Regional Exploration and Development Our Exploration Philosophy Exploration and discovery are at the core of who we are at IGO. We understand that exploration to discover the mines of the future is essential to ensuring the continued supply of the metals that are critical to clean energy and the ongoing decarbonisation of our planet. We know that to unlock discovery, we need to invest in the best people, the best science, and the best mineral terranes. IGO is also committed to high levels of consultation and collaboration with the various Traditional Owner groups we are engaged with across our broad portfolio. Our approach is driven in the first instance by respecting the cultural and heritage value of the lands on which we operate, and ensuring we have agreements in place with key stakeholders before any on-ground activity commences. Following the completion of the Western Areas transaction on 20 June 2022, the exploration team will be consolidating IGO’s expanded tenement holdings and preparing a revised exploration plan for FY23, and as such the Western Areas exploration projects are not discussed in this Annual Report, however, they will be reported on in the Company’s FY23 quarterly reports and FY23 Annual Report. Our Exploration Strategy IGO has a disciplined and science-led exploration strategy, focused on the discovery of the next clean energy metals project. Our commodity focus has been on nickel and copper deposits, however more recently our team has expanded the range of target commodities to include lithium and rare-earth elements (REE). Over several years, IGO has built a portfolio of belt scale projects primarily in Australia, and brought together a team of smart and motivated professionals in order to unlock material discoveries. Our strategy relies on leveraging the latest technology and innovation, our inhouse geology, geophysics and geochemistry knowledge, our proprietary inhouse databases and targeted research collaborations. Fraser Range Project, Western Australia The Fraser Range Project tenements are held 100% by IGO, as well as through numerous joint ventures with IGO holding various levels of majority ownership. The Fraser Range Project in Western Australia extends over a total strike distance of some 430km. The Project area is highly prospective for high-value magmatic nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide discoveries, with IGO’s Nova nickel-copper-cobalt Operation, as well as other discoveries, including Silver Knight by the Creasy Group and Mawson by Legend Mining, demonstrating the mineral fertility of this belt-scale project. In FY22, IGO further developed several key targets at the Fraser Range Project, with work including diamond and reverse circulation drilling (RC drilling) at more than 25 key targets. A notable outcome of the FY22 program has been the identification of extensions to the Silver Knight sulphide orebody, which will be followed up in FY23. In addition, the team continued to work on the highly rated Chimera and Leopard targets. In FY23, the focus at the Fraser Range Project will be on Silver Knight and surrounds, Chimera, and a variety of new targets that were advanced to drilling stage during FY22. Paterson Project, Western Australia The Paterson Project comprises four key tenement positions held either 100% by IGO or via earn-in options and joint ventures with Encounter Resources Limited, Antipa Minerals Ltd and Cyprium Metals Limited. The Paterson Project presents a belt-scale opportunity to find and develop Tier-1 sedimenthosted copper-cobalt and intrusion-related sediment-hosted copper-gold deposits. Despite decades of historic exploration in the Paterson region, IGO believes the area remains highly prospective given the limited exploration activity using modern methods. Recent analogies, including the Winu, Havieron and Calibre discoveries made by IGO’s peers, were all discovered beneath a layer of transported cover, whereas historic exploration methods focused on outcropping to shallow covered areas, and even then with limited effectiveness. During FY22, several work programs were conducted over the Paterson Project area, including fine-fraction multi-element soil sampling and air core drilling (AC drilling). Of note, the soil and air core geochemistry programs conducted on the Anitpa Minerals tenements during the year has yielded results which may indicate the presence of several new copper‑gold mineralised areas. Following up these results with more detailed soil sampling and drilling is a priority for FY23. Kimberley Project, Western Australia The Kimberley Project comprises numerous tenement positions held either 100% by IGO or via earn-in options up to 85% and joint ventures with Buxton Resources Limited. The Kimberley Project spans a Proterozoic belt with proven magmatic nickel‑copper-cobalt sulphide mineralisation, which includes the Savannah Mine in the East Kimberley, and the more recent Merlin nickel-copper-cobalt deposit in the West Kimberley, discovered by IGO’s joint venture partner, Buxton Resources. The scale of IGO’s landholding in the Kimberley is similar to IGO’s Fraser Range Project. However, the availability of existing high‑quality datasets and the absence of extensive transported cover in the Kimberley allows for accelerated early-stage exploration due to the exposed prospective geology. In FY22, IGO significantly advanced our understanding of the geology and prospectivity around the Sentinel area. The identification of several areas of outcropping mineralisation, combined with previous IGO programs of high-resolution aeromagnetics, radiometrics, SPECTREM airborne electromagnetics (EM), and ground EM, has identified several high-quality targets to drill test during FY23. Broken Hill Project, NewSouthWales The Broken Hill Project is an option and earn-in joint venture between IGO (up to 75%) and Impact Minerals Limited, covering a small landholding near the city of Broken Hill, New South Wales. The project is prospective for magmatic nickel-copper-cobalt-PGE sulphide deposits, as evidenced by the presence of multiple ultramafic intrusions hosting high-grade massive, matrix and disseminated sulphide mineralisation. In early works completed by IGO, an outstanding EM conductor indicative of massive sulphides was detected using deep-seeing ground EM methods. This new target will be drill tested during FY23. Copper Coast Project, South Australia The Copper Coast Project consists of 100% owned IGO tenements that cover the western margin of the now inverted Neoproterozoic Adelaide Rift Basin in an area known as the Torrens Hinge Zone. The area is believed to be prospective for sediment-hosted copper deposits similar to those found in the Central African Copper Belt, such as the Kamoa deposit. In FY22, the team utilised results from a diamond core program to model basin architecture at regional scale, work which was supported by a government co-funded airborne magnetotelluric geophysical survey. In FY23, the focus will be on completing a 2D seismic survey and integrating geological and geophysical datasets into modelling of basin architecture which will help identify where ore-forming fluids may have trapped to deposit scale under cover. LakeMackay Project, Northern Territory and Western Australia The Lake Mackay Project is held in joint ventures with Prodigy Gold NL (Prodigy) and Castile Resources Ltd, with IGO holding between 30-70%, interest depending on the relevant joint venture. The Lake Mackay Project, primarily located in the Northern Territory, is an underexplored belt‑scale tenement holding considered to be prospective for copper and gold deposits, as well as nickel and cobalt. Of most interest to IGO is the Phreaker copper-gold prospect which was first identified in 2019. During the year, our joint ventures with Prodigy were renegotiated, with Prodigy now managing and sole funding certain amounts in the joint ventures during the June 2022 quarter. This new arrangement includes a commitment by Prodigy to drill several diamond drill holes at the Phreaker prospect to follow‑up the successful 2021 program. In FY22, Prodigy completed a 25‑hole RC program on gold targets and one diamond hole at Phreaker. Results were received post year‑end1. Case Study: Utilisation of the extensive DeBeers database The DeBeers Mining Group collected approximately 500,000 regolith samples across Australia over a period of 50 years from the mid-1960’s for the purpose of identifying rocks that may host diamonds. The regolith samples were processed to produce heavy mineral concentrates (HMCs) and these were purchased by IGO in 2009 as the Company believes that there is information lurking in these samples that could lead to the discovery of multiple base metal deposits. Various initiatives have been undertaken by IGO to unpack the information held in these samples over the past decade. However, despite several commendable efforts by multiple project leaders, the project has suffered from one fundamental issue – finding a cost-effective analytical method that releases the geochemical information held within individual minerals. A breakthrough initiative was recognised in 2018 when the TESCAN Integrated Mineral Analyser (TIMA) method was trialled on the heavy mineral concentrates from a small region of Western Australia. The trial found that TIMA could rapidly and accurately identify individual minerals as small as 20 microns at a reasonable cost. The trial lead to the method being adopted throughout the Kimberley in FY21-FY22 and the results are proving to be invaluable. Mafic and ultramafic intrusions that could host nickel-copper sulphide deposits like Nova are being identified for the first time in areas where these rocks have not previously been mapped. Sulphides that indicate the presence of fertile intrusions are being observed and minerals that may indicate the presence of lithium caesium tantalum pegmatites have been found in some samples. The TIMA analytical method is opening up new areas for IGO to explore. IGO has recently commenced the next step towards maximising value from the DeBeers sample catalogue – the application of Laser Ablation technology to acquire geochemical data from minerals that may be indicators of nearby ore deposits. Academic studies from around the world have shown that mineral chemistry may be the most informative vector towards mineralisation. The interrogation of the DeBeers database is in full swing with the TIMA and laser ablation analytical methods becoming an integrated part of the IGO exploration initiative. It is a very exciting project and it produces new information every day. The team are very encouraged by the results to date and fully expect the database to finally live up to its full potential, the discovery of a world class ore deposit. 1. ASX Release – PRX: Lake Mackay Drilling Results, 8 August 2022 32 —IGO ANNUAL REPORT 2022 IGO ANNUAL REPORT 2022— 33
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