COBR Cobra Resources Plc

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF ARTICLE 7 OF REGULATION 2014/596/EU WHICH IS PART OF DOMESTIC UK LAW PURSUANT TO THE MARKET ABUSE (AMENDMENT) (EU EXIT) REGULATIONS (SI 2019/310) ("UK MAR"). UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION (AS DEFINED IN UK MAR) IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION.

30 May 2024

Cobra Resources plc

("Cobra" or the "Company")

Boland Re-Assay Results

Further demonstrating scale of ionic mineralisation amenable to ISR

Cobra (LSE: COBR), an exploration company advancing a strategy to lower the cost of critical rare earth production at its Wudinna Project in South Australia, is pleased to announce re-assay results from a further 195 samples (17 drillholes) which continue to support ionic rare earth mineralisation continuity and scalability at the Boland discovery.

Metallurgical testing aimed at demonstrating the suitability for in situ recovery ("ISR") mining - a low cost, low-disturbance method - is advancing with full results expected in June 2024. The opportunity for Cobra is to demonstrate Boland as the world's only ionic clay rare earth project amenable to controlled ISR in a region which already utilises the ISR extraction method at a number of operating mines. The Company aims to achieve this through benchscale studies currently underway, followed by an infield pilot study.

Boland Re-Assay Results Highlights

·    Scale - results extend the defined rare earth mineralisation footprint to over 33 km², with mineralisation being open in multiple directions along the palaeochannel, supporting the Company's interpretation that lithologies hosting ionic mineralisation extend up to 139 km² of the Narlaby system at the Boland prospect alone. Re-assay results have refined targeting for upcoming resource focused drilling

·    High grade intersections - 10 holes recorded 2m downhole composites exceeding 1,000 ppm Total Rare Earth Oxide ("TREO"), where composites yield heavy rare earth ("HREO") enrichment up to 40% of the TREO

·    ISR - the unique geology at Boland enables ISR as a preferred mining method. ISR is demonstrated by the uranium industry to be the lowest cost form of mining with the lowest associated environmental risk. Bench-scale tests are currently underway at ANSTO and, if initial AMSUL wash recoveries can be emulated under ISR conditions, Boland will be demonstrated as globally unique, being the only ionic clay project amenable to controlled ISR

·    Further results pending - a further 674 samples from 25 drillholes have been taken across the Yarranna SE Uranium prospect, where a >4km uranium bearing rollfront has been defined by previous explorers. Samples are being analysed for REEs and uranium and will inform native title and approval requirements for follow-up drilling

Rupert Verco, CEO of Cobra, commented:

"Boland is shaping up to be a company-making project (See Appendix 1). Whilst scale and ionic metallurgy are important, it is the amenability of Boland's geology to ISR that has the ability to make it unique and commercially competitive. The uranium industry has already demonstrated that ISR mining can be effectively deployed in South Australian palaeochannel systems, where capital, operational and environmental costs are materially reduced compared to hard rock mines.

Through re-assaying (See Appendix 2), we have cost effectively defined scale and de-risked planned resource focused drilling where we can target demonstrated mineralisation and execute follow-up drilling to deliver a maiden resource at Boland.

We are well positioned to capitalise on our first-in-market advantage. Results from our initial bench-scale ISR trials are expected in June (See Appendix 3), where subsequent tests will inform an infield pilot test, and we have already installed the wellfield infrastructure which we aim to implement in 2025. Through this strategy, we aim to demonstrate that via ISR, the cost of extraction is materially lower and profitable at current rare earth market prices."

Further information on Cobra's Boland rare earth discovery, re-assay results, and benchscale ISR tests follows in the appendices below.

Enquiries:

The person who arranged for the release of this announcement was Rupert Verco, Managing Director of the Company.

Information in this announcement relates to exploration results that have been reported in the following announcements:

·    Wudinna Project Update: "Re-Assay Results Confirm High Grades Over Exceptional Scale at Boland", dated 26 April 2024

·    Wudinna Project Update: "Drilling results from Boland Prospect", dated 25 March 2024

·    Wudinna Project Update: "Historical Drillhole Re-Assay Results", dated 27 February 2024

·    Wudinna Project Update: "Ionic Rare Earth Mineralisation at Boland Prospect", dated 11 September 2023

·    Wudinna Project Update: "Exceptional REE Results Defined at Boland", dated 20 June 2023

Competent Persons Statement

Information in this announcement has been assessed by Mr Rupert Verco, a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Verco is an employee of Cobra and has more than 16 years' industry experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation, deposit type, and activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves of JORC. This includes 11 years of Mining, Resource Estimation and Exploration.

About Cobra

In 2023, Cobra discovered a rare earth deposit with the potential to re-define the cost of rare earth production. The highly scalable Boland ionic rare earth discovery at Cobra's Wudinna Project in South Australia's Gawler Craton is Australia's only rare earth project amenable for in situ recovery (ISR) mining - a low cost, low disturbance method. Cobra is focused on de-risking the investment value of the discovery by proving ISR as the preferred mining method which would eliminate challenges associated with processing clays and provide Cobra with the opportunity to define a low-cost pathway to production.

Cobra's Wudinna tenements also contain extensive orogenic gold mineralisation, including a 279,000 Oz gold JORC Mineral Resource Estimate, characterised by potentially open-pitable, high-grade gold intersections. 

Follow us on social media:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cobraresourcesplc  

X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/Cobra_Resources  

Subscribe to our news alert service: https://cobraplc.com/news/

Appendix 1: Cobra's Boland Rare Earth Discovery

·    Ionic clay hosted rare earths present as a low capital, low operating cost source of heavy and magnet rare earth metals

·    Processing of clay ores induces several operating challenges, including productivity loss, material handling, dewatering, reagent use and reclamation

·    Ionic rare earth mineralisation at Boland exists in permeable geology in an environment that permits ISR, thus bypassing the challenges associated with processing of clay ores

·    ISR is the preferred method of recovery used in the uranium industry, where¹:

o  Global ISR production accounted for ~60% of mined uranium in 2022

o  Capital expenditure for ISR is 1-15% of conventional mines

o  Operating costs of ISR is generally 30-40% lower than traditional mines

o  Environmental impact and rehabilitation cost is significantly lower than traditional mines

·    South Australia is home to Australia's only three operating ISR uranium mines and has a regulatory framework that supports ISR mining

·    Bench-scale leach studies under ISR conditions are currently underway at ANSTO, a first for ionic REE projects outside of China

·    Cobra has installed a wellfield to rapidly advance the project towards an infield pilot study

·    Cobra aims to demonstrate that the cost of production at Boland can be materially reduced via ISR, providing operating resilience to volatile rare earth markets which has stalled the commencement of many rare earth projects

·    Re-assaying of historic uranium focused drilling is being used to confirm the scale of rare earth mineralisation. These results confirm the presence of rare earth mineralisation over a strike of 12 km, where mineralisation is open in most directions. Follow-up drilling will aim to infill these results to support a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") at Boland

Appendix 2: Boland Re-Assay Results - Further Significant Intersections

·    Based on metallurgical recoveries, light magnet rare earths Nd + Pr represent 48% of recoverable value, whilst heavy rare earths represent almost 50% of recoverable value, with heavy magnet rare earths Dy + Tb contributing a significant portion of heavy rare earth value  

·    IR 123 intersected 10m at 1,501 ppm Total Rare Earth Oxide ("TREO"), where Nd2O3 + Pr6O11 (Nd+Pr) totals 206 ppm and Dy2O3 + Tb2O3 (Dy + Tb) totals 6 ppm from 20m

·    IR 234 intersected 2m at 778 ppm TREO, where Nd + Pr totals 167 ppm and Dy + Tb totals 16 ppm from 26m and 4m at 1,407 ppm TREO, where Nd + Pr totals 302 ppm and Dy + Tb totals 13 ppm from 48m

·    IR 235 intersected 2m at 515 ppm TREO, where Nd + Pr totals 95 ppm and Dy + Tb totals 7 ppm from 22m and 8m at 1,279 ppm TREO, where Nd + Pr totals 318 ppm and Dy + Tb totals 13 ppm from 56m

·    IR 236 intersected 6m at 968 ppm TREO, where Nd + Pr totals 208 ppm and Dy + Tb totals 32 ppm from 2m

·    IR 239 intersected 4m at 945 ppm TREO, where Nd + Pr totals 190 ppm and Dy + Tb totals 22 ppm from 20m

·    IR 245 intersected 6m at 820 ppm TREO, where Nd + Pr totals 171 ppm and Dy + Tb totals 15 ppm from 10m

·    IR 244 intersected 8m at 566 ppm TREO, where Nd + Pr totals 110 ppm and Dy + Tb totals 16 ppm from 8m, including 2m at 1,084 ppm TREO, where Nd + Pr totals 222 ppm and Dy + Tb totals 34 ppm from 8m

·    IR 243 intersected 4m at 509 ppm TREO, where Nd + Pr totals 95 ppm and Dy + Tb totals 11 ppm from 8m and 2m at 1,030 ppm TREO, where Nd + Pr totals 211 ppm and Dy + Tb totals 17 ppm from 14m

·    IR 242 intersected 4m at 793 ppm TREO, where Nd + Pr totals 158 ppm and Dy + Tb totals 16 ppm from 10m, and 2m at 1221 ppm TREO, where Nd + Pr totals 262 ppm and Dy + Tb totals 18 ppm from 16m, and 6m at 582 ppm TREO, where Nd + Pr totals 121 ppm and Dy + Tb totals 5 ppm from 28m

¹ United States Nuclear Regulatory Commisions www.nrc.gov TradeTech - the nuclear review (October 2016)

Figure 1: Plan detailing the extent of re-analysis results, previous Cobra drilling, pending assays and the modelled extent of the geological stratigraphy that hosts 'Zone 3' mineralisation identified in Boland wellfield drilling

Table 1: Significant Intersections

Appendix 3: Update on Benchscale ISR Tests

·    A column leach test is currently underway at the Australian Nuclear Scientific Technology Organisation ("ANSTO") where the progressive recovery of rare earths under ISR conditions is being evaluated. Initial test parameters include:

o  25cm column of zone 3 Boland core

o  0.5M ammonium sulphate (NH₄)₂SO₄ as lixiviant

o  pH3 maintained by H₂SO₄

o  Temperature maintained at 27°C

o  Column pressurised at 6-9 bar to reflect aquifer under injection    

o  Current injection rate is achieving 1 pore volume over six days     

o  Test is scheduled to be completed by 5 June 2024

·    Results are expected to be received in June 2024

·    Subsequent to results, a second larger test shall be conducted to test repeatability at a larger scale

·    The pregnant liquor solution from these tests shall be used to define and optimise a processing pathway to produce a mixed rare earth carbonate ("MREC")

Figure 2: A photograph of the bench-scale ISR column leach test underway at ANSTO, testing the progressive recovery of rare earths under ISR conditions        

Appendix 4: JORC Code, 2012 Edition - Table 1

Section 1 Sampling Techniques and Data

Appendix 5: Section 2 Reporting of Exploration Results