ASX-listed Alurion Resources has started infill drilling and bulk-sample trenching at its Amargosa bauxite-gallium project in Brazil, marking the transition from resource definition to active development.

The company is targeting completion of a prefeasibility study by mid-2027.

The program comprises 203 auger holes totalling 2,436 metres and 20 diamond twin holes for 800 metres—a combined 3,236 metres of drilling—alongside up to 16 bulk-sample trenches across the Central and North districts. Alurion expects to collect about 3,600 samples.

The Central District is being treated as the project's development anchor. It hosts the largest share of Amargosa's direct-ship bauxite and beneficiable bauxite mineral resources and accounts for approximately 75% of Rio Tinto's historical drilling across the project.

Amargosa holds a 568-million-tonne JORC-compliant mineral resource estimate, comprising 98 million tonnes of direct-shipping bauxite and 470 million tonnes of beneficiable bauxite.

The bulk-sample program will test the full bauxite profile and support metallurgical and product-specification testwork. Alurion plans to assess opportunities to improve bauxite processing yields and recover potential co-products including ilmenite, zircon and monazite. Historical Rio Tinto test work recovered 43% to 49% of feed mass into a product meeting targeted alumina and reactive silica specifications.

An independent road-logistics study is nearing completion and will define route capacity, fleet configuration and staged haulage expansions to the Port of Enseada. The PFS will initially assess road haulage north to Enseada while retaining the option of a southern connection to the planned Ferrovia de Integração Oeste-Leste railway and Porto Sul export infrastructure.

Alurion expects to complete drilling and trenching during the December quarter of 2026, followed by ore characterisation work in the March quarter and updated mineral resource estimates in the June quarter of 2027.

Preliminary, non-binding discussions are already underway with alumina and aluminium groups in Brazil, China and the Middle East regarding potential offtake and partnerships.

“China is importing bauxite at a pace materially ahead of earlier forecasts while relying on Guinea for roughly four of every five imported bauxite tonnes,” Alurion CEO Maurício Noronha said. “Amargosa offers a strategic, large-scale Atlantic-basin bauxite project, and the early commercial engagement with industry since Alurion's spin-out is positive. Each workstream is designed to strengthen the PFS targeted for mid-2027.”