Alvo Minerals begins maiden drilling at Florence prospect

• Alvo Minerals has commenced its inaugural auger drilling campaign at the Florence prospect with over 100 planned holes.
• The company's stock rose 15.71% to $0.081 following the announcement.
• Drilling and ongoing assay testing aim to underpin a maiden mineral resource estimate at the Bluebush Project.

Alvo Minerals (ASX:ALV) has commenced its maiden drilling programme at the Florence prospect, targeting ionic adsorption clay heavy rare earths with more than 100 planned auger holes.

The 656-hectare prospect sits on the same Serra Dourada granite host rock as the neighbouring Serra Verde mine, an asset recently acquired by USA Rare Earth (NASDAQ:USAR) for US$2.8 billion.

Rob Smakman, Alvo’s Managing Director, commented on the exploration programme: “Our results earlier this month confirmed that Bluebush hosts thick, heavy, rare earth-enriched ionic clays starting at the surface on the same granite as Serra Verde.”

Laboratory analysis is currently underway for six sample batches comprising 1,369 drill samples from 188 auger holes across the Boa Vista and São Bento targets.

The preliminary testing includes full rare earth suite assays and desorption leach assays to measure extractable ionic portions for processing evaluations.

Work on the broader project is advancing towards a maiden JORC mineral resource estimate at Boa Vista alongside development studies.

Following the announcement, the Alvo Minerals share price was up at $0.081.

The company recently secured A$1 million via a placement to strategic investors to accelerate exploration activities across its Brazilian rare earth elements portfolio.

Alvo Minerals and USA Rare Earth together control approximately 95% of the Serra Dourada granite province.