Power Minerals Secures Minas Gerais Priority Status for Rare Earth Project

Minas Gerais grants Morro do Ferro priority-project status

Power Minerals (ASX: PNN) has executed a formal agreement with the Government of the State of Minas Gerais, granting the Morro do Ferro Rare Earth Project priority-project status (projeto prioritário) under State Law No. 21,972/2016 (Articles 24–25). The project is located in the Poços de Caldas district of southern Minas Gerais, Brazil.

It is important to understand what this agreement does and does not do. It activates a specialised licensing pathway and coordinates State agencies in support of the project. It does not grant environmental licences (LP, LI, or LO), tax exemptions, offtake agreements, or project finance.

What the priority-project framework means for Morro do Ferro

Brazil’s Minas Gerais State Law 21,972/2016 creates a specialised pathway for projects considered significant to the state’s social and economic development, with rare earths receiving additional weighting when the State assesses priority treatment.

The agreement activates several concrete forms of coordinated State support:

• Environmental licensing is directed to SUPPRI within SEMAD (the State Secretariat for Environment and Sustainable Development) for specialised review, rather than remaining in the standard regional SUPRAM queue
• FEAM (Fundação Estadual do Meio Ambiente, the State Environment Foundation) undertakes technical environmental review, including site inspections and opinions on environmental studies
• SEDE and Invest Minas provide investment facilitation, engagement with State and municipal bodies, introductions to suppliers and service providers, and assessment of applicable State incentive instruments

A Licença Prévia (LP), or Preliminary Environmental Licence, remains the next formal environmental milestone. The priority classification places Morro do Ferro on the right pathway toward it but does not replace the three-stage process (LP, followed by Licença de Instalação, followed by Licença de Operação) or the requirement for a full Environmental Impact Study (EIA) and Environmental Impact Report (RIMA).

For investors, coordinated agency support can reduce administrative friction and timing uncertainty during the environmental licensing phase. That is a meaningful de-risking step for a project still in the exploration stage.

High-grade drilling results underpin the project’s credentials

Morro do Ferro’s relevance to the State’s critical-minerals agenda is supported by what Power has already demonstrated through its maiden diamond drilling campaign. Mineralisation is hosted from surface in bastnäsite–cerianite mineralogy within the Poços de Caldas alkaline complex. Power completed acquisition of the project in April 2026.

The three most recently announced drill results are (downhole lengths; true width unknown):

• MFSR-051: 116 m at 4.78% TREO from surface, including 58 m at 8.36% TREO and 31 m at 10.0% TREO from 14 m
• MFSR-052: 137 m at 4.31% TREO from surface, including 53 m at 9.87% TREO and 26.9 m at 13.0% TREO from 19 m
• MFSR-053: 108.55 m at 4.15% TREO from surface, including 29.25 m at 9.01% TREO from surface

Historical intercepts include 60.85 m at 8.92% TREO, 70.9 m at 8.00% TREO, and 60.6 m at 7.02% TREO, all from surface to end of hole.

Alistair Stephens, CEO, Power Minerals

“This is a new agreement between Power Minerals and the Government of Minas Gerais. It is an important institutional step for Morro do Ferro. The State has agreed to apply its priority-project framework to our rare earth project at Poços de Caldas, and to coordinate the economic-development and environmental agencies as we move from drilling into studies and, in due course, licensing.

“We will keep advancing Morro do Ferro in the right order — finish the current drill program, complete mineralogical and metallurgical test work, and work toward a maiden JORC Mineral Resource. The agreement supports that work. It does not replace it.”

Next steps as Power advances toward a maiden JORC Resource

Power has outlined a clear sequenced roadmap for what comes next at Morro do Ferro:

1. Complete the maiden diamond drilling campaign
2. Progress metallurgical and mineralogical test work
3. Advance toward a maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate, in accordance with the JORC Code and ASX Listing Rule 5.8
4. Engage with SUPPRI, FEAM, and SEDE on the scope and timing of environmental baseline studies and EIA/RIMA work required for a future LP application
5. Assess applicable State incentive instruments separately, and when eligible

The priority-project agreement is designed to align State agency coordination with Power’s own technical workstreams. That alignment reduces administrative friction at a stage where licensing timelines can be difficult to predict, positioning Morro do Ferro as an institutionally supported rare earth exploration project in Brazil. No construction timeline, production target, or resource estimate has been established at this stage.

Ready to Explore the Investment Case Behind Morro do Ferro’s Priority-Project Status?

Power Minerals (ASX: PNN) has secured a landmark agreement with the Minas Gerais State Government, placing the high-grade Morro do Ferro Rare Earth Project on a coordinated, institutionally supported licensing pathway — a meaningful de-risking step as the company advances toward a maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate.

With drill intercepts reaching up to 13.0% TREO and State agencies now aligned behind the project’s progress, this is a rare earths story worth following closely — explore the full details on the Power Minerals investor page to stay across every development.