Tundulu Rare Earths Project, Malawi | ASX: AKN | September 2026

Four holes into a 31-hole program, AuKing has returned 91 metres at 1.51% TREO and 80 metres at 1.54% from surface, beaten the historical drilling it set out to validate, and found something the neighbours do not have: apatite carrying dysprosium and terbium through the middle of the grade.

The shape of these intersections is as important as the numbers in them. In 26NH029 the mineralisation starts at surface and runs 80 metres. In 26NH005 it runs 91 metres from 40 metres down. Neither hole is chasing a narrow vein: these are broad, continuous intervals of the kind that support bulk tonnage, and both sit in the shallowest part of the system where any future operation would start.

The cross sections published with the assays mark the mineralisation as open in multiple directions from all three holes. The first two diamond holes then logged carbonatite continuously to 510.6m and 400.42m, both ending in the host rock rather than out of it. Nothing drilled so far has closed this system off, laterally or at depth.

Every metre of 26NH029 and 26NH005, exactly as reported. Bars are TREO grade, the line is contained dysprosium, and the slider sets a cut-off so you can see how much of each hole survives a given threshold. At a 1% cut-off both holes hold together across long runs rather than collapsing into isolated spikes.

Two distinct styles of mineralisation show up in the data. The first is high-grade rock at 3 to 6% TREO dominated by lanthanum and cerium, with neodymium and praseodymium sitting at 11 to 14% of total oxide. The second is apatite-rich rock at 1.5 to 2.5% TREO where NdPr climbs to 20 to 22% and dysprosium runs above 100 ppm.

That second style is the prize. NdPr is what drives revenue in every rare earth project on the planet, and at Tundulu it nearly doubles as a share of the basket precisely where the heavies show up. Grade alone undersells this rock. A 1.5% intersection running 21% NdPr with 120 ppm dysprosium is a more attractive tonne than a 5% intersection that is mostly cerium.

The mechanism is straightforward and well documented at Tundulu: apatite takes yttrium, dysprosium and terbium into its crystal structure in a way that monazite and bastnaesite do not. Apatite tracks the heavies across all three holes with meaningful grade.

Each dot is one metre of drilling. Left to right is TREO grade, bottom to top is contained dysprosium, and the colour separates apatite-rich rock from the rest. The two populations barely overlap.

Select an interval to see its magnet and heavy element grades. Bars are scaled against the strongest of the three for each element, so the intervals can be compared directly.

AuKing put the heavy rare earth signature at the front of its announcement, and the figures justify the emphasis. HREE+Y runs as high as 16.09% of TREO over eight metres in 26NH005, 12.75% over a further seven metres in the same hole, and 11.46% sustained across 42 metres from 13 metres depth in 26NH029. Conventional carbonatite-hosted deposits typically carry heavies at 1 to 3% of the basket. Tundulu is running several times that, which is exactly why the company described the signature as distinctive.

Ratios describe the shape of the basket. Contained metal describes what a separation plant gets paid for, and Tundulu holds up on that measure too: 218 ppm dysprosium and 41 ppm terbium over three metres at 4.25% TREO, and 120 ppm dysprosium sustained over twelve metres at 1.47%. That twelve-metre run carries 8.54% HREE+Y at the same time, so grade, magnet metals and heavies all sit in the same rock. Both lenses point at the same intervals, and those intervals are apatite-rich.

Source: AuKing Mining Limited (ASX: AKN), “Maiden Tundulu Drilling Delivers Exceptional TREO Intersections”, released to the ASX on 14 September 2026, together with the company’s releases of 17 August, 31 August and 1 September 2026. All sample data is reproduced from Annexure B of the 14 September announcement. Interval averages for dysprosium, terbium, neodymium, praseodymium, yttrium and phosphate are length-weighted across the reported one metre samples and are our calculations, not company-stated composites.

Abbreviations: TREO, total rare earth oxides. HREE+Y, heavy rare earth elements plus yttrium. NdPr, neodymium plus praseodymium as a share of TREO. Dy, dysprosium. Tb, terbium. Y, yttrium. P2O5, phosphorus pentoxide, used here as a proxy for apatite content.

This article is independent third-party analysis of publicly released information. Interpretations, comparisons between mineralisation styles and any view on the relative merit of one interval over another are our own. Forward-looking statements, including any reference to a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate or future drilling, reflect the company’s stated intentions and are subject to risks outside its control. Exploration results are not a resource and do not indicate that an economic deposit exists. This is general information only. It is not investment advice, does not account for any individual’s objectives or circumstances, and must not be relied on as the basis for an investment decision. Readers should consult the full ASX announcements and seek independent financial advice.