HIGHLIGHTS

  • Pegmatites confirmed in four trenches at Mauricio Target, with a contiguous trend traced across approximately 167 metres.
  • Pegmatite thicknesses ranging from approximately 2 to 11 metres, remaining open to the east, west and at depth.
  • Additional rock chip sampling suggests a possible further ~320 metres of pegmatite trend west of trench TR04.

 

Shares in Perpetual Resources Ltd (ASX:PEC) climbed 7.69% to A$0.014 on Monday, extending a strong twelve-month run that has seen the stock appreciate approximately 40%, as the company released initial results from its ongoing trenching program at the Mauricio Target within the Igrejinha Lithium and Caesium Project in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The results confirm the presence of a contiguous pegmatite body across four separate trenches, with an interpreted strike length of approximately 167 metres — a finding that the company describes as a significant advancement in its understanding of the target area ahead of planned drilling scheduled for the middle of 2026.

The Igrejinha project sits in a globally recognised lithium province. Minas Gerais is home to some of Brazil's most significant pegmatite-hosted lithium mineralisation, including operations controlled by Sigma Lithium, whose tenement boundary runs adjacent to the Mauricio Target. That proximity is not lost on investors: the possibility that Perpetual's Mauricio Target could be part of the same district-scale pegmatite system that hosts Sigma's production operations has been a recurring point of interest since the company first outlined the target.

What the Trench Results Show

The trenching program, which commenced in late April 2026, has completed approximately 196 metres of excavation across four effective field days. The most significant outcome is the confirmation of what the company believes to be a single contiguous pegmatite body exposed in all four trenches — TR01 through TR04. Apparent thicknesses across the four exposures range from approximately 2 metres to 11 metres, though the company cautions that these are apparent widths measured at the surface and that true widths remain unknown pending further drilling. The pegmatite system remains open in multiple directions: east, west, and at depth.

Beyond the trenched area, additional geological reconnaissance and rock chip sampling conducted to the west of TR04 identified pegmatitic outcrop and historical artisanal workings. These observations suggest the interpreted trend may extend for a further approximately 320 metres to the west — a potential extension that has not yet been tested by trenching or drilling but which management considers encouraging in the context of previously identified lithium soil anomalies in the broader Mauricio area.

Context: Building on the 2025 Maiden Drill Program

The current trenching campaign builds on Perpetual's maiden drilling program completed at Mauricio in 2025. That initial program intersected pegmatitic material with lithium content of up to 0.4% Li2O across multiple holes, including drillholes SEP003 and SEP004 — the same holes around which the current trenching has been concentrated. While the maiden program confirmed the presence of a fertile pegmatite system, it was characterised as a rapid first-pass assessment that did not specifically target structurally controlled or geochemically optimised zones.

Since that initial work, subsequent soil geochemistry has identified a coherent lithium and caesium anomaly located approximately 200 metres northwest of the historical drilling — a finding that the company says provides a more robust vector toward potentially more fractionated, and therefore more mineralised, portions of the pegmatite system. The four pegmatites now confirmed through trenching are located approximately 60 metres from the historical drillholes, and management believes the geological information being generated is critical for refining future drill targets.

Assays Pending: The Key Uncertainty

A critical caveat in the current announcement is the absence of assay results. While the physical confirmation of substantial pegmatites across four trenches is geologically encouraging, it does not yet establish lithium or caesium mineralisation. The company has collected more than 40 channel samples, which have been dispatched to SGS-Geosol Laboratories for analysis. Results are expected during June 2026. Investors should treat the current results as structural confirmation rather than mineralogical confirmation — the upcoming assays will determine whether the identified pegmatites carry economically meaningful grades of lithium, caesium, or associated critical minerals.

Program Design and Next Steps

The trenching program is specifically designed to support the upcoming mid-2026 diamond drilling campaign by improving the company's understanding of pegmatite geometry, structural controls, and zones of fractionation. None of the planned trenches have yet been fully completed, with extensions and infill work still planned across the broader Mauricio target area. The integration of trench results, soil geochemistry, and historical data will be used to finalise drill targets and optimise hole positioning before the diamond drill program commences. Executive Chairman Julian Babarczy expressed confidence in the geological interpretation, noting that the continuity observed over at least 167 metres of strike — with indications of further extensions — materially strengthens the company's view of the target's prospectivity.