Chilean Cobalt expands district land position, drills NeoRe Rare Earth Project, Chile

Chilean Cobalt Corp. [OTCQB: COBA] provided an update on recent progress at the NeoRe Rare Earth Project in southern Chile, highlighting expanded exploration activity, district-scale land consolidation, and the launch of an accelerated development program designed to advance resource validation and technical definition. This follows the start of the earn-in work program previously announced February 11, 2026.

During January and February 2026, NeoRe SpA (NeoRe), the Chilean project owner and operator, initiated full on-site exploration activities and mobilized its core geology and exploration team, transitioning the Project into the execution phase. Drilling conducted year-to-date has reached approximately 192 metres, with preliminary intercepts returning rare earth concentrations of up to 1,060 ppm Total Rare Earth Elements (TREE), with several surface samples exceeding 800 ppm.

In parallel, NeoRe has expanded the project’s land position through the filing of seven new concessions, adding approximately 2,100 hectares to the project area. Exploration activities have also identified more than 20 additional prospective targets within the broader mineral district. Under NeoRe’s conditional filing strategy, surface samples reporting attractive grades of Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO) may support further concession filings, with the potential to expand the exploration footprint during the balance of 2026. These activities reflect NeoRe’s broader strategy of advancing the Project on a district-scale basis, while systematically evaluating multiple prospective zones across the region.

“Our objective at NeoRe is not only to advance individual exploration targets, but to define and develop a new rare earth district in southern Chile,” said Arturo Albornoz, CEO of NeoRe, “Through systematic exploration, strategic land consolidation, and collaboration with leading technical and academic partners, we are working to unlock the region’s potential and position Chile as a meaningful future contributor to the global supply of critical minerals.”

Chilean Cobalt and NeoRe have also initiated an accelerated work program designed to bring forward key activities across exploration, technical validation, and project definition. The accelerated structure is intended to advance the completion of Tranche 1 activities by July 2026 and support earlier evaluation of potential development scenarios.

As part of this initiative, NeoRe is preparing to expand its drilling campaign through the deployment of two parallel drilling crews, operating under a growing technical and operating team across exploration and geology, metallurgy, project management, ESG and sustainability, and governance areas. The program is designed to accelerate resource validation, define higher-grade zones, and evaluate multiple potential mineralized areas suitable for future modular development.

In addition to exploration activities, NeoRe has initiated conceptual engineering for its proposed modular processing strategy, including the design of a crushing and milling circuit, intended to standardize mineral feed and support metallurgical testing and permitting preparation. An analytical campaign involving more than 100 samples is also underway, under an active partnership with the University of Concepción to refine the project’s grade model and metallurgical baseline. This work is also supported by NeoRe’s recent award by CORFO, Chile’s Economic Development Agency.

“We are encouraged by the early exploration results and the rapid progress achieved since the start of field operations,” said Duncan T. Blount, Chairman and CEO of Chilean Cobalt. “The accelerated work program reflects our confidence in the project’s potential, even at this early stage, and our commitment to advancing NeoRe through disciplined exploration and technical validation, while continuing to evaluate strategic pathways for downstream processing and market integration with partners in the United States.”

Chilean Cobalt is a US-based critical minerals exploration and development company focused on the La Cobaltera cobalt-copper project in northern Chile, one of the world’s few primary cobalt districts.