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.
17 December 2024
Cobra Resources
plc
("Cobra"
or the "Company")
Commencement of Resource
Focused Aircore Drilling
Start of 2025 programme to
define a scalable resource of valuable rare
earths
Cobra
(LSE: COBR), the mineral
exploration and development company advancing a potentially
world-class ionic Rare Earth Elements ("REEs") discovery at its
Boland Project in South Australia, is pleased to announce it has
commenced resource focused aircore drilling at Boland.
This follows the completion of
highly successful bench scale metallurgical studies which
demonstrated the potential for the recovery of critical rare earth
metals from Boland through low-cost and low impact in situ recovery
(ISR) mining.
Highlights
·
Initial drilling of 20 holes (~1,000m) before
Christmas aimed at:
o Extending the mineralisation footprint peripheral to the
established Boland Wellfield where high grade mineralisation (0.44%
TREO) delivered high recoveries (68%) of valuable magnet rare
earths ("MREOs") at pH3 with low acid consumption and low levels of
impurities in the bench scale ISR studies
o Testing and improving the Company's model that interprets this
favourable ionically bound REE mineralisation within permeable
sands across a sizeable footprint
·
This month's activity comprises part of Stage 1 of
a funded 12,000m programme to support a maiden resource at the
Company's Boland Project as a precursor to undertaking initial
economic evaluations in the form of a scoping study in late
2025
·
Positive initial geological observations have been
made with the unit hosting Zone 3 mineralisation being intersected
~1km south of previous drilling
·
Balance of Stage 1 aircore holes to be completed
in January 2025
·
First assays expected in or around February 2025 -
these results will underpin the location and design of further
sonic core drilling to provide scaled density and metallurgy
samples to support resource evaluation
Rupert Verco, Managing Director & CEO of Cobra,
commented:
"Drilling is the next part of an exciting journey for Cobra's
shareholders throughout 2025 as we focus on defining a scalable
resource of valuable REEs. The advantage of focusing on metallurgy
first is we have already derisked key features of the deposit and
can now drill out a resource of size with a measure of confidence
in the future economics.
Our ionic REEs are hosted within permeable sands which is the
critical enabler of ISR as an extraction method to bypass the
challenges of handling and treating clay ores. This reduces both
infrastructure and operational costs, positioning Cobra for a
potential bottom quartile cost mining operation.
We
are well funded to advance the Boland Project. This programme is
aimed at defining both scale and grade and we are delighted to get
some holes under our belt even before year-end. Drilling will
provide important metrics that will support a scoping study in late
2025."
Figure 1: (A) Aircore drilling
underway at the Boland Project. (B) Aircore chips from drillhole
CBAC0187 defining the geological target (Zone 3) - reduced organic
rich Pidinga Formation containing coarse, permeable sands 38 -
42m
Boland Project
Cobra's unique and highly scalable
Boland discovery is a strategically advantageous ionic rare earth
discovery where high grades of valuable HREOs and MREOs occur
concentrated in a permeable horizon confined by impermeable clays.
Bench scale ISR testing has confirmed that mineralisation is
amenable to ISR mining. ISR has been used successfully for decades
within geologically similar systems to recover uranium within South
Australia. Results of this metallurgical test work support that,
with minor optimisation, ISR techniques should enable non-invasive
and low-cost production of critical REEs from Cobra's Boland
discovery.
Follow this link to watch a short
video of CEO Rupert Verco detailing the company's planned drilling
programme: https://investors.cobraplc.com/link/aP386y
Enquiries:
Cobra Resources plc
Rupert Verco (Australia)
Dan Maling (UK)
|
via Vigo
Consulting
+44 (0)20
7390 0234
|
SI
Capital Limited (Joint Broker)
Nick Emerson
Sam Lomanto
|
+44
(0)1483 413 500
|
Global Investment Strategy (Joint Broker)
James Sheehan
|
+44 (0)20
7048 9437
james.sheehan@gisukltd.com
|
Vigo
Consulting (Financial Public Relations)
Ben Simons
Kendall Hill
|
+44 (0)20
7390 0234
cobra@vigoconsulting.com
|
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: "Further Positive Metallurgy Results from Boland
Project", dated 16 December 2024
·
Wudinna Project Update: "2nd Bench Scale ISR Study & £1.7M
Placing", dated 26 November 2024
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 12 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 enabling
bottom quartile recovery costs without any need for excavation or
ground disturbance. Cobra is focused on de-risking the investment
value of the discovery by proving ISR as the preferred mining
method and testing the scale of the mineralisation footprint
through drilling.
Cobra's Wudinna tenements also
contain extensive orogenic gold mineralisation, including a 279,000
Oz gold JORC Mineral Resource Estimate, characterised by low levels
of over-burden, amenable to open pit mining.
Regional map showing Cobra's tenements in the heart of the
Gawler Craton
Follow us on social media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cobraresourcesplc
X (Twitter):
https://twitter.com/Cobra_Resources
Engage with us by asking questions,
watching video summaries and seeing what other shareholders have to
say. Navigate to our Interactive Investor hub here:
https://investors.cobraplc.com/
Subscribe to our news alert service:
https://investors.cobraplc.com/auth/signup