Alvo Minerals Starts Drilling Next to US$2.8B Serra Verde With 188 Assays Pending

Maiden drilling commences at Florence as 188 auger holes await assays

Alvo Minerals has started its first drilling program at Florence, a prospect of approximately 656ha in the southern part of the Bluebush heavy rare earth project in Goiás, Brazil. Over 100 auger holes are planned to test the extent, thickness and grade of the ionic clay profile, on ground that has not previously been drilled.

Florence is the part of Alvo’s tenure closest to Serra Verde, and it sits on the same Serra Dourada granite. Meanwhile, 188 auger holes (1,369 samples) are at the independent SGS Geosol laboratory, with first results expected from late October.

For you as an investor, this adds a steady stream of news ahead of a maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for Boa Vista, targeted for early 2027. A JORC MRE is a formal estimate of the tonnes and grade of mineralisation, reported under an Australian industry code.

Rob Smakman, Managing Director

“…Florence is the next step in testing how far that system extends across our tenure, and it is the part of Bluebush closest to Serra Verde…”

“…Bluebush has a steady flow of news ahead as we work toward a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate in 2027.”

Why the Serra Dourada granite matters to investors

What are ionic adsorption clays?

Ionic adsorption clay (IAC) deposits hold rare earth elements that are attached to clay particles, rather than locked inside hard minerals. Bluebush targets heavy rare earths, including dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb). The announcement states Dy and Tb are subject to Chinese export controls and are the highest value magnet rare earths.

Alvo’s analysis includes desorption (leach) assays, which measure the extractable ionic portion of the rare earths. That figure is a key input to the planned MRE and to evaluating processing routes, including in situ recovery (ISR). ISR is a method that moves a solution through the ground to dissolve metals without conventional mining.

Alvo has not yet measured permeability at Bluebush. Testwork at ANSTO in Australia, together with planned field hydraulic testing, is designed to determine whether the clays are amenable to ISR, so suitability remains unconfirmed.

Proximity to Serra Verde

Bluebush covers 9,859ha on the northern part of the Serra Dourada granite, the same host rock as the Serra Verde IAC mine. The announcement describes Serra Verde as the only scale producer outside Asia of all four magnet rare earths.

USA Rare Earth Ltd agreed to acquire Serra Verde for approximately US$2.8 billion, and the transaction closed in early September 2026. Together with Florence, Alvo and USA Rare Earth control approximately 95% of the Serra Dourada granite.

That is a statement about land position and geology, not value. Alvo’s own results and resource work will determine what its ground is worth.

Results to date and the pipeline of assays

Drilling at Florence follows results reported on 8 October 2026, which the company says confirmed thick, DyTb-enriched ionic clays from surface at Boa Vista.

TREO means total rare earth oxides. Project-wide indicators from the announcement include:

• Diamond holes intersected fresh granite between 10m and 35m below surface (average 20m).
• DyTb averaged approximately 26ppm, or ~14.2% of magnet rare earth oxide (MREO) content, across the significant intercepts reported on 8 October 2026.
• First-pass desorption testwork extracted up to 89% of Nd (average 60%) and up to 83% of total MREO (average 56%).

Those desorption figures come from earlier testwork reported on 2 November 2023, so they are not new results. The pending batches include desorption (leach) assays.

Six batches, submitted between August and early October 2026, cover Boa Vista (including the new EZX area) and São Bento. The first are expected to report by late October, with the remainder reporting progressively into the new year. A further batch from infill handheld auger drilling at Boa Vista will be submitted once that drilling is complete.

Geophysics, testwork and next steps

Loupe electromagnetic survey

Alvo owns and operates a Loupe portable time domain electromagnetic system, which measures the electrical conductivity of the ground to distinguish clay-rich saprolite from underlying fresh granite. More than 18km of survey lines were completed at Boa Vista in early October, and surveying at Florence is scheduled to begin within the next 10 days.

Mapping depth to fresh granite matters for two reasons. It defines the potential volume of mineralised clay for resource estimation, as many auger holes at Bluebush ended in mineralisation above fresh rock. It also maps the base of the clay profile, which is relevant to assessing whether the fresh rock contact could act as a lower boundary to solution flow, should ISR be considered.

Next steps

Alvo’s listed next steps are:

1. Complete the Florence auger program of 100+ holes and the electromagnetic survey, followed by soil sampling.
2. Report results from the six batches of assays at SGS Geosol as they are received.
3. Continue infill auger drilling within the planned MRE area at Boa Vista.
4. Complete ANSTO diagnostic and column leach testwork.
5. Deliver a maiden JORC MRE for Boa Vista, targeted for early 2027.

Florence drilling is expected to continue through 2026 and into 2027, “should progressive results indicate prospectivity.” With assays, testwork and drilling all running at once, the coming months look set to bring a steady flow of updates.

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