Cobra Resources Posts First Annual Profit as Rare Earth Breakthrough & Copper Discovery Reshape Portfolio

• Cobra Resources (LSE: COBR) recorded its first annual group profit for the year ended 31 December 2025, reversing a loss in the prior year, driven by gains recognised on shares received as part of the sale of its gold assets.
• Laboratory optimisation work at the Boland Rare Earth Project produced a rare earth carbonate product with a heavy rare earth content the Company describes as industry-leading — representing an approximately 170% increase in product value compared with the first batch produced in early 2025.
• Field testing at Boland confirmed that the underground water system hosting the rare earth deposit has properties the Company considers a world-first, supporting the case for a low-cost, low-disturbance extraction method known as in situ recovery (ISR).
• Initial drilling at the Manna Hill Copper Project returned commercially encouraging results, with the Board proposing to formally acquire the project, subject to shareholder approval at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.
• Post-period, Cobra raised £4.68 million from new and existing shareholders to accelerate drilling at Manna Hill while progressing Boland through its next study phase, and appointed industry veteran Andrew Michelmore AO as Non-Executive Chairman

About Cobra Resources

Cobra Resources plc is a South Australian critical minerals developer advancing assets across the pre-production pathway. The Company's flagship Boland Rare Earth Project is Australia's only rare earth project considered amenable to in situ recovery mining, a low-cost, low-disturbance extraction method that eliminates the need for excavation. In 2025, Cobra expanded its portfolio by optioning the Manna Hill Copper Project in South Australia, covering a large and underexplored copper-gold landholding. In the same year, Cobra divested its Wudinna Gold Assets to Barton Gold (ASX: BDG) for up to A$15 million in cash and shares, retaining upside through a continuing shareholding in the acquirer. The Company is listed on the London Stock Exchange [LSE: COBR].

A Year of Portfolio Transformation

Cobra Resources used 2025 to reshape its asset base around three critical minerals central to the global energy transition: dysprosium, terbium and copper. Dysprosium and terbium are two rare earth elements essential to the permanent magnets used in electric vehicles and wind turbines. The Company advanced its rare earth project in South Australia, secured and began testing a new copper asset, and sold its gold holdings at what it described as a favourable point in the gold price cycle. The result was the Company's first reported annual profit and a balance sheet that grew materially over the twelve-month period.

Non-Executive Chairman Andrew Michelmore AO, appointed to the role in April 2026, characterised the year as one that "shaped Cobra for future value creation through a trifecta of portfolio developments in ISR rare earths, copper, and the divestment of non-core gold assets," adding that the Company's exploration programmes "have the potential to establish it as a significant copper and rare earths developer in South Australia."

Financial Results

Cobra recorded its first group profit for the year ended 31 December 2025, reversing a loss posted in 2024. The move into profit was principally driven by a gain on the value of Barton Gold shares that Cobra is entitled to receive as part of the consideration for its gold asset sale. Those shares increased in market value between the transaction date and year end, generating a gain recognised in the accounts.

The Company's balance sheet strengthened considerably over the period. Net assets grew to £8.01 million from £5.01 million at the close of 2024, supported by share issuances during the period and the recognition of Barton Gold equity on the balance sheet. Cash at year end stood at £1.56 million, up from £796,000 a year earlier.

Cobra remains pre-revenue and funds its operations through equity issuances, as is standard for exploration-stage mining companies. The Directors note that the ability to meet planned work programmes over the next twelve months depends on continued access to capital markets, and flag this as a material uncertainty, while noting that a post-period fundraise provides near-term runway.

Boland Rare Earth Project

The Boland project hosts a deposit of rare earth elements found within an ancient buried river system in South Australia's Gawler Craton. Rather than excavating the ground, Cobra intends to extract the rare earths using ISR, a method where a solution is pumped underground to dissolve the minerals, which are then brought to surface for processing. ISR avoids the large open pits and waste deposits associated with conventional mining, offering the potential for lower operating costs and a smaller environmental footprint.

During 2025, Cobra completed a staged drilling programme that confirmed the rare earth mineralisation is more continuous across the deposit than previously understood, and that the underground geology and water-flow conditions are well suited to ISR. Field tests conducted with South Australian government approval confirmed that the physical conditions underground are conducive to the method, while pump testing of the aquifer produced results the Company describes as a world-first, providing what it considers commercial-scale confirmation that ISR can be operated effectively at Boland. Independent laboratory testing by CSIRO also found that a portion of the rare earth content could be extracted simply using tap water, a result the Company views as evidence of unusually low processing costs relative to conventional rare earth projects.

In early 2025, Cobra produced its first batch of Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate, the saleable product that results from processing the rare earth-bearing solution extracted via ISR. Further optimisation work completed in early 2026 produced a markedly improved product. By removing a lower-value rare earth element called cerium before the final processing step, the Company concentrated the more commercially valuable heavy rare earths in the final product with very low levels of unwanted material. The Company states this represented an approximately 170% increase in product value relative to the first batch and describes the result as positioning Boland on the path toward sustainable, marketable production.

Manna Hill Copper Project

In August 2025, Cobra entered into a 12-month option to acquire the Manna Hill Copper Project, a large and substantially unexplored copper-gold landholding in South Australia's Nackara Arc, a geological belt within one of Australia's most established copper-producing regions. An option agreement gives a company the right, but not the obligation, to acquire a project within a set period, typically following initial studies to assess whether the asset warrants a full acquisition.

Cobra focused its initial work on the Blue Rose prospect within Manna Hill, completing an 18-hole drilling programme in January 2026. Results from the first 16 holes included two standout intersections of 74 metres of rock grading 1.02% copper and 62 metres grading 1.0% copper, results the Board considers sufficient evidence of economic scale to proceed with a formal acquisition.

The Board has proposed to exercise the Manna Hill option, subject to a shareholder vote at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. The decision marks a transition for Manna Hill from an optioned exploration target to a project the Company intends to own and develop as a core part of its portfolio alongside Boland.

Portfolio Development: Wudinna Gold Asset Sale

In June 2025, Cobra completed the sale of its Wudinna Gold Assets to Barton Gold (ASX: BDG) for total consideration of up to A$15 million in cash and shares. The transaction allowed Cobra to redirect capital and management focus toward its rare earth and copper programmes, while retaining ongoing exposure to the gold assets through a continuing shareholding in Barton Gold and through future payments tied to the performance of those assets.

The sale also had a direct effect on the financial statements. Cash and shares received from Barton Gold to date form part of Cobra's current asset base, and the increase in value of the Barton Gold shares between receipt and year end contributed to the group profit recorded for 2025.

The strategic rationale, as described by the Board, was to capitalise on a strong gold price environment to exit a non-core asset at an attractive point in the cycle, while preserving upside through retained equity and milestone payments rather than severing exposure entirely.

Corporate Developments

Andrew Michelmore AO was appointed Non-Executive Chairman on 13 April 2026, replacing Greg Hancock, who stepped down after eight years of service. The Board recorded its thanks to Hancock for his leadership and contribution over that period. Michelmore is described by the Company as a global mining industry leader.

Post-period, Cobra established an Employee Benefit Trust to support a proposed performance rights framework for executive directors and senior management. The structure is designed to link remuneration to the delivery of agreed exploration and development milestones, aligning management incentives with those of shareholders over a five-year period.

In March 2026, Cobra raised £4.68 million through the issue of new ordinary shares at 4.0 pence per share, with proceeds directed toward accelerating drilling at Manna Hill and advancing Boland through pre-feasibility. The fundraise drew support from Australian major shareholders, directors, and other subscribers, according to the Company.

Milestones To Watch

Assay results from resource definition drilling completed at the Boland and Head rare earth prospects in April 2026 are pending and expected over the coming months. Those results are intended to support a maiden mineral resource estimate, the first formal and publicly reported calculation of how much rare earth material the deposit contains and at what grade, which would represent a significant de-risking milestone for the project.

At Manna Hill, Cobra has received approval for a further drilling programme at the Blue Rose prospect and intends to expand exploration to additional targets across the broader landholding, including the Netley Hill, Anabama and Golden Sophia prospects. Together, these programmes are designed to test both the depth and lateral extent of the copper system identified in the initial drilling round.

Shareholder approval for the exercise of the Manna Hill option at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting represents the next key corporate decision point for the project's future within the Cobra portfolio. Should approval be granted, Manna Hill would join Boland as a fully owned asset, with the Company targeting a position as a significant developer of both copper and rare earths in South Australia.

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