Alurion Resources (ASX:ALU) has started a 3,236m infill drilling program and bulk-sample trenching at its Amargosa Bauxite-Gallium Project in Brazil, targeting a Prefeasibility Study by mid-2027.
The program comprises 203 auger holes for 2,436m and 20 diamond holes for 800m, alongside up to 16 trenches across the Central and North districts.
Alurion expects to collect about 3,600 samples, with the results intended to support classification of more of the resource in the measured and indicated categories and provide mine-planning data for the study.
Amargosa hosts a 568 million tonne (Mt) mineral resource estimate (MRE), comprising 98Mt of direct-shipping bauxite and 470Mt of beneficiable bauxite.
The Central district, which contains the largest share of both resource types, accounts for around 75% of Rio Tinto’s (ASX:RIO) historical drilling across Amargosa.
CEO Maurício Noronha says the fieldwork marks the next stage of the company’s development program.
“The PFS program targets the levers that impact project value: PFS standard resource estimate, product performance, and potential critical mineral co-products,” Noronha says.
Bulk samples will be used to assess beneficiation yields across the 470Mt beneficiable resource and the potential recovery of ilmenite, zircon, monazite, and gallium.
Historical Rio Tinto test work recovered 43–49% of the feed mass into a product meeting targeted alumina and reactive silica specifications. Alurion plans to test whether those yields can be replicated or improved using representative bulk samples and a controlled processing flowsheet.
The company says it has also commissioned an independent logistics study covering route capacity, fleet configuration, cycle times, and staged road-haulage expansion to the Port of Enseada.
The Prefeasibility Study will initially assess road haulage north to Enseada while retaining the option of a southern connection to the planned Ferrovia de Integração Oeste-Leste (FOIL) Railway and Porto Sul export infrastructure.
Preliminary, non-binding discussions have begun with alumina and aluminium groups in Brazil, China, and the Middle East regarding potential offtake and partnerships.
Alurion says it expects to complete drilling and trenching during the December quarter of 2026, followed by ore characterisation work in the March quarter and updated MREs in the June quarter of 2027.
Alurion Resources is focused on advancing Amargosa as a potential bauxite export project with exposure to gallium and other critical mineral co-products.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Images: Alurion Resources
