Connected Minerals uncovers broad high-grade niobium and rare earths at Bailundo

Connected Minerals Limited (ASX:CML) has found more than promising numbers in the historical files for its Bailundo Carbonatite Project in Angola. The database records long, near-surface intersections of niobium and rare earths, including 205.5 metres at 1.0% Nb₂O₅ in hole SB02 and 227.3 metres at 2.0% total rare earth oxides in SB06.

The results give fresh weight to the company’s decision to make Bailundo its flagship after completing the 6,000-metre Bailundo drilling campaign, which was launched to test the project’s niobium and rare earth targets. Connected said its Angolan subsidiary has acquired the underlying geological and exploration data from Genius Mineira and MINARA at a non-material cost, including drill logs, assay records, core photographs, mapping and surface geochemistry.

Historical drilling reveals separate niobium and rare earth zones

The historical drilling covers 10 diamond holes totalling 3,414 metres, although only six holes were assayed, and some of those were only partially tested. Alongside the standout niobium result in SB02, the data includes 44.1 metres at 2.2% Nb₂O₅, including 24 metres at 3.0%.

The rare earth results are similarly broad. SB03 returned 121.3 metres at 2.4% TREO from surface, including 71.3 metres at 3.0%, while SB04 returned 118.4 metres at 2.2% TREO, including 65.4 metres at 3.2%. SB06 recorded a wider 358.9-metre interval at 1.7% TREO, with a higher-grade 17.4-metre section at 5.4%.

Connected’s interpretation separates the system into a central and southern niobium target and a northern rare earth target. Surface sampling broadly supports that distinction: 118 soil samples returned at least 0.5% Nb₂O₅, while 339 returned at least 1.5% TREO. Some of the highest results reached historical analytical reporting limits, meaning those values may be minimums rather than definitive peak grades.

Unassayed core adds potential, but also uncertainty

Roughly 1,534 metres of historical drilling remains unassayed, including four complete holes and partially assayed sections in three others. The company plans to re-log the remaining core, undertake targeted multi-element assays and select samples for mineralogical and metallurgical testing.

The filing is careful about what the historical data can prove. The reported intersections are downhole lengths, not established true widths, and continuity between holes has not been demonstrated. The historical drilling also lacks downhole survey readings, while the company says a full review of sampling and quality-control performance is still required before the data can support a mineral resource estimate.

Fresh rock, gallium and processing tests move up the agenda

The mineralisation is not confined to the weathered surface profile. Historical logging and assays identify niobium and rare earths in saprolite, transitional saprock and less-weathered to fresh carbonatite, with weathering locally extending beyond 50 metres. Determining whether the grades, mineral hosts and processing behaviour persist across those domains is now central to the project’s technical case.

Gallium provides an additional exploration angle. Historical assays returned up to 167.5 parts per million gallium in saprolite from SB04, although the company has not yet established its mineralogical association or potential recoverability. Connected’s next workstream combines further diamond drilling with geological modelling, mineralogical characterisation and metallurgical studies rather than treating the historical grades as a completed resource story.