Altona Rare Earths Plc (LSE:REE) shares jumped 11% to 5.28p after record drilling results at Monte Muambe rare earths project in Mozambique.
A drilling intercept at Target 4 showed 76 metres (m) at 3.426% total rare earth oxides (TREO) from surface, a record for the project in terms of length and grade.
This drilling provided further data to flesh out the geological model for the mineral resource estimate, Altona said, with samples from this drilling programme to be tested at the lab later in the year.
Of the 10 holes drilled, one of the two at Target 3 intersected 2.735% TREO from surface to 30m, open at depth.
Chief executive Cedric Simonet said the record intercept at Target 4 as well as the presence of ore at Target 3 are "both highly positive discoveries, which show that Monte Muambe still has a lot of resource building potential in store".
He said the focus was on the MRE and the scoping study, but additional exploration work is now also being planned for Target 3.
"We are also planning new exploration work on other, as yet-unexplored targets which were identified from the soil sampling survey we conducted last year," he added.