PepinNini Minerals : March 22 Quarterly Activities & App5B Cash Flow Report

ASX Announcement 27April 2022

Quarterly Activity Report for period ending 31 March 2022

HIGHLIGHTS

Salta Lithium Brine Project, Argentina

• • MoU executed with lithium extraction company Sunresin New Materials Co. Ltd. for the evaluation and development of the Salta Lithium Brine Project

• • First step in proposed long-term partnership to utilise Sunresin's proprietary Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology to potentially produce battery-grade LIC at Salta

• • Brine blending program delivered highest lithium (Li) concentrate to date - 5.3% - from evaporation tests of blended brine from Incahuasi and Rincon salares at Salta

• • Brine blending program now complete and final results to be reported in near future - results will help determine potential development pathways for the Project

Eyre Peninsula Kaolin-Halloysite Project, South Australia

• • Maiden drilling program commenced at Eyre Peninsula Kaolin-Halloysite Project - up to 130 aircore holes for 7,800m at priority targets on all three exploration licences

• • Drilling designed to test depth and strike extent plus mineralogy of known kaolin occurrences plus other targets defined by geophysics

Santa Ines Copper-Gold Project, Argentina

• • First-phase of drilling commenced at Santa Ines Project - planned to consist of 5 diamond core holes for a total of 600m at priority target areas

• • Project strategically located in the same geological setting as BHP's nearby Escondida Cu-Au Project and 40km south-west of First Quantum's Taca Tacca Cu-Au-Mo Project

Corporate

• • Stephen Ross appointed non-executive chairman replacing David Turvey who remains a non-executive director; and Mena Habib appointed executive director with responsibility for management of day-to-day operations

• • Strong cash position of $4.563m at 31 March 2022

Diversified minerals company PepinNini Minerals Limited (ASX: PNN) (PepinNini or the Company) is pleased to provide the following update on its activities for the quarter ending 31 March 2022.

PepinNini has a portfolio of strategically located exploration projects in key, demand driven commodities including; the Salta Lithium Brine Project in the lithium triangle in Argentina, the Eyre Peninsula Kaolin-Halloysite Project on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, the Musgrave Nickel-Copper-Cobalt-PGE Project in northern South Australia and the Santa Ines Copper-Gold Project in Argentina.

PepinNini Minerals Ltd	Directors
6/68 North Terrace	STEPHEN ROSS - Chairman
Kent Town SA 5067	MENA HABIB - Executive Director
JAMES MOSES - Non-Executive Director
DAVID TURVEY - Non-Executive Director
www.pepinnini.com.au | ASX: PNN

OPERATIONS

Salta Lithium Brine Project, Argentina

The Salta Project is 100%-owned by PepinNini and is located in the Salta province in north-west Argentina. It is situated within the Lithium Triangle, the world's leading lithium brine region. The Project consists of five salares (salt lakes) that sit within seven mining leases, over a total project area of 147.07km2 (Figure 1).

MoU with Global Lithium Extraction Company for Evaluation and Development of Salta Project

During the March 2022 Quarter the Company entered into a partnership with global lithium extraction company Sunresin New Materials Co. Ltd. (Sunresin) for the evaluation and development of the Salta Project (ASX announcement, 7 April 2022).

PepinNini and Sunresin executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) as the first step in a proposed long-term partnership to utilise Sunresin's proprietary Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology for the potential development of a commercial-scale lithium carbonate (LIC) producing operation at the Salta Project.

Sunresin's DLE technology enables the selective salt extraction from brines by using resins to facilitate the extraction of lithium.

Under the MoU, Sunresin will assess the merits of deploying its DLE technology on the Salta lithium brine salares individually. The MoU is proposed to be carried out under the following phases;

• • Phase 1: Project Review and Process Simulation

• • Phase 2: Bench Scale DLE test work and Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA)

• • Phase 3: Pilot Scale DLE lithium carbonate (LIC) production tests

• • Phase 4: Negotiation Phase for a binding agreement for the supply of DLE Technology by Sunresin to PNN's Salta Project

The primary goal of Phase 4 will be to secure a binding agreement that delivers battery-grade LIC from the Salta Project while complying with the highest international ESG standards.

The MoU is non-binding and non-exclusive.

About Sunresin's DLE Technology

Sunresin has in excess of 10 years' experience in DLE with operations in South America, North America, Europe and China. Its proprietary adsorption technology and Simulated Moving Bed (SMB) system has been deployed on different brine grades under different conditions to deliver a low-carbon, environmentally friendly and highly efficient lithium brine extraction solution.

Sunresin's DLE technology is able to extract lithium from a wide variety of brine resources, and deliver higher recoveries with lower costs of processing chemicals and reagents, along with expedited processing times without the need for evaporation ponds.

Figure 1: Location Plan - Salta Lithium Brine Project, NW. Argentina (PNN licenses in blue)

Brine Blending Program Continues to Deliver Exceptional High-Grade Lithium Brine

During the quarter, PepinNini announced a further highly positive progress report from its brine blending program at the Salta Project (ASX announcement, 31 March 2022).

This delivered a further increase in the brine mix concentrate, of 5.3% lithium (Li) with low levels of contaminants (Table 1), and represented an increase on the previous result of 5.2% Li reported in January 2022 (ASX announcement, 20 January 2022).

Also of significant importance was the similarly very high-grade results returned from the individual brines from the Rincon and Incahuasi salares (salt lakes) within the Salta Project, which supplied the brines for the blending program (Figure 1).

The brine from the Rincon salar also achieved a lithium concentrate in excess of 5% Li from the evaporation tests. Brine from the Incahuasi salar returned a concentration of 3% Li, which was restricted from delivering a higher concentrate (potentially also in excess of 5% Li), due to a lack of brine to continue the evaporation process.

The brine blending program is now complete, and the final results and outcomes will be reported in the near future. These will help determine potential development pathways and monetisation opportunities for the Project.

Parameters	Unit	004/1
395
Lithium	Li	%	5.32
Sodium	Na	%	0.094
Potasium	K	%	0.367
Magnesium	Mg	%	1.57
Calcium	Ca	%	0.215
Sulphate	SO4	%	0.019
Chloride	Cl	%	31.80
Boron	B	%	0.472
Density	Density	g/cc	1.282

Table 1: Laboratory Analysis: Concentrated Blended Brine, 17 December 2021

About the Brine Blending Program

The Company's brine blending program commenced in May 2021 and is designed to blend the different chemical properties of the lithium brines from the Incahuasi salar and Rincon salar, within the Salta Project (Figure 1). Its aim is to deliver a higher lithium concentration with minimal deleterious elements and high lithium recoveries in the concentrated blended brine, compared to the lithium concentrate values of the individual salares.

The program has progressively assessed the level of lithium concentration from the blended brines as they evaporate over time, delivering highly positive results. Progress results have been detailed in ASX announcements, 22 September 2021, 25 November 2021, 20 January 2022 and 31 March 2022).

The brines have been blended at a ratio of approximately 3:1 from the Incahuasi salar and Rincon salar respectively.

Eyre Peninsula Kaolin-Halloysite Project, South Australia

The Eyre Peninsula Kaolin-Halloysite Project consists of three Exploration Licences (EL6677, EL6681 and EL6689) covering a total area of 1,413km2. It is strategically located adjacent to Andromeda Metals' (ASX: ADN) Kaolin-Halloysite projects on the western side of the Eyre Peninsula (Figure 2).

Maiden Drilling Program Underway

The Project represents a core exploration asset for PepinNini, and the Company recently commenced its maiden drilling program (ASX announcement, 11 April 2022).

Drilling began at EL6689, the southern-most Exploration Licence, which hosts the highest priority targets (Figure 3). There is a significant historical kaolin site west of Kapinnie within licence EL6689. Prior to drilling PepinNini conducted a site visit to this area and mapped this priority target.

An historic discovery of snow-white kaolin estimated to be in excess of 7 metres thick, at a depth of 6.1 metres, was reported from this site (Dickinson, 1943, SA Mining Review 78). Drilling is planned to progress to the nearby EL6677, and then to EL6681 in the northern part of the Eyre Peninsula (Figure 2).

Drill targets have been identified from historical exploration including geophysics. The program is designed to test the depth and areal extent, plus mineralogy, of known and suspected kaolin occurrences. Drilling will also test other target areas defined by geophysical assessment of suitable underlying basement.

The Company plans to undertake pXRF analytical testing and 'whiteness' measurement onsite, which will provide a rapid confirmation of kaolin content and subjective quality in drilled material.

Laboratory assay results will be released as they become available, and subject to results, a second phase of drilling is planned to further expand the kaolin footprint and drill test new target areas.

Figure 2: Eyre Peninsula Kaolin-Halloysite Project location map