Narryer Metals Rosewood West Titanium Joint Venture Nears Maiden MRE

PTR Minerals Closes In on Maiden Resource Estimate as Final Rosewood East Assays Confirm High-Grade Titanium System

PTR Minerals Limited (ASX: PTR) has received the final batch of assay results from its Rosewood East drilling programme, and the numbers continue to impress. The latest results — covering 134 drill holes at Rosewood East — reinforce what is shaping up to be a substantial, near-surface heavy mineral sands deposit, with the company's maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) firmly on track for delivery in Q2 2026.

For investors who have been watching PTR's systematic build-out of its Rosewood Titanium Project in South Australia, this announcement represents a significant clearing of the runway. All assay data for the eastern portion of the project is now in hand, and attention is turning squarely to the resource estimate that will put a formal JORC-compliant number on what the drills have been revealing.

What the Drills Are Telling Us: Strong Grades From the Surface Down

The defining characteristic of the Rosewood system — and what makes this project stand out — is the combination of high grades, thick intercepts, and very shallow mineralisation. These three attributes together are what exploration geologists dream about, and Rosewood East is delivering all three consistently across a large footprint.

The Batch 5 results cover an extensive area across multiple drill lines, and the headline intercepts speak for themselves:

Several key observations emerge from the full dataset:

• Mineralisation consistently begins within the top 3 to 8 metres of surface, making it highly amenable to low-cost open-cut extraction methods
• Multiple holes intersect thick continuous zones of 10 metres or more at grades well above 8% HM
• High-grade internal intervals frequently exceed 20–25% HM, confirming robust concentration within broader mineralised envelopes
• The mineralisation appears laterally continuous across the drill grid, as confirmed by cross-sectional analysis in the announcement

Furthermore, CEO Peter Reid commented directly on the significance of these findings:

"The Rosewood Titanium Project continues to deliver impressive drilling results. We clearly have a high-quality foundation for the Project, defined by strong grades, thickness, and near-surface accessibility. We look forward to the imminent announcement of our maiden Mineral Resource Estimate as a key step in advancing the project towards development."

— Peter Reid, Chief Executive Officer, PTR Minerals

Understanding Heavy Mineral Grade: Why Percentage Matters

For investors less familiar with mineral sands exploration, it is worth understanding what HM% means and why it is the central metric for this type of project.

Heavy Mineral percentage (HM%) refers to the proportion of economically valuable dense minerals — such as ilmenite, leucoxene, rutile, and zircon — contained within a bulk sample of sand or sediment. When a one-metre drill sample returns 18.2% HM, for instance, it means that 18.2% of that material, by weight, consists of heavy mineral grains after processing to remove lighter waste sand.

In the context of mineral sands projects globally, grades vary considerably. Shallow, high-grade deposits that are easy to mine and process tend to attract the strongest economics. The combination of grades routinely in the 10–20%+ HM range at Rosewood, beginning from just a few metres below surface, places this project in a favourable category relative to many other mineral sands developments.

Equally important is the mineralogical character of the deposit. PTR has previously disclosed that preliminary test work indicates the mineralisation is leucoxene-dominant — a high-grade titanium feedstock — with minimal impurities and a coarse, well-distributed particle size. These characteristics are associated with strong recoveries through conventional processing, which directly supports project economics.

Glossary of Key Terms

• HM% (Heavy Mineral Percentage): The proportion of economically valuable heavy mineral grains in a bulk sample
• Leucoxene: An altered form of ilmenite that is particularly rich in titanium dioxide (TiO2) and commands a premium in the market
• MRE (Mineral Resource Estimate): A JORC-compliant formal estimate of the quantity and grade of mineralisation within a deposit
• JORC (2012): The Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves — the industry standard framework governing resource estimate disclosure
• Air Core Drilling: A drilling method using compressed air to bring rock chips to surface; cost-effective and well-suited to near-surface sedimentary mineralisation
• HLS (Heavy Liquid Separation): A laboratory technique used to separate heavy mineral grains from lighter waste material

The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Drilling Programme

The scale of PTR's drilling effort at Rosewood deserves attention. JORC Table 1 disclosures confirm that a total of 799 drill holes have been completed across the Rosewood and broader Muckanippie Project area, totalling 20,749 metres of drilling.

The Batch 5 results alone cover 228 drill holes where HM assays have been received, with 134 of those forming this specific release from Rosewood East.

All holes were drilled vertically, which is appropriate for the flat-lying fluvio-deltaic marine sediment style of mineralisation at Rosewood. This means the intervals reported represent true thickness, removing a common source of ambiguity in reported drilling results.

The quality assurance and quality control (QAQC) framework is also robust. Field duplicates and HM standards are inserted every 25 samples, Diamantina independently inserts laboratory repeats at 1-in-25 and Certified Reference Materials at 1-in-40, and five twinned holes have been drilled to validate consistency. This level of rigour underpins confidence in the data that will feed into the maiden MRE.

What Comes Next: The Path to the Maiden MRE

With Rosewood East now fully assayed, the remaining work before the maiden MRE is released is well defined and limited in scope:

1. Rosewood West assays outstanding: A single batch of HM assaying remains for drill holes from Rosewood West, located on EL 6715 and part of the Narryer Metals Rosewood West titanium joint venture with PTR Minerals (PTR at 70%, Narryer Metals at 30%)
2. Assemblage logging well advanced: HM concentrate samples from across the programme have been logged to characterise the mineral assemblage
3. XRF and QEMSCAN analysis in progress: These advanced analytical techniques are being applied to selected representative samples to quantify the TiO2 mineral assemblage — a key input to the MRE under JORC (2012)
4. Maiden MRE delivery: Targeted for Q2 2026

The MRE will be a transformational moment for PTR. For the first time, the market will have a JORC-compliant, independently verified estimate of the size and grade of the Rosewood deposit — providing a foundation for all subsequent project development work, including scoping studies, prefeasibility assessments, and offtake discussions.

Project Structure and Tenement Position

The Rosewood Titanium Project sits within PTR's broader Muckanippie Project in the northern Gawler Craton of South Australia, located approximately 120 km south-southwest of Coober Pedy.

The project spans multiple tenements with the following ownership structure:

In addition, PTR holds copper-gold projects at Woomera and Mabel Creek — both within the Olympic Copper-Gold Province — and an early-stage rare earths and gold project at Comet, diversifying the company's exposure beyond titanium.

The Investment Case: Why Rosewood Warrants Attention

Several attributes of the Rosewood system combine to make PTR an interesting proposition for investors tracking the critical minerals space.

Near-surface geometry significantly reduces mining cost. When mineralisation begins at 3–8 metres depth and remains open and continuous, the strip ratios and extraction costs are considerably lower than deeper deposit styles. This translates directly into project economics at the feasibility stage.

Grades are consistently high across a large drill footprint. The Batch 5 dataset covers hundreds of drill holes, and the recurrence of intercepts in the 10–20%+ HM range across multiple drill lines points to a system with genuine scale and continuity, rather than isolated pockets of grade.

The leucoxene-dominant assemblage carries commercial significance. PTR's preliminary test work points to strong processing recoveries and high-quality titanium products. This mineralogical character directly supports downstream product value and project margins.

The maiden MRE is imminent and represents the single most important near-term catalyst. Until a JORC resource is in place, a project remains in the exploration phase. Once the MRE is published, the project formally enters a new development trajectory that typically attracts broader institutional and strategic investor interest.

Moreover, the broader Muckanippie footprint remains open and prospective for increased mineralisation, suggesting the maiden MRE could be the first of several resource statements as the project continues to be delineated.

Key Takeaway

PTR Minerals has built a substantial, high-quality drilling dataset at its Rosewood Titanium Project, characterised by shallow, thick, and high-grade heavy mineral mineralisation across a large and systematically drilled footprint. With all Rosewood East assays now received and the maiden JORC Mineral Resource Estimate on track for Q2 2026, the company is approaching a pivotal value-creation milestone. The Narryer Metals Rosewood West titanium joint venture with PTR Minerals adds further strategic value to the broader project portfolio. Investors focused on critical minerals development should keep a close eye on PTR as this resource estimate approaches.

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