Highlights

  • Alurion Resources plans 223 drill holes totalling 3,236 metres at Amargosa in the December quarter, with assays targeting total available alumina and multi-element suites.
  • The existing JORC resource stands at 470Mt, comprising 249.6Mt Indicated and 220.4Mt Inferred, with a resource update scheduled for Q2 2027.
  • Road haulage to the Port of Enseada is the base-case logistics option, with an independent study also assessing a rail link to third-party FIOL infrastructure.
  • The company holds US$28.5 million in cash with approximately 9.6 quarters of funding, against a two-year prospectus budget of US$34.4 million.

When Alurion Resources (ASX:ALU) listed on the ASX in late July 2026 after being demerged from Brazilian Rare Earths, it inherited a large but early-stage bauxite project and a focused development mandate. Its first full quarterly activities report, covering the September 2026 period, lays out what the company plans to do next at Amargosa in Bahia, Brazil — rather than announcing any new results.

Drilling and Sampling Programme

In the Central District, Alurion plans to complete 203 auger holes for 2,436m and 20 diamond twin holes for 800m — a total of 223 holes and 3,236m generating about 3,600 samples. Up to 16 bulk-sample trenches are planned across the Central and North Districts. Analytical work will cover total available alumina, reactive silica, total organic carbon and multi-element suites, designed to build on the 470Mt JORC resource that currently underpins the project.

That resource, comprising 249.6Mt Indicated and 220.4Mt Inferred, was established in the June 2026 prospectus and draws about 89% from the Indicated category in the company's scoping study production target. Updated estimates are scheduled for the second quarter of 2027. Alurion also notes ilmenite, zircon and monazite co-products in the mineralised package.

Logistics: Roads, Rail and Port

Moving bulk bauxite from a landlocked Bahia project is the central commercial question. Alurion's base case is road haulage to the Port of Enseada at 5.75 million wet tonnes per year. An independent road study by Engimind, released 6 October 2026, assessed haulage capacity of up to 11.5 million wet tonnes per year. A northern route runs approximately 160km from the North District and 220km from the Central District via the BR-101 highway.

An alternative southern option would haul about 86km from the Central District to a proposed rail load-out on the third-party FIOL railway, which is still incomplete. Port of Enseada expansion to as much as 13.5 million wet tonnes per year is under engineering study. Alurion stresses that it does not own or control the rail or port infrastructure and that access will depend on commercial agreements. The logistics scenarios are not production targets.

Cash Position and Permit Timing

Alurion held US$28.538 million in cash at 30 September. Net operating outflow for the quarter was US$2.963 million, including US$2.032 million on exploration and evaluation, and payments to related parties totalled US$441,000. The company estimates approximately 9.6 quarters of funding at the current run-rate. Only one of 46 exploration permits spanning 74,823.5 hectares has had its assignment to Alurion registered by Brazil's mining agency, the ANM, with the other 45 still in the name of Borborema, a subsidiary of Brazilian Rare Earths, pending registration.

Development Timeline

The company's indicative schedule runs to: infill and diamond drilling plus trenching in the December 2026 quarter; metallurgical test work in the first half of 2027; an Economic Exploitation Plan filing in the March 2027 quarter; a pre-feasibility study on direct-ship bauxite by mid-2027; and environmental impact filings with Bahia regulator INEMA in the second half of 2027. Alurion cautions there is no certainty its drilling or test work will meet objectives.