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Osmond Resources (ASX: OSM) has released the final assay results from its Phase 1 maiden drilling programme at the Orión EU Critical Minerals Project in southern Spain, confirming that the Osmond Resources Orión 10km mineralised corridor final assay results validate heavy mineral mineralisation — carrying zirconium, titanium, and rare earth elements — extending continuously across more than 10 kilometres. The results validate the regional-scale potential of the project and set the stage for Phase 2 drilling, which the company says will commence in the coming weeks.
The final four drill holes — NWOR-04bis, NWOR-01, NWOR-02, and SOR-01 — all intersected mineralisation within the Pochico Formation, a sequence of quartzite-hosted heavy mineral layers. This has now become the focus of one of Europe's most advanced primary critical minerals exploration programmes.
Headline intersections include 6.9 metres at 3.65% TiO₂, 0.82% ZrO₂, and 0.169% TREO (Seam 3, NWOR-04bis) and 2.1 metres at 4.24% TiO₂, 0.76% ZrO₂, and 0.156% TREO (Seam 4, NWOR-01), among several other strong intercepts across the corridor.
Perhaps the most significant geological development from this batch of results is the first confirmed intersection of mineralisation in the Basal Seam — a previously unidentified lower horizon within the Pochico Formation. This discovery meaningfully expands the prospective stratigraphic package at Orión and opens new targets across the entire project area.
The table below summarises the key intersections from the four drill holes reported in this release:
| Drill Hole | Seam | From (m) | Interval (m) | TiO₂ (%) | ZrO₂ (%) | TREO (%) | Indicative Rutile (%) | Indicative Zircon (%) | Indicative Monazite (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWOR-04bis | Upper Seam | 183.7 | 1.95 | 2.24 | 0.52 | 0.092 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 0.14 |
| NWOR-04bis | Seam 3 | 256.2 | 6.9 | 3.65 | 0.82 | 0.169 | 4.3 | 1.6 | 0.25 |
| NWOR-04bis | Seam 3 (incl.) | 256.5 | 0.3 | 9.45 | 2.25 | 0.358 | 11.2 | 4.3 | 0.54 |
| NWOR-04bis | Seam 4 | 272.6 | 1.2 | 4.20 | 0.88 | 0.217 | 5.0 | 1.7 | 0.32 |
| NWOR-01 | Seam 3 | 320.9 | 3.3 | 3.46 | 0.66 | 0.135 | 4.1 | 1.2 | 0.20 |
| NWOR-01 | Seam 4 | 347.0 | 2.1 | 4.24 | 0.76 | 0.156 | 5.0 | 1.4 | 0.23 |
| NWOR-01 | Seam 4 (incl.) | 347.25 | 0.9 | 6.34 | 1.21 | 0.237 | 7.5 | 2.3 | 0.35 |
| NWOR-02 | Seam 3 | 159.6 | 0.9 | 4.17 | 1.09 | 0.285 | 5.0 | 2.1 | 0.43 |
| NWOR-02 | Seam 3 (incl.) | 159.9 | 0.3 | 5.60 | 1.56 | 0.370 | 6.7 | 3.0 | 0.55 |
| NWOR-02 | Basal Seam | 242.5 | 3.3 | 2.62 | 0.88 | 0.168 | 3.1 | 1.7 | 0.25 |
| SOR-01 | RM Layer 9 | 431.0 | 0.3 | 2.43 | 0.61 | 0.156 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 0.23 |
True thicknesses are estimated at 90–100% of downhole thickness for NWOR-01, NWOR-02, and SOR-01, and approximately 70% for NWOR-04bis.
The Orión project sits in Jaén Province, Andalucía, southern Spain, and covers 228 km² across 756 Spanish mining units. The mineralisation style is a petrified ancient tidal sand bed-type deposit — essentially an ancient natural concentration system where heavy minerals have been gathered through natural processes into distinct layered seams hosted in quartzite.
What distinguishes Orión from many exploration-stage projects is the consistency of mineralisation across both depth and strike. The confirmed corridor runs continuously from Zone 1 (the Avellanar Zone, drill hole AV-01) through to Zone 3 (NWOR-04bis) — a continuous distance of approximately 10 kilometres.
Furthermore, drill holes NWOR-01 and NWOR-02, located 4.5 to 5.0 kilometres east of NWOR-04, confirm the corridor between these zones contains mineralisation rather than isolated occurrences.
Crucially, the project targets a combination of three high-demand critical minerals within a single system:
The combination of all three within consistent, multi-layered sequences across a 10km corridor is what underpins the company's characterisation of Orión as having world-class potential.
For investors unfamiliar with this style of mineralisation, the concept of heavy mineral seams is worth understanding.
When ancient rivers and tidal systems transported sediment over millions of years, heavier mineral grains — such as zircon, rutile, and monazite — naturally settled out and concentrated into distinct layers. Over geological time, these sediments were buried and hardened into rock (in this case, quartzite), preserving the concentrated mineral zones as seams within the rock sequence.
At Orión, these seams sit within the Pochico Formation — a geological unit that the company has correlated across its entire project area. The key investor implication is that because the seams follow predictable rock layers, mineralisation is expected to persist laterally with relatively low grade variability.
This is a very different geometry to vein deposits, where continuity is harder to predict. Predictable, laterally continuous seams of this type tend to be more suitable for resource estimation and eventual mining planning — two milestones that Osmond is now progressing toward with its Scoping Study targeted for the second half of calendar year 2026.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| TiO₂ | Titanium dioxide — the oxide form in which titanium grade is expressed in assays |
| ZrO₂ | Zirconium dioxide — the oxide form for zirconium |
| TREO | Total Rare Earth Oxides — the combined concentration of all rare earth element oxides |
| MREO | Magnetic Rare Earth Oxides — a subset of TREO including Nd, Pr, Sm, Tb, Dy — key for permanent magnets |
| Rutile | A mineral form of titanium dioxide; higher purity and value than ilmenite |
| Monazite | A rare earth phosphate mineral; a key carrier of neodymium and other magnet rare earths |
| Pochico Formation | The host geological unit at Orión; an ancient quartzite sequence hosting the heavy mineral seams |
| Basal Seam | A newly identified heavy mineral seam in the lower portion of the Pochico Formation, first intersected in NWOR-02 |
| JORC | Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves — the reporting standard applied |
Among the four holes reported, drill hole NWOR-02 stands out for a particularly important reason. While intersecting the known Seam 3 at shallower depths (0.9 metres at 4.17% TiO₂, 1.09% ZrO₂, and 0.285% TREO from 159.6m), the hole also passed through the full lower contact of the Pochico Formation. In doing so, it revealed a new mineralised horizon — the Basal Seam.
The Basal Seam intersection returned 3.3 metres at 2.62% TiO₂, 0.88% ZrO₂, and 0.168% TREO from 242.5m, with indicative heavy mineral grades of 3.1% rutile, 1.7% zircon, and 0.25% monazite.
This is not simply an incremental addition of one more drill result — it represents an entirely new stratigraphic target that had not previously been identified in drilling. The company notes that additional drilling will be required to understand the extent of the Basal Seam. Their current interpretation is that the absence of upper Pochico Formation intervals in NWOR-02 is likely due to faulting — a geological puzzle that Phase 2 drilling will aim to resolve.
NWOR-04bis was drilled vertically from the same collar as the earlier NWOR-04 hole, designed to test the Pochico Formation approximately 50 to 70 metres downdip from NWOR-04. The results confirm that the same seam architecture — Upper Seam, Seam 3, and Seam 4 — persists with depth, and that grades remain robust:
The high-grade sub-intervals are particularly noteworthy. The 0.3m intersection at 9.45% TiO₂ translates to an indicative 11.2% rutile and 4.3% zircon, representing some of the strongest grades yet reported from the project.
With the Phase 1 programme now fully reported, Osmond's attention turns immediately to Phase 2 drilling, which the company has confirmed will commence in the coming weeks. The planned Phase 2 work aims to:
The company is also advancing toward a Scoping Study targeted for completion in the second half of calendar year 2026. Upon completion of the Scoping Study, Osmond will control an 80% interest in 95% of the project, with the minority shareholder having an option to fund pro-rata or convert to a royalty that can be bought out for US$750,000.
| Milestone | Target Timing |
|---|---|
| Phase 2 drilling commences | Coming weeks |
| Scoping Study completion | 2H CY2026 |
| Mineral Resource Estimate | To follow resource definition drilling |
| Permits (Metioque, Menodice, Menipe) | Subject to regulatory grant |
Several factors combine to make Orión a project worth watching closely.
The Osmond Resources Orión 10km mineralised corridor final assay results have confirmed mineralisation over more than 10 kilometres of strike length, with consistent multi-seam intersections across multiple drill holes. The Basal Seam adds a further layer of prospectivity, and the project covers 228 km², with three additional permit applications pending that would extend the footprint further.
The simultaneous presence of titanium (rutile/ilmenite), zirconium, and rare earth elements — including magnet rare earths via monazite — in a single deposit is unusual. Each of these commodity streams has distinct end markets and demand drivers, providing a degree of diversification within a single project.
In addition, the company has noted that in operation it would target being the only producer of rare earths, titanium, zirconium, and hafnium in the EU — though this is the company's stated objective and remains subject to successful completion of development milestones.
The ancient sand bed-style deposit geometry, hosted in predictable quartzite seams of the Pochico Formation, is a mineralisation style that lends itself to systematic resource definition. Core recoveries of approximately 100% across the drilling programme provide confidence in the reliability of the assay data.
However, it is important to note that Osmond is currently pre-resource, and Phase 2 drilling will be a critical de-risking step as the company works toward a Mineral Resource Estimate and Scoping Study. There is no JORC-compliant resource at this stage.
The Osmond Resources Orión 10km mineralised corridor final assay results represent a significant milestone in the project's development, providing the geological foundation for the next phase of exploration and development activities. "The coming 12 months represent a pivotal period for OSM shareholders to monitor," as the company progresses toward both a Mineral Resource Estimate and its targeted Scoping Study.
The exploration results reported here were compiled by Mr Fernando Palero, Chief Geologist of Iberian Critical Minerals Pty Ltd, a licensed professional geologist and registered member of the European Federation of Geologists. The results are reported in accordance with the 2012 JORC Code.
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