Tali Resources to Drill 9,000m Across 12 Targets in Hunt for Rare Earths
Key Takeaways
- Tali will start about 9,000m of aircore drilling in October, with 5,500m aimed at seven Don Juan-Alakol targets that have never been drilled.
- Previous drilling covered only about 7km of the 45km interpreted dyke system, and more than 35km lies outside the inaccessible heritage areas.
- A Toro Energy rock-chip returned up to 3.2% total REE, with magnetic REE making up 38.5% of the total.
- Historical NHPL intercepts of 48m at 847ppm and 19m at 853ppm REE+Y are not a resource and are not presented as economic.
- The announcement gives no assay timeline, budget or cash figure, so the next catalyst is the drill results themselves.
Aircore drilling to begin at the Don Juan critical minerals prospect
Tali Resources (ASX: TR2) has outlined approximately 9,000m of planned aircore drilling, which is due to commence in October. Aircore is a drilling method used to collect samples from shallow ground, and it suits targets sitting under limited cover.
The announcement, dated 13 October 2026, splits the program across two areas:
- Approximately 5,500m across seven high-priority targets in the Don Juan-Alakol trend, which will be tested for the first time.
- Approximately 3,500m across five prospects along the Central Australian Suture.
Don Juan and Alakol sit within a 45km-long alkaline ultramafic intrusive complex. The company describes it as prospective for critical mineral-bearing carbonatites.
A multi-target program means several separate ideas get tested in one campaign. For you as an investor, that spreads the exploration risk across more than one drill target.
Rhys Bradley, Managing Director
“With only shallow cover expected, we plan to commence 5,500m of aircore drilling in the coming weeks. The program will test seven priority targets for the first time…”
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Why the Don Juan-Alakol trend is drawing attention
Aillikite and the carbonatite connection
Aillikites are a rare subclass of carbonate-rich ultramafic lamprophyre, a type of igneous rock. Globally, the company says there is a close spatial and temporal association between aillikite lamprophyre and carbonatites.
Carbonatites are unusual igneous rocks. The announcement says the presence of aillikite at Don Juan supports prospectivity for carbonatite magmatism and associated minerals containing niobium, rare earths, titanium and phosphorus, with potential for copper mineralisation.
Prospectivity is not a discovery. The aillikite is a supportive geological signal, and drilling is what will test whether it points to anything of value.
The regional picture adds context. Recent geochronology results indicate niobium and rare earth-bearing carbonatites in the West Arunta are approximately 830 to 820Ma in age, overlapping with the reported 806 ±22Ma age of the Webb aillikite pipes.
Carbonatite and associated alkaline rocks identified by WA1 Resources Ltd (ASX: WA1) and Encounter Resources Limited (ASX: ENR) lie approximately 80km to the north-east of Don Juan. Tali says the Don Juan-Alakol system and the Webb pipes may be related to them, which is regional context only.
What earlier work found
Historical work gives the company its starting point:
- Niobium Holdings Pty Ltd (NHPL) reverse circulation drilling intersected aillikite lithologies in seven of eight holes.
- That drilling tested only approximately 7km of the 45km interpreted dyke system.
- Toro Energy Ltd rock-chip sample 136697 returned up to 3.2% total rare earth elements (REE).
The Toro sample included 0.91% neodymium, 0.21% praseodymium, 0.07% dysprosium, 0.016% terbium and 0.18% yttrium. Magnetic REE (Nd, Pr, Dy and Tb) made up 38.5% of the reported total.
The company says these results support the potential for higher-grade REE mineralisation associated with the broader intrusive complex. At Don Juan, NHPL drilling also returned the following selected intercepts:
| Hole | From (m) | Interval (m) | REE+Y (ppm) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DJRC0001 | 82 | 19 | 853 | 800ppm TREE cutoff, >5m width, maximum 5m internal waste |
| DJ_P002 | 76 | 48 | 847 | 800ppm TREE cutoff, >5m width, maximum 5m internal waste |
These are historical results, and the company presents them only to illustrate the style of mineralisation targeted by the current program in nearby accessible areas. They are not a resource and should not be read as economic.
Historical work across 6.2km of strike at Don Juan was completed under heritage approvals in place at the time. Subsequent heritage surveys have identified areas where access is no longer available.
Even so, more than 35km of the interpreted system lies outside the inaccessible area. Further exploration is focused on these accessible strike extensions.
The seven priority targets
The aircore program will test anomalies that have not previously been drilled:
- Don Juan South-East: a gravity high anomaly with a concentric magnetic rim, interpreted as a potential 450m by 600m pipe-like intrusive target.
- Don Juan East: an approximately 5.4km by 4.8km trapezoidal body defined by two bounding strongly magnetic dykes, with dense internal bodies to be drill tested.
- Don Juan South: a ring-shaped gravity-high anomaly interpreted as a potential intrusive target.
- Don Juan West: an 8.9km-long dyke defined by coincident gravity-high and magnetic-high responses.
- Alakol: the western edge, which features an overlapping gravity and magnetic high not tested by previous drilling (ALRC001 and ALRC002).
- Alakol B: a 3.9km long dyke segment with a strong magnetic and gravity anomaly compared to other areas of the dyke segment.
- Alakol C: a west-north-west striking package of rocks with a core of dense rocks and a magnetic rim.
The announcement says the upcoming program will test gravity-high, non-magnetic targets for their potential to host critical mineral-bearing carbonatites. Dykes characterised solely by gravity-high or magnetic-high signatures remain untested.
Management also expects only shallow cover over the targets.
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Central Australian Suture drilling and what’s next
A further approximately 3,500m of aircore drilling will continue testing targets along the Central Australian Suture. The prospects are Caspian North, Caspian North-East, Hutt West, Verde East and Verde West.
The announcement notes that assays are pending for prospects drilled in 2026. It does not disclose a timeline for those results.
Drilling is planned to start in October. The announcement does not provide an assay timeline, budget or cash figures.
For you, this is early-stage exploration with a large untested footprint. Outcomes can vary widely, and the historical data only show the style of mineralisation being targeted.
Tali describes itself as focused on exploring for Tier-1 mineral deposits in Western Australia. All work reported in the announcement was undertaken within Exploration Licence E80/5175, which is 100% owned by Tali, with a 1.25% net smelter return royalty held by Rio Tinto Exploration Pty Limited (RTX).
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