REG - Cobra Resources PLC - Completion of Sonic Drilling at Boland

Cobra ResourcesAnnouncement

Mon 07:00

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RNS Number : 1349I  Cobra Resources PLC  12 May 2025

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
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12 May 2025

 

Cobra Resources plc

("Cobra" or the "Company")

 

Completion of Sonic Drilling at Boland

 

Cobra (https://cobraplc.com/) (LSE: COBR)
(https://www.londonstockexchange.com/stock/COBR/cobra-resources-plc/company-page)
, the mineral exploration and development company advancing a potentially
world-class ionic Rare Earth Elements ("REEs") discovery at its Boland Project
("Boland") in South Australia, announces that it has completed a 10-hole, 423m
sonic core drilling programme at Boland.

 

At Boland, ionically bound REEs enriched in dysprosium and terbium occur
within permeable sands and are amenable to in situ recovery ("ISR"), a
low-cost, low impact mining process with high environmental stewardship.

 

Highlights

 

·    All holes intersected the targeted Pidinga formation, where coarse
sands contain fine organics that host ionic REE mineralisation amenable to ISR
mining

·    Intersections of the mineralisation horizon varied between 1-3m

·    Metallurgy samples have been collected and submitted to
Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation ("ANSTO") for
analysis, with results anticipated later this month

·    Two further wells were installed to support a planned field
permeability study and a future pilot study

·    Assay results are expected in early June 2025

 

Rupert Verco, Managing Director of Cobra, commented:

 

"We are pleased to have completed sonic core drilling at Boland and thank Star
Drilling for their services during the programme. This work is a key step in
our strategy to deliver a rare earth Mineral Resource Estimate at Boland this
year, and we look forward to announcing the full results of the drill
programme once samples have been prepared for optimisation metallurgy by
ANSTO.

 

Members of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
("CSIRO") team have also been with us in the field as they work on a programme
focused on strengthening the supply of critical minerals in Australia. CSIRO
have collected samples from both our sonic and aircore drilling programmes
which will be used to help characterise our unique geology and mineralogy at
Boland, informing our pathway towards ISR-supported rare earth production."

 

Figure 1: Core tray photographs of CBSC014 demonstrating organic rich Pidinga
formation sands 45.8m-56.6m directly overlying REE enriched saprolite

 

 

Boland Project

 

Cobra's unique and highly scalable Boland discovery is a strategically
advantageous ionic rare earth discovery where high grades of valuable heavy
and magnet rare earths 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 Exploration Manager Robert Blythman
discussing the sonic core drilling: https://investors.cobraplc.com/link/drLYXP
(https://investors.cobraplc.com/link/drLYXP)

 

Further information relating to Boland is presented in the appendix.

 

Enquiries:

 

 Cobra Resources plc                           via Vigo Consulting

 Rupert Verco (Australia)                      +44 (0)20 7390 0234

 Dan Maling (UK)

 SI Capital Limited (Joint Broker)             +44 (0)1483 413 500

 Nick Emerson

 Sam Lomanto

 Global Investment Strategy (Joint Broker)     +44 (0)20 7048 9437

 James Sheehan                                 james.sheehan@gisukltd.com
 Vigo Consulting (Financial Public Relations)  +44 (0)20 7390 0234

 Ben Simons                                    cobra@vigoconsulting.com

 Kendall Hill

 

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

 

Competent Persons Statement

 

Information and data presented within this announcement has been compiled by
Mr Robert Blythman, a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists
("MAIG"). Mr Blythman is a Consultant to Cobra Resources Plc and has
sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style of mineralisation,
deposit type and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a
Competent Person defined by the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for
Reporting Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the "JORC"
Code). This includes 12 years of Mining, Resource Estimation and Exploration
relevant to the style of mineralisation.

 

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 17 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 13 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
(https://www.linkedin.com/company/cobraresourcesplc)

X: https://twitter.com/Cobra_Resources (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/ (https://investors.cobraplc.com/)

 

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Appendix 1: Background information - the Boland Project and ISR

 

·    The Boland Project was discovered by Cobra in 2023. Mineralisation is
ionically bound to clays and organics within palaeochannel sands within the
Narlaby Palaeochannel

 

·    Mineralisation occurs within a permeable sand within an aquifer that
is saltier than sea water and is confined by impermeable clays

 

·    ISR is executed through engineered drillhole arrays that allow the
injection of mildly acidic ammonium sulphate lixiviants, using the confining
nature of the geology to direct and lower the acidity of the orebody. This
low-cost process enables mines to operate profitably at lower grades and lower
rates of recovery

 

·    Once REEs are mobile in solution in groundwater, it is also possible,
from an engineering standpoint, to recover the solution to surface via
extraction drillholes, without any need for excavation or ground disturbance

 

·    The capital costs of ISR mining are low as they involve no material
movements and do not require traditional infrastructure to process ore - i.e.
metals are recovered in solution

 

·    Ionic mineralisation is highly desirable owing to its high weighting
of valuable HREOs and the cost-effective method in which REEs can be desorbed

 

·    Ionic REE mineralisation in China is mined in an in-situ manner that
relies on gravity to permeate mineralisation. The style of ISR process is
unconfined and cannot be controlled, increasing the risk for environmental
degradation. This low-cost process has enabled China to dominate mine supply
of HREOs, supplying over 90% globally

 

·    Confined aquifer ISR is successfully executed globally within the
uranium industry, accounting for more than 60% of the world's uranium
production. This style of ISR has temporary ground disturbance, and the ground
waters are regenerated over time

 

·    Cobra is aiming to demonstrate the economic and environmental
benefits of recovering ionic HREOs through the more environmentally aquifer
controlled ISR - a world first for rare earths

 

Figure A1: Comparison between the Chinese and the proposed Boland process for
ISR mining of REEs

 

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