Key Highlights

  • Phase 1 drilling returned significant intercepts in 56 of 60 holes assayed, with MREO representing 29%–39% of TREO in 55 intercepts
  • Metallurgical sighter test achieved 99% MREO extraction into the acid leach solution after caustic conversion
  • Cash was A$3.45 million at 30 September 2026, providing only 1.8 quarters of funding at the current spending rate
  • The Barkly Project covers 5,030 square kilometres with an existing Inferred Mineral Resource of 40 million tonnes at 2,100 ppm TREO

Barkly Rare Earths Limited (ASX:BAK) has early drilling and metallurgical results that point towards magnet rare earths in the Northern Territory, but only 1.8 quarters of funding at its current spending rate. The company reported cash of A$3.45 million at 30 September 2026, down from A$5.421 million three months earlier.

An explorer in the Materials sector

BAK listed on the ASX on 30 January 2026 and is classified by the ASX as a Materials company. It holds 100% of the Barkly Project, which covers 5,030 square kilometres in the Northern Territory.

The project has an existing Inferred Mineral Resource of 40 million tonnes at 2,100 parts per million total rare earth oxides (TREO) and 710 parts per million magnet rare earth oxides (MREO). The company also reports an Exploration Target of 200 to 1,000 million tonnes at 1,600 to 1,900 parts per million TREO, which is conceptual, with no certainty that a Mineral Resource will be defined.

What the drilling has shown

The Phase 1 programme is planned at 10,000 metres. By 15 October 2026 BAK had drilled 89 holes for 2,168 metres, including six redrills, after pausing in September for replacement parts and restarting on 5 October.

Results to 19 October 2026 covered 60 holes, of which 56 had significant intercepts. Across 58 intercepts totalling 118.5 metres, the average width was 2.0 metres. The widest was hole BAK0284, with 5.5 metres at 1,035 parts per million TREO from 22 metres depth. MREO made up 29% to 39% of TREO in 55 of the 58 intercepts.

The richest single assay was 4,550 parts per million TREO over 0.5 metres in hole BAK0032. First assays released on 16 September 2026 showed significant intercepts in all 28 holes assayed, and 26 holes were still awaiting assay or at the laboratory in the 19 October update.

The metallurgical signal

On 31 August 2026 BAK announced a sighter test in which 99% of MREO reached the acid leach solution after caustic conversion. Independent laboratory Nagrom ran it on a 75.45 gram composite from 14 drillholes.

The company itself stresses limits: a single small composite, no duplicate, unoptimised conditions and no demonstration yet of purification or product recovery. Earlier testwork extracted up to 74% of MREO under different conditions. The test also moved 92% of phosphorus into the caustic conversion solution, with no measurable rare earths in that stream, and 94% of yttrium reached the acid leach solution. This is an encouraging indicator rather than a flowsheet or an economic result.

The funding question

Operating cash outflow for the September quarter was A$1.953 million, of which A$1.497 million was exploration and evaluation. BAK reports no undrawn financing facilities and no government grants or tax incentives in the period.

Related-party payments were A$730,752, including A$516,552 in consulting fees to RSC Global Pty Ltd, an associate of director René Sterk. With roughly one-fifth of the planned metres drilled and 1.8 quarters of runway, completing Phase 1 and the testwork is likely to require new funding, though none has been announced in the documents reviewed.

Milestones and risks

A third Environmental Mining Licence was granted on 23 July 2026, adding to the project's tenure and approvals position. Several items are due in the fourth quarter of calendar 2026: a Barkly Mineral Resource update, geometallurgical testwork and modelling, and assay results from the Buntine Project, where rock-chip sampling finished in July. BAK is also tendering for a second drill rig. Its Annual General Meeting is on 27 November 2026.

The main risks are funding, the pace of assays, whether leach results hold on representative samples, and the usual uncertainties of exploration and rare earth markets. A resource update depends on drilling and laboratory progress, so timing could shift.