AuKing’s Tundulu results open a faster route to a rare earths resource

Wide Tundulu intersections trigger resource work

AuKing Mining Limited (ASX:AKN) has received the kind of first-pass drilling results that can change the tempo of a mineral exploration campaign. Three of the first RC holes at the Tundulu Rare Earths Project in southern Malawi returned broad, high-grade TREO intersections, led by 91 metres at 1.51% TREO in hole 26NH005, including 15 metres at 3.40%.

Hole 26NH029 produced an 80-metre intersection grading 1.54% TREO from surface, with an 11-metre section at 4.33% from two metres. Hole 26NH004 returned 20 metres at 2.06% TREO from 113 metres, including 12 metres at 3.24%. AuKing says the results exceeded nearby historical drilling, although the reported intervals are downhole lengths and their true widths have not yet been established.

Heavy rare earth signature sets Tundulu apart

The more distinctive feature may be the composition rather than simply the headline TREO grades. AuKing reported substantial HREE+Y enrichment within the mineralised zones, including 8 metres at 16.09% of TREO in 26NH005 and 42 metres at 11.46% in 26NH029. The company says the elevated heavy rare earth component is associated with P₂O₅ and is consistent with the documented occurrence of HREE-bearing apatite at Tundulu.

A step-out hole, 26NH014, also detected several TREO-mineralised intervals within a southern magnetic anomaly beyond the primary Nathace Hill target. That result supports the possibility of a wider mineralised system, but the project remains at an early exploration stage: no Mineral Resource or Ore Reserve has yet been established, and the economic significance of the mineralogy will depend in part on future metallurgical testing.

Deep carbonatite drilling adds a second catalyst

Alongside the RC results, AuKing has completed 1,160.6 metres of diamond drilling across four holes. Two holes were extended well beyond their planned 300-metre depths because carbonatite lithology continued through the holes, with 26NH032 reaching 510.6 metres and 26NH023 reaching 400.4 metres. Core from those holes is being logged and prepared for assay; the announcement contains geological observations, not diamond-drilling assay results.

The wider programme has completed 4,300 metres of RC drilling across 31 holes to a maximum depth of 150 metres, with about 4,500 samples collected. Further RC assays are being processed, while the deep diamond core is being prioritised for laboratory work. AuKing plans to continue combined RC and diamond drilling towards 15,000 metres by year-end, subject to results and the wet-season timetable in southern Malawi.

Maiden resource targeted before year-end

AuKing has now formally prioritised work on a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for Tundulu, with the present intention of reporting it before the end of 2026. The company says that work will require sufficient drilling and assay data, alongside mineralogical and metallurgical testwork based on diamond-core composites.

That timetable gives the pending assays unusual importance. The next question is not whether Tundulu has produced impressive intersections - it has - but whether those results connect into a coherent volume with established true widths, continuity, recoverability and a mineralogy that can support an eventual development case.