Core Energy starts groundwork at Brazilian REE sites

Core Energy Minerals (ASX:CR3) has begun on-ground exploration at the Itambe rare earth elements (REE) project in Brazil, deploying soil sampling and auger drilling to define targets ahead of maiden drilling.
The tenement sits in the Rocha da Rocha REE province, a region with both hard‑rock and ionic REE occurrences. CR3 plans about 40 auger holes totalling roughly 400 m and approximately 900 soil samples to follow up large, high‑grade soil anomalies previously reported by a Rio Tinto subsidiary, which returned 1,500–5,123 ppm TREO and remain open in all directions.
Around 90% of the licence area is untested; preliminary reconnaissance mapping and sampling will prioritise new target areas. First‑pass auger material will be used for preliminary leach recovery testwork and to generate drill targets.
CR3 will also advance work at its Tunas and Campo Largo tenements, including infill auger drilling at Tunas where saprolitic clays have yielded strong REE mineralisation, and mapping to evaluate radiometric anomalies at Campo Largo.
Management aims to define drill targets in Q1 2026 and commence drilling in Q2 2026, pursuing a systematic approach to understand the mineralising systems and progress metallurgical screening.