Dr. Tim Coughlin reports

ROYAL ROAD MINERALS PROVIDES EXPLORATION UPDATE; EXPANDS 2025 DRILLING PROGRAM AT JABAL SAHABIYAH, RELINQUISHES AL MIYAH TENDER, KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

Royal Road Minerals Ltd. has provided an update on its exploration work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The company carries out its exploration activities in Saudi Arabia through its local subsidiary, Royal Road Arabia Ltd. (RRA). RRA is a Saudi Arabian joint venture company owned on a 50-50-per-cent basis by Royal Road and MIDU Company Ltd. MIDU is a Saudi Arabian investment holding company, headquartered in Jeddah, with interests across various sectors including mining, industrial, real estate development and utilities.

RRA was granted Winning Bidder of the Al Miyah tender area and received notification of a 90-day provisional award in July of 2024. However, upon RRA's request, the Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources (MIMR) in Saudi Arabia has agreed to allow RRA to relinquish its rights to the Al Miyah tender. This decision enables RRA to concentrate on and expand its planned drilling activities in the Jabal Sahabiyah project area.

Jabal Sahabiyah project: Saudi Arabia

The Jabal Sahabiyah project consists of three contiguous exploration licences and was awarded to RRA as preferred bidder in a competitive licensing round in January of this year (see press release Jan. 15, 2024). The licence areas total approximately 284 square kilometres in areal extent and are located in Asir province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (see press releases Jan. 15, Feb. 27 and May 29, 2024).

RRA interprets copper, gold and polymetallic mineralization at Jabal Sahabiyah to be controlled broadly by meta-intrusive rocks and associated metasomatism emplaced at or below a mid-crustal detachment. Previous work at Jabal Sahabiyah included regional and prospect-scale mapping, surface geochemistry, geophysics and scout-drilling conducted by Riofinex in the late 1970s, followed by drill testing of vein gold occurrences by Ma'aden (Saudi Arabian state-owned mining company) in 2007.

Riofinex identified a total of eight individual prospect areas represented primarily by exposed or sub cropping remnants of base and precious metals gossans, which demonstrably continue beneath recent alluvium. RRA's exploration work has focused initially on identifying the concealed extensions of the Jabal Muwayqirah gossan and on advancing it to the point of drill-testing, but the program has now been expanded to include preparation and drill-testing of the Hanash South prospect area and further mapping, geochemical work, and drone-borne magnetics at Umm al Harjan, Ash Shajjah and Wadi Raiel.

Jabal Muwayqirah

The Jabal Muwayqirah gossan is located at the northern extent of an interpreted magnetic aureole and represents a shallow-dipping oxidized, erosional remnant of zinc, copper, gold and silver mineralization which extends below metamorphosed hangingwall rocks to the north and below alluvial cover to the south. Limited shallow open hole drilling conducted by Riofinex intersected zinc, copper and lead mineralization on the gossan and immediately adjacent to it under alluvial cover. Riofinex did not assay for gold. The best intersection was drill hole JM4 which returned 14 metres at 0.6 per cent copper, 5.1 per cent zinc and 0.7 per cent lead (not JORC (Joint Ore Reserves Committee) compliant; from surface). RRA grab rock chips returned significant gold, silver and base metal grades with gold up to 7.5 grams per tonne (mean 1.6, minimum 0.1 grams per tonne), silver up to 423 ppm (parts per million) (mean 59.5, minimum 1.5 ppm), copper up to 5.0 per cent (mean 0.8 per cent, minimum 0.03 per cent) and zinc up to 30 per cent (mean 3.7 per cent, minimum 0.2 per cent).

Mapping and new drone-borne magnetic data have revealed that exposed gossan at Jabal Muwayqirah is positioned on the limb of an (F3-generation) antiform. Auger samples taken from three metres below the surface of alluvial sediments have identified subtle zinc and copper anomalism which defines a geochemical trend around the antiform toward its hinge. The geochemistry, structural mapping and magnetic data have highlighted a south-southeast-plunging drill target of approximately 500 metres strike extent and unknown (down-plunge) depth extent. The gossan also continues beneath overlying metamorphic rocks to the north and may be exposed again around a synform and beneath alluvial cover to the east. The company is planning further auger sampling to test this model and has commenced the environmental permitting process for drilling at Jabal Muwayqirah. Drilling is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2025.

Hanash South

The Hanash South prospect area was discovered by Riofinex in the late 1970s. Riofinex identified copper, zinc and silver mineralized gossans outcropping and subcropping along and within a wadi over a strike distance of approximately 1.6 kilometres. Riofinex completed ground magnetics, induced polarization (IP) and self-potential (SP) surveys at Hanash South. The IP survey outlined an approximately 2.3-kilometre-long chargeability anomaly located beneath alluvial sediments. Riofinex drilled seven diamond drill holes along the trend of the IP anomaly. All drill holes except for HAS-3 and 6, intersected (layer-parallel) sulphide intervals of from 25 to 90 metres thickness. The sulphide sections were anomalous in silver, zinc and copper. Some select samples were taken for gold analyses, but results were not reported. Estimated grades assessed from graphic logs (historic results are not available) can be up to approximately 20 metres at 20 ppm (parts per million) silver and 0.3 per cent copper (visual estimate only, not JORC compliant). Highest reported grades over shorter intervals were 12.5 per cent zinc and 0.4 per cent copper over 1.7 metres and 46.4 ppm silver over 2.4 metres (not JORC compliant).

Drilling from Hanash South has identified significant thicknesses of sulphide mineralization over 2.3 kilometres of strike length and open toward the southeast. Sulphide intersections have not been systematically assayed for gold and where they were sampled, modern fire assay analytical techniques were not utilized, and results have not been reported. RRA is currently completing geological mapping and a drone-borne magnetic survey across Hanash South and has implemented the environmental permitting process with a view to drill testing the prospect in the first quarter of 2025.

Dr. Tim Coughlin, Royal Road's president and chief executive officer, stated: "Systematic exploration work at Jabal Sahabiyah is identifying local and district-scale potential at several localities. Key to the polymetallic potential of these localities is repeat geochemical sampling using modern analytical techniques to better assess particularly the gold content of exposed mineralization. This is evident at Jabal Muwayqirah, where the addition of gold from RRA's grab sampling has elevated copper equivalent grades to a maximum of 16.5 per cent and increased the economic potential of the prospect area. Also important at Jabal Sahabiyah and elsewhere is testing beneath transported cover or wadis. We now have several examples of gossan occurrences occurring as erosional remnants along the immediate banks of wadi's or as subcrop from within the wadi itself. In the case of Hanash South, Riofinex collared all of their drill holes from within the wadi and at Jabal Muwayqirah our immediate targets are evident as subtle auger anomalies and drone magnetic responses from beneath three meters of transported cover. We look forward to drill-testing our models in the coming year."

Royal Road Minerals is a mineral exploration and development company with its head office and technical operations centre located in Jersey, Channel Islands. The company is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the ticker RYR and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the ticker RLU. The company's mission is to apply expert skills and innovative technologies to the process of discovering and developing copper and gold deposits of a scale large enough to benefit future generations and modern enough to ensure minimum impact on the environment and no net loss of biodiversity. The company currently explores in the Kingdoms of Saudi Arabia and Morocco.

Quality assurance and quality control

Sample preparation and analyses are conducted according to standard industry procedures at certified laboratories. Analytical performance is monitored by means of certified reference materials (CRMs), coarse blanks, coarse and pulp duplicate samples. Grab rock-chip samples were bagged in the field for a sample size of approximately two kilograms and then sent to ALS in Jeddah where gold was analyzed by fire assay with inductively coupled plasma spectrometry (ICP) finish and multielement analyses were conducted by four-acid digest with ICP-MS finish (ME-MS61). Soil samples were collected 40 to 80 centimetres below the surface or in the case of auger samples from up to three metres below transported cover to avoid surficial contamination. Approximately 0.5 kg was collected for each sample. For each sample, soil or cover thickness, horizon (where present), sample type, sample collection depth, and field sieve-mesh were recorded. QA/QC materials included approximately 5-per-cent CRMs, 5-per-cent blanks and 8-per-cent field duplicates. Soil samples were sent to ALS Jeddah for drying and dry-sieving to negative 75 micrometres/negative 200 mesh. Gold analysis was completed by 30 g fire assay with an ICP-MS finish. Super trace multielement analysis was completed using four-acid digest with ICP-MS finish (ME-MS61L). All results were analyzed by the company's in-house exploration and database management team before import into the company's geochemical database.

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