Magnum Mining and Exploration (ASX:MGU) has commenced a systematic 10,000m drilling program across 830 holes over 85km2 at the Piracanjuba prospect within the Azimuth Rare Earth Element Project in Brazil.
The company has mobilised five auger drill crews to execute the program, which comprises two grid patterns designed to support an exploration target by September 2026 and a JORC-compliant mineral resource estimate (MRE) by November 2026.
The drilling targets three key areas across two sets of grids, 1000m by 100m and 200m by 200m. Piracanjuba North will see 574 holes across both grid patterns, while Piracanjuba and Piracanjuba South will receive 256 holes combined.
The program follows confirmation that mineralisation at Piracanjuba is ionic adsorption clay hosted, with desorption recoveries of up to 75% total rare earth oxide (TREO) and 94% magnetic rare earth oxide (MREO), demonstrating potential for high-value strategic rare earth element recovery under mild leaching conditions.
Initial assays returned up to 3,971 parts per million (ppm) TREO and 1,360ppm MREO, with all 13 first-pass auger holes intersecting near-surface rare earth element mineralisation.
Chairman Michael Davy says the scale of the geophysical anomaly and results delivered support the potential to delineate a large-scale ionic clay-hosted rare earth element system.
“Brazil is becoming an increasingly important jurisdiction for securing critical mineral supply chains, and Piracanjuba sits within a highly prospective setting,” Davy says.
“The scale of the geophysical anomaly and results delivered to date are highly encouraging and support the potential to delineate a large-scale, potentially world-class ionic clay-hosted REE system.”
The company expects to report a steady flow of results over the coming months as the systematic program progresses toward the targeted resource milestones.
Magnum Mining and Exploration is an exploration company focused primarily on iron ore concentrate and green pig iron with assets across the US.
Write to Amy Rotman at Mining.com.au
Images: Magnum Mining and Exploration
