Novo Strengthens Portfolio With Two High-Grade Gold Projects in NSW, Australia

HIGHLIGHTS

• Novo has strengthened its high-quality, Australian based exploration portfolio by executing binding term sheets relating to TechGen Metals Limited’s (ASX: TG1) (TechGen) John Bull Gold Project in the New England Orogen of NSW, and Manhattan Corporation Limited’s (ASX: MHC) (Manhattan) Tibooburra Gold Project in the Albert Goldfields in northwestern NSW.
• Both projects demonstrate prospectivity for significant discovery and resource definition and align with Novo’s strategy of identifying and exploring projects with > 1 Moz Au potential.
• These high-grade gold projects compliment the recent announced landholding consolidation that forms the Toolunga Project in the Onslow District in Western Australia

TechGen – John Bull Gold Project

• The John Bull Gold Project (John Bull) is an advanced exploration opportunity, located in the emerging New England district NSW.
• The agreement with TechGen grants Novo an option to acquire an 80% interest in the Micks Bull tenement and a 70% interest in the John Bull tenement.
• A costean by Kennecott Australia in 1983 intersected 160 m @ 1.2 g/t Au, including 5 m @ 18.0 g/t Au and 5 m @ 7.1 g/t Au¹.
• Soil sampling completed by TechGen highlighted an exceptionally high-order gold anomaly over 900 m long and 250 m wide at > 100 ppb Au with seven samples reporting  > 4.5 g/t Au².
• Drilling completed by TechGen includes 17 RC holes for 2,249.5 m (2022 and 2023) with an effective test to ~120 m vertical depth.
• Peak results from four approximately 100 m spaced sections of shallow RC drilling by TechGen over 320 m strike include:
  • 94 m @ 0.95 g/t Au from 4 m including 66 m @ 1.14 g/t Au, and 17 m @ 1.08 g/t Au from 109 m (JBRC0006)³
  • 68 m @ 1.00 g/t Au from surface, including 23 m @ 2.02 g/t Au (JBRC0001)⁴
• All sections remain open at depth and the system remains open along strike.
• An Induced Polarisation (IP) geophysical survey over part of the target produced anomalies over known mineralisation⁵ and an additional four IP chargeability targets remain to be tested.
• Multiple targets identified for drill testing, including directly down dip and along strike of significant intercepts, co-incident or separate Au soil anomalies and IP anomalies, and under historic workings.
• Novo is planning > 2,000 m drilling for H1 2025, following the completion of detailed mapping and infill and extensional geochemical sampling.

Manhattan – Tibooburra

• The Tibooburra Gold Project is an advanced exploration opportunity, located in northwestern NSW and covering the historical Albert Goldfield.
• The agreement with Manhattan grants Novo an option to acquire a 70% interest in the tenements comprising the Tibooburra Project.
• The Tibooburra Gold Project includes six granted exploration licences over 630 sq km, including more than 200 historic workings and 34 km of mineralised trends on multiple lines of workings, with two advanced drill-ready target areas (New Bendigo and Clone) already defined.
• New Bendigo – shows extensive historical workings over 2 km strike.
  • Several drill programs by Manhattan tested over 530 m strike and intersected multiple high-order intercepts. Extremely high-grade gold has been observed hosted in laminated quartz veins in historical diamond drilling.
  • Peak drill results include⁶:
    • 30 m at 4.03 g/t Au from 11 m, including 5 m at 20.86 g/t Au (NB0033)
    • 16 m at 13.89 g/t Au from 1 m, including 3 m at 69.20 g/t Au (NB0083)
    • 8 m at 40.5 g/t Au from 70 m, including 3 m at 105.34 g/t Au (NB0089)
    • 7 m at 13.10 g/t Au from 97 m, including 5 m at 18.01 g/t Au (NB0113)
    • 13 m at 6.16 g/t Au from 50 m, including 3 m at 25.48 g/t Au (NB0122)
• Clone - extensive historical workings over ~450 m strike and 20 to 40 m in depth.
  • Drilling by Manhattan in 2023 highlighted potential for shallow dipping high-grade gold mineralisation. Excellent drill results were returned from 11 holes over 250 m strike to a maximum depth below surface of 75m, including⁷:
    • 7 m at 7.23 g/t Au from 81 m, including 3 m at 16.1 g/t Au (CL0007)
    • 9 m at 6.03 g/t Au from 16 m (CL0010)
    • 6 m at 4.22 g/t Au from 66 m, including 2 m at 11.65 g/t Au (CL0004)
    • 31 m at 1.29 g/t Au from 60 m, including 3 m at 6.52 g/t Au (CL0002)
  • Shallow cover is present in the southern part of the field, with ~10 km of mineralised trend unexplored north and south of the immediate Clone area.
• Novo is planning to conduct detailed structural work, broad scale geological and regolith mapping, surface soil and rock chip geochemical sampling in the main target areas prior to a 2,000 m RC drill program in H1 2025.

Commenting on the acquisitions, Mike Spreadborough, Executive Co-Chairman and Acting Chief Executive Officer, said: “Novo is pleased to complete option agreements on the John Bull Gold Project with TechGen Metals and the Tibooburra Gold Project with Manhattan Corporation. Both Projects are drill-ready, high-grade gold opportunities, located in excellent mining jurisdictions and most importantly, meet the specific project criteria required by our standout geological team to identify standalone gold projects with > 1 Moz development potential.

“High-grade gold projects are rare, and both the John Bull and Tibooburra Gold Projects have reported previous high-grade results. We are looking forward to getting on the ground early in 2025 and commencing both exploration programs. Importantly, the John Bull and Tibooburra Gold Projects compliment Novo’s existing high-quality Pilbara, Western Australia and Victoria exploration portfolio and following the recent sale of our partial investment on San Cristobal Mining for A$11.5 million, we are well-funded to continue our strong exploration push in 2025.”

A PDF of this release including all associated figures is available at: http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/31d0e229-1b9a-481d-a7b2-3b5f7e06a77c

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novo Resources Corp. (Novo or the Company) (ASX: NVO) (TSX: NVO) (OTCQX: NSRPF) is pleased to announce that it has entered into binding term sheets for two option agreements, one with TechGen Metals Limited (ASX: TG1) (TechGen) at their John Bull Gold Project (John Bull) and a second with Manhattan Corporation Limited (ASX: MHC) (Manhattan) at their Tibooburra Gold Project (Tibooburra) with both projects located in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

These projects support Novo’s strategy of identifying ‘drill ready’ exploration targets with a demonstrated pathway with potential to be a standalone project with > 1 Moz development potential.

Both Projects also satisfy Novo’s key sustainability criteria for potential future development.

In addition to Novo’s current Pilbara exploration portfolio and recently announced Onslow District landholding consolidation to form the Toolunga Project in Western Australia (WA), the John Bull and Tibooburra Gold Projects will strengthen Novo’s exploration portfolio and provide targeted exploration drill programs throughout 2025.

ABOUT NOVO

Novo is an Australian based gold explorer listed on the ASX and the TSX focused on discovering standalone gold projects with > 1 Moz development potential. Novo is an innovative gold explorer with a significant land package covering approximately 5,500 square kilometres in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, along with the 22 square kilometre Belltopper project in the Bendigo Tectonic Zone of Victoria, Australia.

Novo’s key project area in the Pilbara is the Egina Gold Camp, where De Grey Mining is farming-in to form a JV at the Becher Project and surrounding tenements through exploration expenditure of A$25 million within 4 years for a 50% interest. The Becher Project has similar geological characteristics as De Grey’s 12.7 Moz Hemi Project^*. Novo is also advancing gold exploration south of Becher in the Egina Gold Camp, part of the Croydon JV (Novo 70%: Creasy Group 30%). Novo continues to undertake early-stage exploration elsewhere across its Pilbara tenement portfolio.

Novo has also formed a lithium joint venture with SQM in the Pilbara which provides shareholder exposure to battery metals.

JOHN BULL GOLD PROJECT

Location and Tenure

John Bull is located in the New England Orogen of NSW. The tenure consists of two tenements and covers some 32 sq km (Figure 2, Table 1).

Table 1 John Bull Gold Project tenement details

Geology and Mineralisation

Mineralisation at John Bull is interpreted to be part of a reduced IRG system. It is characterised by abundant sheeted and stockwork veins with associated sulphides and is hosted within Carboniferous sediments and felsic intrusions (Figure 3). The mineralisation lies within the thermal aureole of a large northeast-trending Triassic I-type granite, which is of the same age as the Timbarra Gold Mine.

Gold mineralisation in the form of sheeted, low-sulphide quartz veins trend NNE and ENE and dip 40 to 60 degrees to the ESE in a 250 m wide corridor, crosscutting bedding. Mineralisation includes native gold in a low sulphide system with pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite and minor magnetite.

Previous Exploration

Historic

Gold discovered in 1872 was worked from at least three shafts up to 20 m deep⁸. Subsequent and extensive hydraulic sluicing of elluvial material of three areas was conducted. The main area of sluicing has exposed numerous sheeted quartz veins in the south of the project area and was the target of drilling conducted by TechGen in 2022 / 2023.

Kennecott / Southern Goldfields Trenching and Sampling

Between 1983 and 1985, Kennecott / Southern Goldfields completed a 220 m long costean dug by a backhoe, which has since been infilled and rehabilitated. The trench was excavated perpendicular to veins and cut through the main exposed vein arrays in Sluice Area 1 resulting in an intersection of 160 m @ 1.2 g/t Au (Figure 4) from 5 m composite samples (no top cut applied), and including higher grades such as 5 m @ 18.0 g/t Au and 5 m @ 7.1 g/t Au⁹. Assaying included screen fire assay on twelve samples, which show the presence of coarse gold. The project may significantly benefit from alternate modern assay techniques such as 500 g or multipot Chrysos PhotonAssay™ analysis to better quantify this coarse gold component.

Sample results may not be representative of mineralisation in the district. No assurance can be given that Novo will achieve similar results as part of its exploration activities.

TechGen Geochemical Sampling

More recently, TechGen defined a significant, high-order surface geochemical gold anomaly over 900 m strike and 250 m width at > 100 ppb Au (Figure 4), with seven soil samples > 4.5 g/t Au and a peak assay of 10.0 g/t Au¹⁰. The soil anomaly remains open along strike to the north. A second smaller anomaly occurs in the south, with the entire system thus far defined over 1.3 km strike. TechGen completed 743 samples at 50 m x 50 m and locally down to 25 m x 25 m resulting in assays with 47 samples > 1 g/t Au. Refer to Appendix 2 for all results > 100 ppb Au soil samples.

The Micks Bull tenement, immediately west of John Bull has limited stream sediment sampling and requires immediate follow-up and first pass exploration.

Geophysics

Induced Polarisation electrical geophysics (IP) was conducted on 3 lines over the southern part of the target, delineating significant chargability anomalies over known mineralisation¹¹, as well as four chargability anomalies that are not yet drill tested (Figure 5).

Drilling

Seventeen RC drill holes for 2,249.5 m were completed in 2 phases by TechGen in 2022 and 2023, with the deepest hole being 146.5 m (effectively tested to 120 m below surface). Drilling tested only 320 m strike with mineralisation open on all sections and to the north and south. Best results are:

• 94 m @ 0.95 g/t Au from 4 m, including 66 m @ 1.14 g/t Au and 17 m @ 1.08 g/t Au (JBRC0006)¹²
• 68 m @ 1.0 g/t Au from surface, including 23 m @ 2.02 g/t Au (JBRC0001) also including higher grade zones of 7 m @ 3.10 g/t Au from 55 m and 4 m @ 4.58 g/t Au from 39m¹³
• 22 m @ 1.07 g/t Au from 60 m (JBRC00016)¹⁴

Full results for significant intercepts previously released are presented in Appendix 1.

ESG Criteria

Novo has an ongoing commitment to operating in a safe, responsible and environmentally sustainable manner. Novo carries out exploration activities mindful that it has a responsibility to manage the land on which it operates to ensure it minimises its impacts. Novo develops and implements Environmental Management Plans specific to the regions in which it operates.

Novo is committed to developing strong relationships with all its stakeholders. This is achieved through open and honest communications. 

Heritage and Native Title

The TechGen tenements fall within the Grafton-Ngerrie Local Aboriginal Council. There are no Native Title Determinations or active Claims over the tenements. This area will be monitored for the lodgment of a new claim. If a claim is lodged, consultation will occur with the new representative body/traditional owners to ensure informed consent for exploration in the area.

Forward Programs

Novo intends to conduct the following exploration activities John Bull in H1 2025:

• Detailed 1:500 scale to 1:2,000 scale mapping, focussing on lithological and structural controls on mineralisation at John Bull.
• Extend the soil sample grids to the north and south of current coverage, and infill to 25 m x 25 m spaced soil sampling where current coverage is 50 m x 50 m.
• pXRF multielement analysis of soil samples in addition to laboratory assayed gold.
• Complete multi-element assaying of remaining drilling residue where this was not previously conducted.
• > 2,000 m of drilling, including > 500 m of diamond drilling in H1 2025. Drilling will be aimed at testing down dip and along strike of current open intercepts, testing targets north and south of current drilling and testing structural – lithological intersections once defined by new detailed mapping.
• Work to be conducted on the western Micks Bull tenement includes additional stream sediment sampling to achieve full coverage, ridge and spur rock chip sampling, gridded soil sampling, and mapping.

Material John Bull Option Terms

The key terms of the binding term sheets with TechGen Metals Limited, TechGen NSW Pty Ltd (TechGen NSW) and Andrew Sloot (Sloot) regarding the John Bull project are set out below:

• On signing of the definitive agreement, Novo will reimburse TechGen NSW A$300,000 worth of Novo shares at market value for expenditure incurred to date, which shares will be subject to a four-month hold period pursuant to Canadian securities laws.
• Novo is required to complete 1,500 m of drilling in the first earn in period of 12 months.
• Following that initial period, if Novo chooses to continue, it will pay TechGen NSW, A$200,000 worth of Novo shares at market value for a second farm in period of 12 months, which shares will be subject to a four-month hold period pursuant to Canadian securities laws.
• Novo is required to complete an additional 1,500 m of drilling in the second earn in period of 12 months.
• At completion of the second farm-in period, Novo has the option to terminate the agreement or exercise the option and form an 80/20 unincorporated joint venture with TechGen NSW on EL9121, (Micks Bull) in which TechGen is free carried until a decision is made to commence commercial mining operations. If the option is exercised, Novo will obtain an 80% interest in the tenements. Also, at completion of the second farm-in period, Novo has the option to form a 70/20/10 unincorporated joint venture with TechGen NSW and Sloot on EL8389 (John Bull) in which both TechGen NSW and Sloot are free carried until a decision is made to commence commercial mining operations. If this option is exercised, Novo will obtain a 70% interest in the tenement.
• TechGen NSW signed a binding term sheet with Black Dragon Energy (AUS) Pty Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Zenith Minerals Limited) on 16 May 2022, through which TechGen acquired legal and beneficial interest in the tenements comprising the John Bull Gold Project.

TIBOOBURRA GOLD PROJECT

Location and Tenure

Tibooburra is located in the northwest of NSW, Australia approximately 280 km north of the Broken Hill Pb-Zn-Ag mine and includes six granted exploration licences over ~ 630 sq km (Figure 7).

The tenure consists of five tenements within and along strike of the Albert Goldfields and one tenement (EL 9094) situated further west, covering a large magnetic high with co-incident gravity low (Table 2). Tenure is held by Awati Resources Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Manhattan.

Table 2 Tibooburra Gold Project tenement details

Geology and Mineralisation

Tibooburra covers ~55 km of strike along the Tibooburra and Koonenberry Greenstone Belts in northwestern NSW. The Albert Goldfields is an historical field located in the north of the project area, discovered in 1881 and mined in earnest until 1901 with a recorded production of approximately 55,000 oz Au at mining grades of +20 g/t Au².

The Albert Goldfields lies on a unique district-scale jog at the boundary of the Thomson and Delamarian orogens, with stratigraphy wrapping around the Tibooburra granite intrusive complex to the northeast (Figure 8). Mineralisation is described as narrow high-grade (to super high-grade) quartz veins hosted in the folded and faulted Cambrian sedimentary host rocks, and broadly falls under the classification of turbidite-hosted/slate-belt gold.

The Project area itself displays more than 200 historic workings and over 34 km of mineralised trend on multiple lines of workings (Figure 9). Several immediate targets have been delineated by previous workers including New Bendigo, Clone, Pioneer, Elizabeth Reef and Good Friday. However, outside the New Bendigo prospect little systematic modern exploration has been conducted. The area is significantly under-explored, and satellite imagery and interpretation (Figure 9) shows abundant cover including:

• North and south of New Bendigo;
• South of Clone, the trend is essentially under cover for >10 km; and
• Regionally, south of the kink there is 60 km strike with no outcrop.

Two advanced drill ready target areas are defined at New Bendigo and Clone (and the associated Clone Trend).

Previous Exploration

Overview

Manhattan entered into an agreement to acquire the Tibooburra Project from Awati Resources Limited in late 2019¹⁶. Since then, Manhattan has drilled several aircore (AC) traverses, and targeted RC and diamond drilling, with particular focus around the New Bendigo Target. A short RC drill program was completed in 2023 at Clone. Manhattan’s exploration programs were disrupted in 2020 due COVID and border closures, delaying many programs.

Prior to Manhattan, work across the licence area included soil, stream and rock chip sampling programs, broad RAB and AC drilling traverses, regional geophysics (magnetics and gravity), RC and limited diamond drilling.

Historical exploration results contained in the Reports lodged by the other companies referred to in this news release have not been reported in accordance with the JORC Code 2012 or NI 43-101 and a Competent Person/Qualified Person has not done sufficient work to disclose the exploration results in accordance with the JORC Code 2012 or NI 43-101. It is possible that following further evaluation and/or exploration work that the confidence in the prior reported exploration results may be reduced when reported under the JORC Code 2012 or NI 43-101. Novo confirms that nothing has come to its attention that causes it to question the accuracy or reliability of the results included in the WAMEX Reports, but Novo has not independently validated those results and therefore is not to be regarded as reporting, adopting or endorsing those results.

New Bendigo Prospect

The prospect shows extensive historical workings at surface over 2 km strike. Several historical drill programs, including RC and diamond drilling by Manhattan in 2020-2022 testing over 530 m strike intersected multiple high order gold results. Extremely high-grade gold has been observed, hosted in laminated quartz veins in historical diamond drilling (Figure 10).

Peak results from Manhattan drilling include¹⁷:

• 30 m at 4.03 g/t Au from 11 m, including 5 m at 20.86 g/t Au (NB0033)
• 16 m at 13.89 g/t Au from 1 m, including 3 m at 69.20 g/t Au (NB0083)
• 8 m at 40.5 g/t Au from 70 m, including 3 m at 105.34 g/t Au (NB0089)
• 7 m at 13.10 g/t Au from 97 m, including 5 m at 18.01 g/t Au (NB0113)
• 13 m at 6.16 g/t Au from 50 m, including 3 m at 25.48 g/t Au (NB0122)
• 24 m @ 3.55 g/t Au from 82 m including 4 m @ 20.11 g/t Au (NBD005 - Figure 10)

Refer to Appendix 5 and Appendix 6 for a list of all significant intercepts for New Bendigo diamond and RC drilling results.

The prospect provides an opportunity for high-grade resource development once geological controls and continuity are resolved. Potential for repeated lodes at depth and along an interpreted shallow plunge is also good. Substantial drill step outs down dip and down plunge will be required to test for blind mineralisation and stacked lodes.

Sample results may not be representative of mineralisation in the district. No assurance can be given that Novo will achieve similar results as part of its exploration activities.

Cautionary Statement: Visual estimates of mineral abundance should never be considered a proxy or substitute for laboratory analyses where concentrations or grades are the factor of principal economic interest. Visual estimates also potentially provide no information regarding impurities or deleterious physical properties relevant to valuations.

Clone Prospect

The Clone prospect is characterised by numerous historical workings over a ~ 450 m strike length, to depths of up to 25 m. Multiple parallel mineralised trends are targeted, with the densest population of historic workings occurring over a zone locally up to 130 m wide.

The Clone prospect occupies the middle of an approximately 10 km section of largely unexplored ground along a prospective northwest-trending fault corridor that stretches from the New Bendigo Prospect to the southeast; and the Pioneer Prospect to the northwest.

Peak drill results from 11 RC holes drilled in 2023 over 250 m strike to a maximum depth below surface of 75 m, include¹⁹:

• 7 m at 7.23 g/t Au from 81 m, including 3 m at 16.1 g/t Au (CL0007)
• 9 m at 6.03 g/t Au from 16 m (CL0010)
• 6 m at 4.22 g/t Au from 66 m, including 2 m at 11.65 g/t Au (CL0004)
• 31 m at 1.29 g/t Au from 60 m, including 3 m at 6.52 g/t Au (CL0002)

Mineralisation at Clone remains open in all directions, with targeted mineralised basement trending under cover sediments to the south. The cover sediments extending for some 15 km and providing opportunities for exploration targeting potential ‘blind discoveries.’

Sample results may not be representative of mineralisation in the district. No assurance can be given that Novo will achieve similar results as part of its exploration activities.

A full list of significant intercepts for Clone 2022 RC drilling is listed in Appendix 4.

Cautionary Statement: Visual estimates of mineral abundance should never be considered a proxy or substitute for laboratory analyses where concentrations or grades are the factor of principal economic interest. Visual estimates also potentially provide no information regarding impurities or deleterious physical properties relevant to valuations.

ESG Criteria

Novo has an ongoing commitment to operating in a safe, responsible and environmentally sustainable manner. Novo carries out exploration activities mindful that it has a responsibility to manage the land on which it operates to ensure it minimises its impacts. Novo develops and implements Environmental Management Plans specific to the regions in which it operates.

Novo is committed to developing strong relationships with all its stakeholders. This is achieved through open and honest communications. 

Heritage and Native Title

The Tibooburra tenement package is covered by two separate Native Title Claims; the Malyangapa Combined Proceedings (NC2022/0002) and the Wongkumara People (QC2008/003). The region is administered by the Tibooburra LALC based in Tibooburra. Novo will continue to monitor the process and liaise with the traditional owners.

Forward Programs

Novo intends to conduct the following exploration activities in 2025:

• Detailed 1:500 scale to 1:2,000 scale mapping including rock chip and channel sampling, focussing on lithological and structural controls on mineralisation at Clone, New Bendigo and Phoenix / Pioneer.
• Grid soil sampling along the Clone trend, plus pXRF multielement analysis, plus infill and extensional soil grids along the Pioneer and New Bendigo trends.
• Stage 1 > 2,000 m of RC drilling in H1 2025, to test the high-grade mineralisation at Clone at depth, along strike and down plunge.
• Aircore drilling on broad spaced lines along strike of the Clone to test up to 10 km of mineralised trend under cover.
• Relogging and re-sampling diamond drill intercepts, plus pXRF multielement analysis of drill pulps where available prior to drill testing the down plunge extension of New Bendigo.

Material Tibooburra Option Terms

The key terms of the binding term sheet with Manhattan Corporation Limited and Awati Resources Pty Ltd (Awati) regarding the Tibooburra Project are set out below:

• On signing of the agreement, Novo will reimburse Awati 500,000 Novo shares at market value for expenditure incurred to date, which shares will be subject to a four-month hold period pursuant to Canadian securities laws.
• Novo is required to spend A$500,000 (approximately C$450,000) in the first earn in period of 12 months.
• Following that initial period, if Novo chooses to continue, it will pay Awati, 1,000,000 Novo shares at market value for a second farm in period of 12 months, which shares will be subject to a four-month hold period pursuant to Canadian securities laws.
• Novo is required to spend A$1,000,000 (approximately C$900,000) in the second earn in period of 12 months.
• At completion of the second farm-in period, Novo has the option to terminate the agreement or exercise the option and form a 70/30 unincorporated joint venture with Awati, in which Awati is free carried until the completion of a positive definitive feasibility study. If the option is exercised, Novo will obtain a 70% interest in the tenements.

Authorised for release by the Board of Directors.

CONTACT

QP STATEMENT

Mrs Karen (Kas) De Luca (MAIG), is the qualified person, as defined under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, responsible for, and having reviewed and approved, the technical information contained in this news release. Mrs De Luca is Novo’s General Manager Exploration.

JORC COMPLIANCE STATEMENTS

The information in this news release that relates to exploration results at the John Bull Gold Project and the Tibooburra Gold Project is based on information compiled by Mrs De Luca, who is a full-time employee of Novo Resources Corp. Mrs De Luca is a Competent Person who is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Mrs De Luca has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and the type of deposits under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Mrs De Luca consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on her information in the form and context in which it appears.

The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information that materially affects the information included in the original market announcement and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the relevant market announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the Competent Person’s findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original market announcement.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Some statements in this news release may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Canadian and Australian securities law and regulations. In this news release, such statements include but are not limited to planned exploration activities and the timing of such. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, without limitation, customary risks of the resource industry and the risk factors identified in Novo’s annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2023 (which is available under Novo’s profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and at www.asx.com.au) in the Company’s prospectus dated 2 August 2023 which is available at www.asx.com.au. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date those statements are made. Except as required by applicable law, Novo assumes no obligation to update or to publicly announce the results of any change to any forward-looking statement contained or incorporated by reference herein to reflect actual results, future events or developments, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting the forward-looking statements. If Novo updates any forward-looking statement(s), no inference should be drawn that the Company will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.

_______________
¹ Refer to ASX news release by Zenith Minerals Ltd dated 10/09/2020 – New Gold Project Secured in NSW
² Refer to ASX news release by TechGen Metals Limited dated 12/04/2023 - New Outstanding High-grade Gold Soil Results at John Bull (Main Soil Anomaly Now +900m long)
³ Refer to ASX news release by TechGen Metals Limited dated 12/09/2022 - Gold Discovery Confirmed John Bull Gold Project
⁴ Refer to ASX news release by TechGen Metals Limited dated 01/09/2022 – Maiden Drill Hole Returns 23 metres at 2.02 g/t Gold, John Bull Project, NSW
⁵ Refer to ASX news release by Zenith Minerals Ltd dated 10/09/2020 – New Gold Project Secured in NSW
⁶ Refer to ASX news release by Manhattan Corp dated 10/07/2023 – New High-Grade Gold Discovery
⁷ Refer to ASX news release by Manhattan Corp dated 10/07/2023 – New High-Grade Gold Discovery
⁸ Refer to ASX news release by Zenith Minerals Ltd dated 10/09/2020 – New Gold Project Secured in NSW
⁹ Refer to ASX news release by Zenith Minerals Ltd dated 10/09/2020 – New Gold Project Secured in NSW
¹⁰ Refer to ASX news release by TechGen Metals Limited dated 12/04/2023 - New Outstanding High-grade Gold Soil Results at John Bull (Main Soil Anomaly Now +900m long)
¹¹ Refer to ASX news release by Zenith Minerals Ltd dated 10/09/2020 – New Gold Project Secured in NSW
¹² Refer to ASX news release by TechGen Metals Limited dated 12/09/2022 - Gold Discovery Confirmed John Bull Gold Project
¹³ Refer to ASX news release by TechGen Metals Limited dated 01/09/2022 – Maiden Drill Hole Returns 23 metres at 2.02 g/t Gold, John Bull Project, NSW
¹⁴ Refer to ASX news release by TechGen Metals Limited dated 7/09/2023 – Stage 2 RC Drilling Results Confirm Large Scale Gold System, John Bull Gold Project
¹⁵ Refer to ASX news release by TechGen Metals Limited dated 12/09/2022 - Gold Discovery Confirmed John Bull Gold Project
¹⁶ Refer to ASX news release by Manhattan Corp dated 02/12/2019 – Manhattan to Acquire New High-Grade Gold Project in NSW
¹⁷ Refer to ASX news release by Manhattan Corp dated 10/07/2023 – New High-Grade Gold Discovery
¹⁸ Refer to ASX news release by Manhattan Corp dated 27/10/2022 – Quarterly Activities Report September 2022
¹⁹ Refer to ASX news release by Manhattan Corp dated 10/07/2023 – New High-Grade Gold Discovery

ABOUT NOVO

Novo is an Australian based gold explorer listed on the ASX and the TSX focused on discovering standalone gold projects with > 1 Moz development potential. Novo is an innovative gold explorer with a significant land package covering approximately 5,500 square kilometres in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, along with the 22 square kilometre Belltopper project in the Bendigo Tectonic Zone of Victoria, Australia.

Novo’s key project area in the Pilbara is the Egina Gold Camp, where De Grey Mining is farming-in to form a JV at the Becher Project and surrounding tenements through exploration expenditure of A$25 million within 4 years for a 50% interest. The Becher Project has similar geological characteristics as De Grey’s 12.7 Moz Hemi Project^*. Novo is also advancing gold exploration south of Becher in the Egina Gold Camp, part of the Croydon JV (Novo 70%: Creasy Group 30%). Novo continues to undertake early-stage exploration elsewhere across its Pilbara tenement portfolio.

Novo has also formed a lithium joint venture with SQM in the Pilbara which provides shareholder exposure to battery metals.

Novo has recently strengthened its high-quality, Australian based exploration portfolio by adding the TechGen John Bull Gold Project in the New England Orogen of NSW, and Manhattan Tibooburra Gold Project in the Albert Goldfields in northwestern NSW. Both projects demonstrate prospectivity for significant discovery and resource definition and align with Novo’s strategy of identifying and exploring projects with > 1 Moz Au potential. These high-grade gold projects compliment the landholding consolidation that forms the Toolunga Project in the Onslow District in Western Australia.

Novo has a significant investment portfolio and a disciplined program in place to identify value accretive opportunities that will build further value for shareholders.

Please refer to Novo’s website for further information including the latest Corporate Presentation.

An Exploration Target as defined in the JORC Code (2012) is a statement or estimate of the exploration potential of a mineral deposit in a defined geological setting where the statement or estimate, quoted as a range of tonnes and a range of grade (or quality), relates to mineralisation for which there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource. Accordingly, these figures are not Mineral Resource or Ore Reserve estimates as defined in the JORC Code (2012). The potential quantities and grades referred to above are conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource. These figures are based on the interpreted continuity of mineralisation and projection into unexplored ground often around historical workings. The Exploration Target has been prepared in accordance with the JORC Code (2012). as detailed in the Company’s ASX announcement released on 25 September 2024 (available to view at www.asx.com.au). The Tonnage range for the exploration target is 1.5Mt to 2.1Mt and the Grade range is 6.6g/t Au to 8.4g/t Au. The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information that material affects the information included in the original market announcement and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the original market announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed. The Company confirms that the form and context in which the Competent Person’s findings are presented have not been materially modified from the original market announcement.

*Refer to De Grey ASX Announcement, Hemi Gold Project Resource Update, dated 21 November 2023 No assurance can be given that a similar (or any) commercially viable mineral deposit will be determined at Novo’s Becher Project.nt and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the original market announcement continue to apply and have not materially changed.

Appendix 1 – Significant Intercepts reported by TechGen 2022²⁰ / 2023²¹ A >0.5 g/t Au cut off was used for the calculations, with a maximum of 4 m internal dilution applied for JBRC007 – JBRC007, and 3 m internal dilution for JBRC008 – JBRC017. All intervals averaging > 1 g/t Au are tabulated. Locations are in GDA94, zone 56

*Alternative increased grade cut off selected by TechGen for reporting of higher-grade components.

Appendix 2 – Soil Sample Table of Results > 100 ppb Au GDA94 z56 (TechGen 2022 and 2023)

Appendix 3 – Kennecott 1983 Trench Rock Chip Channel Sample Results²² - GDA94 z56
(location approximate – digitized from a referenced plan and validated location on ground).

Appendix 4 – Significant Intercepts reported by Manhattan for their 2023 RC program at Clone²³. A > 0.5 g/t Au cut off was used for the calculations, with a maximum of 2 m internal dilution applied. Locations are in GDA94 zone 54.

Appendix 5 – Significant Intercepts reported by Manhattan for their diamond program at New Bendigo²⁴. A > 0.5 g/t Au cut off was used for the calculations, with a maximum of 2 m internal dilution applied. Locations are in GDA94 zone 54.

* Alternative increased grade cut off selected by Manhattan for reporting of higher-grade components.

Appendix 6 – Significant Intercepts reported by Manhattan for their RC drilling programs at New Bendigo²⁵. A > 0.5 g/t Au cut off was used for the calculations, with a maximum of 2 m internal dilution applied. Locations are in GDA94 zone 54.

* Alternative increased grade cut off selected by Manhattan for reporting of higher-grade components.

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²⁰ Refer to ASX news release by TechGen Metals Limited dated 12/09/2022 - Gold Discovery Confirmed John Bull Gold Project
²¹ Refer to ASX news release by TechGen Metals Limited dated 7/09/2023 – Stage 2 RC Drilling Results Confirm Large Scale Gold System, John Bull Gold Project
²² Refer to ASX news release by Zenith Minerals Ltd dated 10/09/2020 – New Gold Project Secured in NSW
²³ Refer to ASX news release by Manhattan Corp dated 10/07/2023 – New High-Grade Gold Discovery
²⁴ Refer to ASX news release by Manhattan Corp dated 27/10/2022 – Quarterly Activities Report September 2022
²⁵ Refer to ASX news release by Manhattan Corp dated 10/07/2023 – New High-Grade Gold Discovery

JORC Code, 2012 Edition – Table 1

Section 1: Sampling Techniques and Data

(Criteria listed in the preceding section also apply to this section)

Section 2: Reporting of Exploration Results

(Criteria listed in the preceding section also apply to this section)

No Section 3 or 4 report as no Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves are reported in this Appendix

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²⁶ Refer to ASX news release by Manhattan Corp dated  10/07/2023 – New High-Grade Gold Discovery