Magnum’s Brazilian rare earth target sharpens ahead of November resource milestone

32.5km² Plateau Zone Emerges as Resource Priority

Magnum Mining and Exploration Limited (ASX:MGU; OTCID:MGUFF) has narrowed its main Brazilian rare earths target to a single 32.5km² zone after another batch of positive auger results at Piracanjuba North. The Plateau Zone, where the strongest desorption results are concentrated, will provide the principal basis for the company’s targeted maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate in November 2026.

The update adds 86 holes to the project’s reported database, taking the total with assays and desorption results to 298. Every one of those reported holes returned rare earth mineralisation, although the broader drilling campaign has reached 708 holes and roughly 400 assay results are still with the laboratory. That distinction matters: the no-blank result applies to reported holes, not the entire drilling inventory.

Best Intercept Reaches 1,072ppm Desorbable TREO

The standout result came from hole PIR-AH-0245, which returned 7 metres at 410 parts per million desorbable total rare earth oxide (D-TREO) from surface, with an apparent desorption rate of 52%. Its richest one-metre interval returned 1,072ppm D-TREO at 59% apparent desorption from six metres.

Other notable whole-hole composites included 11 metres at 295ppm D-TREO in PIR-AH-0306, 14 metres at 252ppm in PIR-AH-0254 and 11 metres at 227ppm in PIR-AH-0288. Across the 86-hole batch, whole-hole D-TREO ranged from 8ppm to 410ppm, with the 53 holes within the Plateau Zone averaging 115ppm and an 18% apparent desorption rate.

Magnet Rare Earths Form a Larger Share of Desorbed Material

The composition of the desorbed material is a second point of interest. Magnet rare earth oxides, comprising neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium, represented 32.5% of D-TREO across the newly reported holes, compared with 21.9% of head-grade TREO. Within the Plateau Zone, the corresponding figures were 33.6% and 22.1%, with the upgrade present in 84 of the 86 holes.

Magnum uses D-TREO to prioritise the project because it measures the portion released under a mild ammonium sulphate leach, rather than the total rare earth content in the clay. That is potentially relevant to an ionic adsorption clay project, but the company cautions that these are laboratory screening results under an initial pH 4 protocol. They are not process recoveries, product specifications or economic values.

Drilling Nears Completion Before Technical Work

The 10,000-metre auger programme is about 90% complete, with 9,001 metres drilled and nine rigs on site. Preliminary mineralogical characterisation and metallurgical desorption testing are scheduled to begin in September, with results expected by mid-October. Magnum also says QAQC reconciliation, the remaining assay pipeline and early technical characterisation must be completed before the proposed resource estimate.

The project remains at the exploration stage. The 32.5km² Plateau Zone is a drill-supported conceptual priority area, not a Mineral Resource, and the company’s broader 116km² geophysical footprint remains largely untested. The reported intervals are apparent down-hole lengths from vertical auger holes, while true widths, density, geological continuity, optimised recoveries and economic viability have yet to be established.

For shareholders, the next material test is less about another isolated high result than whether the pending assays and technical work convert a promising screening dataset into a coherent, estimable resource. November’s target date is therefore a milestone, not a conclusion.