Cobra Resources Unveils 'Game Changing' Rare Earth Discovery in Australia

• Cobra Resources, listed on the London Stock Exchange, announces a new discovery of ionic rare earth mineralization at the Boland Prospect in South Australia.
• This unique geological setting is suited for in situ recoveries, presenting a significant opportunity for sustainable mining.
• The company has previously grown and developed gold resources but sees the rare earth market as a key diversification avenue, especially to reduce dependence on China's rare earth supply.
• The Boland discovery has a potential mining advantage due to its environmentally friendly extraction process, similar to techniques used in uranium extraction.
• The company's strategy involves defining the mineralogy, advancing to pilot scale studies for ISR recovery, and establishing a maiden ionic rare earth resource.

About Cobra Resources

Cobra Resources is a minerals exploration company focused on gold and rare earth elements in South Australia. Listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market, Cobra has grown a 179,000 ounce gold resource at its Wudinna project. More recently, the company has made a significant ionic rare earth discovery at its new Boland prospect that could be a potential game changer for the company and the rare earths sector.

Interview with Rupert Verco, CEO & MD of Cobra Resources PLC

CEO Outlines Rare Earths Opportunity and Credentials

In an interview with Matt Gordon, Cobra Resources CEO Rupert Verco outlined the major opportunity presented by the company's new rarest discovery at Boland. Verco explained that the key advantage of the Boland discovery is the presence of ionic rare earth mineralization, which allows for simplistic, low-cost leaching and extraction.

Unlike most rare earth deposits that require energy-intensive physical processing, the rare earths at Boland can be extracted using a benign liquid with acidity levels similar to orange juice. This gives Cobra the potential to utilize in-situ recovery (ISR) methods. ISR involves pumping liquids into the ground to dissolve and recover minerals, eliminating the need for conventional open pit or underground mining.

Verco highlighted that the company's management team has direct experience successfully operating ISR projects, including uranium mines in South Australia. The ability to leverage this expertise at Boland provides Cobra with a unique advantage in the rare earths space. No other company is currently exploring the potential of ISR for rare earths.

Metallurgical Results Confirm High Recoveries

Recent metallurgical test work by Cobra has delivered exciting results, with recoveries of up to 65% for heavy rare earth oxides and 58% for magnetic rare earth oxides achieved. Importantly, these high recoveries are being achieved at very low acid consumption rates below $2 per tonne. This demonstrates that the economics of extracting the rare earths at Boland have the potential to be extremely compelling.

The results confirm that the rare earths are present in ionic form and are highly leachable under mild conditions. The rapid leaching kinetics enhance the viability of lower cost ISR mining.

Large Scale Potential

While still early stage, exploration results indicate the potential for a very large scale rare earths system at Boland. The paleochannel deposit remains open along strike and at depth, with further target areas identified.

Cobra's longer term vision is to demonstrate a total rare earths resource in the hundreds of millions of tonnes to underpin a sustainable mining operation. The shallow mineralization lends itself well to the low impact ISR mining method.

Next Steps

Over the next 12 months, Cobra has a clear pathway to advance Boland. With just A$1.2-1.3 million in funding required, the company plans to prove up the commercial viability of ISR through field pump tests and installation of monitoring wells. This will support Cobra in moving towards initial pilot studies and a maiden JORC resource definition.

Offtake agreements and partnerships will also be key, providing critical validation of the project and potentially opening up additional funding sources. Cobra recognizes the need to engage downstream processors and align with Western supply chain objectives early on.

Conclusion

With its proven technical capabilities, Cobra Resources looks well placed to successfully unlock the immense potential of its Boland rare earths discovery. The company has delivered proof of concept and is now focused on rapid commercialization.

The very low cost and environmentally friendly ISR mining potential provides a true point of difference versus peers. Savvy investors recognize the rare opportunity here to get exposure to what could become a world-class, strategically important rare earths project at an early stage.