Bayan Mining and Minerals Ltd (ASX: BMM; ‘BMM’ or ‘the Company’) is pleased to report significant high-grade rare earth element (REE) results from follow- up surface geochemical sampling at its 100% owned Desert Star Project, located in San Bernardino County, California, USA.
Highlights
- Substantial Increase in Surface REE Grades: Follow-up surface sampling returned materially higher total rare earth oxide (TREO) grades than the reported in Phase 1 reconnaissance program. The stand out results up to:
Surface Samples
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Heavy Minerals Concentrate Samples
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- Multi-Media Confirmation of Mineralisation: Elevated TREO across both surface and heavy mineral concentrate samples confirm a robust primary REE source with effective secondary dispersion into local drainage systems.
- Favourable Geological Controls: Sampling targeted structurally controlled, oxidised pegmatitic and gneissic lithologies with carbonate veining, brecciation and Fe-oxide alteration, consistent with REE-hosting systems recognised within the Mountain Pass district.
- High Priority Targets Defined: Integrated desktop and geophysical studies have already delineated four coherent high-priority REE targets, supported by geophysics and geochemical signatures consistent with carbonatite-hosted systems.
- Approved Plan of Operation: The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has approved the Plan of Operations (PoO) for the Desert Star Project, providing regulatory clearance to advance field activities and progress toward drilling.
- Strong Phase 1 Results Provide Foundation: Initial reconnaissance sampling returned outstanding results, including: 7,841 ppm TREO (Sample ID 19415), 4,097 ppm TREO (Sample 19378), 3,443 ppm TREO (Sample 19411), 3,443 ppm TREO (Sample 19413), 2,986 ppm TREO (Sample 19366) and 2,828 ppm TREO (Sample 19355) at the Desert Star Project (see ASX Announcement dated 1 September 2025).
- Strategic Location of Desert Star Projects:Bayan’s Desert Star Project is strategically located just 4.5 km northeast of MP Materials’ Mountain Pass REEMine1 one of the largestand highest-grade rare earth operations globally. Desert Star North Projectlies only 3 km north of the Dateline Resources’ Colosseum Gold Mine2.Both properties are located within the same regional corridor and sharestructural and geological characteristics with the globally significantMountain Pass REE Mine.
The Phase 2 surface sampling program was designed to infill and extend anomalous areas identified during the Phase 1 initial reconnaissance campaign and to test priority structural corridors defined from earlier surface sampling and geophysical datasets. The results demonstrate a clear increase in grade tenor relative to Phase 1 and further validated Desert Star as a prospective REE zones system located within one of the world’s premier rare earth district.
A total of 73 rock chip samples and 56 heavy mineral concentrate samples were collected during the phase 2 program. Assay results demonstrate a clear increase in grade tenor relative to Phase 1 results, with values returning up to 66,816 ppm TREO (6.6%) from rock chip samples and up to 91,101 ppm TREO (9.1%) from heavy mineral concentrate samples.
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