock Resources held two licences covering the western half of the current project. No ground work completed.
2023	SPMC acquires two licences from Hardrock Resources, one from Niuminco, and applies for a new ELA, consolidating all licences into the integrated May River Project.
2024–2025	SPMC compiles and reprocesses all historical datasets; commissions advanced 3D geological and geophysical modeling at Skiraisa and Ufuo. Identifies priority drill targets.

Regional setting

Regional & Geological Context

May River structural and geological settings, along with exposed Au-Cu mineralisation, analogous to that at Frieda River. Occurrences are linked with large alteration zones and showcase diverse mineralisation styles, ranging from copper-dominant intrusives with stockwork mineralisation at lower elevations to epithermal, intrusion-related / diatreme epithermal gold mineralisation at higher elevations.

Regional Framework: The PNG Fold and Thrust Belt

The May River Project is situated in the Papua New Guinea Fold and Thrust Belt (PNGTB) a 2,000 km-long orogenic zone running the full length of the island of New Guinea and hosting some of the world’s most important copper-gold deposits.

Within this belt, a series of major northwest-trending fault splays and northeast-trending transfer zones create structural traps that are ideal for the emplacement of porphyry Cu-Au intrusive complexes and associated epithermal gold systems. These structural geometries have controlled the formation of the region’s giant deposits including Grasberg, Frieda River, Ok Tedi, Wafi-Golpu, Porgera, Kainantu, and Lihir.

May River occupies a unique position in this belt: directly west of Frieda River and sharing the same WNW-trending fault architecture and Frieda Andesite/Intrusion-hosted geological setting. The project’s Skygate Cu-Au Trend is 15 km west of Frieda River and lies along the same regional fault zone splay. The northeast-trending transfer zone that cuts through May River & Frieda River also transects the producing Ok Tedi Mine, a structural corridor with an exceptional track record of hosting economic mineralisation.

Adjacent to the Tier-One Frieda River Cu-Au Project