Power Minerals (ASX:PNN) launches major 10,000m drilling campaign at Santa Anna REE-Nb Project in Brazil

Power Minerals (ASX:PNN) is stepping up exploration activity at its Santa Anna Project in Goiás State, central Brazil, with preparations under way for a large-scale drilling program targeting rare earth element (REE) and niobium mineralisation across the 5.8km² Santa Anna Alkaline Complex.

The initiative marks the company’s third phase of drilling at the project and represents a systematic expansion of exploration over largely untested ground.

Highlights

• Up to 10,000 metres of drilling planned, beginning with a 2,000m reverse circulation (RC) phase scheduled to commence in November.

• Follow-up of the highest-grade REE intersections to date, extending mineralisation east and southeast.

• A drone-based magnetic survey to refine targets across untested areas of the carbonatite complex.

• A combined RC and diamond drilling program of up to 6,000m set for early CY2026 to support a future resource estimate.

• Approximately 89% of the Santa Anna Complex remains untested, highlighting scale potential.

The upcoming campaign builds upon Power’s earlier work, which revealed consistently high-grade intersections of both rare earths and niobium.

Previous drilling included results such as 14 metres at 1.79% total rare earth oxides (TREO), including 1 metre at 6.20% TREO, and 10 metres at 1.02% Nb₂O₅ from near surface.

These results confirmed an extensive REE-enriched clay zone and mineralisation that persists at depth, a hallmark of the carbonatite-hosted system.

The Santa Anna complex, once primarily explored for phosphate, is now being revisited through the lens of critical minerals demand.

Power’s approach combines auger, RC, and core drilling on an 80-metre grid pattern to develop a comprehensive mineralisation model and support future resource definition.

In addition to the planned RC drilling, the company is conducting an auger program that enables rapid, low-impact sampling of shallow, enriched zones across vegetated terrain.

This data will integrate with the forthcoming drone magnetic survey to identify structural controls and prioritise high-potential targets for deeper testing.

Power Minerals‘ Managing Director, Mena Habib, said,

“With strong results to date at Santa Anna, we are excited to be preparing for our next drilling at the project to follow up on broad zones of the highest-grade REE. The initial 2000m of this program is expected to commence in November and be completed by the end of the calendar year, which will enable us to examine the results and prepare for the next phase of drilling in early 2026.”

Visual logging of drill core has also identified carbonatite material altered to nelsonite, a magnetite–apatite rock type often associated with hydrothermal mineralisation.

The presence of this lithology strengthens Power’s geological model that the Santa Anna complex hosts both near-surface and deeper REE mineralisation linked to carbonatite intrusions.

The forthcoming geophysical survey will provide a detailed magnetic signature over the complex, supporting drill targeting and enabling the identification of previously overlooked zones.

The subsequent 6,000m RC and diamond core program, scheduled for early 2026, will extend the grid drilling, incorporate geotechnical sampling for mine-planning purposes, and underpin an eventual Exploration Target and Mineral Resource Estimate, subject to outcomes.

With nearly nine-tenths of the Santa Anna Alkaline Complex yet to be tested, Power Minerals’ program has the potential to materially expand the project’s footprint and confirm the depth continuity of high-grade REE and niobium mineralisation.

The company’s methodical, data-driven approach, combining surface geophysics, auger and deep RC drilling, reflects a growing strategic focus on carbonatite-hosted critical mineral systems, aligning with global demand for diversified rare earth and niobium supply chains.

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