Key Highlights

  • Two specialists have joined Axel's Brazilian team ahead of in-situ recovery (ISR) work at Woolrich.
  • Noeber Orsine has been appointed operations manager for Brazil, with more than 25 years of experience.
  • The Caladão project hosts a global rare earths resource of 708.6 million tonnes at 1,443 ppm TREO.
  • ISR has yet to be validated in the field at Woolrich, so performance remains untested.

Axel REE (ASX:AXL) has added two specialists to its Brazilian team as it prepares in-situ recovery (ISR) work at the Woolrich ionic-clay deposit, part of its Caladão rare earths and gallium project in Minas Gerais.

Noeber Orsine has been appointed operations manager for Brazil. He brings more than 25 years of experience and was previously general manager of project delivery at Serra Verde, a Brazilian rare earths operation that was acquired by USA Rare Earth (Nasdaq:USAR) in 2026 for about US$2.8 billion.

Laura Rocha joins as chemical process engineer, with roughly 15 years of experience. Her previous roles include positions at Brazilian Rare Earths, Aclara and Serra Verde, all of which have been involved in rare earths projects in the region.

What the team will work on

Axel said the immediate priorities are hydrogeological investigations, project planning and a field validation programme for ISR at Woolrich. Optimisation of a magnesium sulphate leach is also continuing.

ISR is a method in which a leaching solution is introduced into the ground, allowed to pass through mineralised material and then recovered for processing, rather than the ore being mined and moved. For ionic-clay rare earths, where elements are loosely held on clay surfaces, this approach is being considered by several developers because it can reduce earthmoving. Its success depends heavily on how fluids move through the ground, which is why hydrogeology sits at the centre of the programme. Magnesium sulphate is one of the reagents commonly tested for releasing rare earths from ionic clays.

Managing director Dr Patience Mpofu said the company is integrating geological, metallurgical and hydrogeological work, describing a joined-up approach to the next phase of evaluation.

The resource base

Caladão hosts a global rare earths resource of 708.6 million tonnes at 1,443 ppm total rare earth oxides (TREO), of which 110.08 million tonnes is classified as Indicated. The remainder sits in lower-confidence categories. The project also carries a global gallium resource of 575.68 million tonnes at 37.05 ppm gallium. Indicated resources carry a higher level of geological confidence than Inferred material, but neither category is an ore reserve, and conversion to reserves would require further studies demonstrating economic viability, including assumptions about Mining method and processing.

Why it matters, and the caveats

Hiring people with direct operating and process experience in Brazilian rare earths gives Axel in-house capability for the technical tasks that ISR demands. Experience gained at Serra Verde and other regional projects may be particularly relevant to the permitting, field logistics and processing questions specific to Minas Gerais. It also signals that the company is moving from resource definition towards practical testing of how the deposit could be developed. Ms Rocha's background across three regional rare earths companies adds process chemistry experience, which is relevant because leach chemistry and Downstream recovery will shape the quality and cost of any product.

Appointments do not, however, change the underlying technical risks. ISR has yet to be validated in the field at Woolrich, and its performance will depend on ground permeability, solution containment, reagent consumption and recovery rates, all still to be demonstrated. Most of the resource is not yet in the Indicated category, no reserve has been declared, and no development decision or funding arrangement has been announced.

Next steps

The disclosed next steps are the hydrogeological investigations, the Woolrich ISR field validation programme and continued leach optimisation. Results from the field validation work would be the first direct evidence of how ISR performs at Woolrich.