Axel REE Limited (ASX:AXL) Strengthens Brazil Rare Earth Team with Experienced ISR and Processing Appointments

Aditi Sarkar

11 November 2026 06:47 PM AEDT

Axel REE Limited (ASX:AXL) Strengthens Brazil Rare Earth Team with Experienced ISR and Processing Appointments

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Highlights

Noeber Orsine appointed as Operations Manager, Brazil, bringing over 25 years of Mining project delivery and operational Leadership experience including ISR rare earth project commissioning.
Laura Rocha joins as Chemical Process Engineer with approximately 15 years of rare earth processing and engineering experience.
The team appointments strengthen Axel's capability ahead of planned hydrogeological characterisation and ISR field validation at the Woolrich deposit.
Woolrich is Axel's priority deposit for assessing a controlled ISR field validation programme.
The Caladão Project hosts a combined 708.6 Mt at 1,443 ppm TREO Mineral Resource across all categories.

Axel REE Limited (ASX:AXL) has announced two senior appointments to its Brazil technical team as the Company prepares to advance its Caladão REE-Gallium Project in Minas Gerais toward a controlled in-situ recovery (ISR) field validation programme. The additions of Noeber Orsine as Operations Manager, Brazil, and Laura Rocha as Chemical Process Engineer are designed to integrate geological, hydrogeological, and metallurgical workstreams ahead of field-scale ISR activities at the Woolrich ionic-clay rare earth deposit.

Latest Development

Noeber Orsine brings over 25 years of experience across mining project development, construction, and operational readiness, including serving as General Manager – Project Delivery at a large-scale Brazilian ionic-clay rare earth operation through commissioning and start-up. He has also held senior roles in other ASX-listed and international resources companies, covering graphite, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and alumina projects. Laura Rocha brings approximately 15 years of processing and engineering experience focused specifically on rare earth projects, having held senior process engineering positions at multiple rare earth operations and projects. Her recent focus has been on rare earth leaching and mixed rare earth carbonate product characteristics. Within Axel's restructured Brazil team, José Sousa has transitioned from Operations Manager to Geology and Database Manager, retaining responsibility for drilling programs and geological data integrity.

Company Background

Axel REE is an ASX and Frankfurt Stock Exchange-listed critical minerals exploration company developing the Caladão REE-Gallium and Caldas REE Projects in Brazil, the second-largest country globally in terms of rare earth reserves. The Caladão Project hosts a combined Mineral Resource of 708.6 million tonnes at 1,443 ppm TREO across Inferred and Indicated categories. The Company is advancing a modular development concept based on ISR extraction of ionic-clay-hosted rare earth mineralisation using magnesium sulphate leaching. The Woolrich deposit, with an Indicated Resource of 110.08 Mt at 1,073 ppm TREO, is the designated priority for ISR field validation activities.

Sector Context

Ionic adsorption clay (IAC) rare earth deposits are of strategic importance globally because they concentrate heavy rare earth elements, including dysprosium and terbium, which are critical for high-performance permanent magnets used in electric vehicles and clean energy systems. Brazil's IAC deposits, hosted in weathered felsic volcanic and granitic regolith profiles, have attracted significant international interest as an alternative Supply source. The ISR extraction method, which injects a leaching solution through wellfields to dissolve and recover rare earths in situ, is considered environmentally preferable to conventional open-cut mining and is the approach established at producing Chinese IAC operations.

Market Perception

The appointment of team members with direct experience in Brazilian ionic-clay rare earth project delivery and processing is a logical step for a company moving from resource definition toward field-scale testing. The combination of Orsine's operational delivery background — including commissioning experience — and Rocha's rare earth hydrometallurgical expertise positions Axel to integrate the technical disciplines required for a credible ISR field validation program. The addition of experienced Brazilian-based staff also reduces reliance on remote management, an operational advantage in a Jurisdiction where in-country relationships and regulatory navigation are important.

Growth Drivers

Axel's development model is designed to be capital-light and modular, with the aim of deploying small-scale hydrometallurgical plants within wellfields incrementally, rather than constructing large-scale processing infrastructure upfront. This approach is intended to reduce the financial threshold for initial production and allow the Company to demonstrate ISR performance at field scale before committing to larger Capital expenditure. The strategic importance of diversified non-Chinese heavy rare earth supply chains continues to grow, particularly in the context of ongoing export control uncertainty from dominant producing jurisdictions.

Risks and Challenges

ISR rare earth development faces technical risks associated with achieving consistent field-scale extraction efficiency, groundwater management, and solution containment across the mineralised clay profile. The transition from laboratory leach results to commercial wellfield operation requires dedicated hydrogeological characterisation work that is currently underway at Woolrich. Project permitting in Brazil and community and regulatory engagement in Minas Gerais are ongoing considerations. The ionic-clay rare earth market is relatively less developed than conventional rare earth separation and refining markets, requiring Axel to navigate both Upstream processing development and Downstream commercial pathway challenges simultaneously. Ensuring that any MREC product meets the composition requirements of international refining partners adds an additional technical specification layer to the development pathway.

Recent Announcements

Axel recently announced an upgraded Woolrich Mineral Resource and updated global Caladão Resource following a resource upgrade drilling campaign, as reported in September 2026. The gallium resource, associated with the near-surface oxidised profile at Caladão, provides an additional potential value stream alongside the rare earth product. Metallurgical programmes to assess gallium and scandium recovery are being advanced in parallel with rare earth optimisation work.

Key Insights

Axel REE has assembled a strengthened Brazil technical team with direct ISR project delivery and rare earth processing expertise, positioning the Company to advance the Woolrich field validation programme from a foundation of integrated scientific and operational capability. With a substantial global Mineral Resource base and a modular development pathway aimed at capital-efficient initial production, Axel is working toward demonstrating field-scale ISR performance in one of Brazil's most prospective rare earth jurisdictions.

FAQs

Q: What is in-situ recovery (ISR) for rare earth deposits?

A: ISR involves injecting a leaching solution — typically magnesium sulphate — into a wellfield drilled into the mineralised clay profile. The solution dissolves rare earth elements, which are then recovered at the surface and processed into a mixed rare earth carbonate product without conventional mining or excavation.

Q: What is the significance of the Woolrich deposit?

A: Woolrich hosts an Indicated Resource of 110.08 Mt at 1,073 ppm TREO and is designated as the priority deposit for Axel's planned ISR field validation programme, given its resource confidence level and geological suitability for initial wellfield design.

Q: What experience does the new Operations Manager bring to Axel?

A: Noeber Orsine brings over 25 years of mining project development and operational leadership, including direct experience as General Manager – Project Delivery at a large-scale Brazilian ionic-clay rare earth operation that he saw through commissioning and start-up.

Q: How large is Axel's Caladão Mineral Resource?

A: The combined Caladão Project Mineral Resource is 708.6 Mt at 1,443 ppm TREO across Indicated and Inferred categories, covering the Caladão Area A, Marambaia, Tiger Creek, and Woolrich deposits.

Q: Does Axel also target gallium and scandium at Caladão?

A: Yes. The near-surface oxidised profile at Caladão also hosts gallium and scandium mineralisation. The combined gallium resource is 575.68 Mt at 37.05 ppm gallium, and metallurgical programmes to unlock additional value from these elements are running in parallel with rare earth optimisation work.

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