Test work at Cobra's Wudinna project shows rare earth recoveries hold up well even as ammonium sulphate concentrations are sharply reduced, feeding into the upcoming scoping study.

The South Australian explorer's operating loss rose to £1.91m in the first half as it stepped up work at Wudinna and Manna Hill, while cash held steady at £4.02m.

"From discovery a little over two years ago, the project is now on the pathway to production," said Rupert Verco, Cobra's managing director.

"Recent drilling at Manna Hill is adding considerable scale to the Blue Rose copper-gold-molybdenum system", Verco said, adding the expanded team would support "timely and efficient execution of project acceleration".

Diamond drilling reveals bornite-rich porphyry indicators at the Blue Rose prospect, prompting Cobra to trigger its acquisition option.

Managing Director Rupert Verco said McIntosh's background across "exploration discovery, project development and technical innovation is first class" and will prove "invaluable when advising the team through commercial strategy, project studies and delivering project value."

New drilling results at Cobra Resources' South Australian project outline a scalable rare earth system with acid-generating characteristics that could cut extraction costs.

"This diamond programme is specifically designed to test for depth continuity to the high‑grade skarn mineralisation and to evaluate the potential for a deeper porphyry source," said Rupert Verco, Managing Director.

Assays from 74 drillholes totalling about 3,200m at the Boland and Head prospects show promising heavy-rare-earth intersections and will feed an initial mineral resource estimate.