- 01Axel is fast-tracking exploration at Brazil’s Caldas project after Lynas proposed buying Meteoric.
- 02Historical drilling returned up to 13m at 5,735ppm TREO; no new results reported.
- 03Follow-up drilling and leach tests will assess targets across 228sq km of licences.
Axel REE (ASX: AXL) is accelerating exploration at its Caldas rare earth project in Brazil after reviewing historical drilling results in response to a proposed takeover in the surrounding Poços de Caldas district.
The company has identified follow-up targets across approximately 228 square kilometres of licences within the alkaline complex and its weathered margins in Minas Gerais.
The reassessment follows Lynas Rare Earths (ASX: LYC) proposing to acquire Meteoric Resources (ASX: MEI), whose Caldeira project occupies the same regional geological complex.
Previously reported high-grade intersections and holes ending in mineralisation have prompted plans for additional drilling and leach testing, although Axel has reported no new exploration results.
Caldera Auger Testing
Historical auger drilling at the Caldera prospect intersected 13 metres grading 5,735 parts per million total rare earth oxides (TREO) from surface, including 4m at 11,568ppm TREO from 9m.
Other intersections returned 8.8m at 5,309ppm TREO, 20m at 3,082ppm TREO and 23m at 2,692ppm TREO, each starting at surface.
The highlighted intervals contained magnet rare earth oxides proportions of between 25% and 28%, with neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium among the identified elements.
“The proposed acquisition of Meteoric by Lynas prompted us to fast track our plans at Caldas,” managing director Patience Mpofu said.
“Several holes ended in mineralisation, making testing below the existing auger drill depths an important objective, [and] we intend to use the geological and assay data to prioritise the most prospective areas for the follow-up program.”
Exploration Opportunities
Axel has identified separate exploration opportunities along the weathered contact of the intrusive complex in its North, East, and South blocks.
Historical North Block drilling returned 6m at 1,370ppm TREO from 1m, while an East Block intersection measured 10m at 1,552ppm TREO from 10m.
In the South Block, near-surface mineralisation included 8m at 2,540ppm TREO, supporting further evaluation of weathered gneiss and granitoid terrain.
The blocks present different geological settings, with follow-up drilling needed to establish mineralisation distribution and continuity rather than assume comparability with neighbouring deposits.
Meteoric’s Caldeira project and Viridis Mining and Minerals (ASX: VMM)’s Colossus project share the broader complex, but geographical proximity does not establish equivalent resources, recoverability or project value.
Representative Samples
Axel will combine geological, geochemical, and drilling information to rank targets and select representative samples for testing by SGS Brazil.
Those leach tests are intended to examine extraction behaviour across different weathering horizons and geological settings, supporting a potential future rare earth resource definition program.
Caldas work will run alongside the company’s priority Caladão project in northern Minas Gerais, which has a rare earth mineral resource estimate of 709 million tonnes, along with 576Mt gallium.
At Caladão, Axel is preparing a Woolrich field validation program to evaluate a possible low-impact in-situ recovery pathway, with any development subject to further studies, approvals, and funding.
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