Chilwa Minerals Doubles Mpyupyu Resource, Lifts Measured And Indicated to 89%

What Changed Today

Chilwa Minerals (ASX: CHW) said it has more than doubled the JORC (2012) mineral resource at the Mpyupyu heavy mineral sands deposit within its Lake Chilwa project in Malawi to 109.6 million tonnes at a 1.0% THM cut-off.

Mpyupyu is a heavy mineral sands (HMS) deposit, meaning the mineralisation is being assessed for products such as ilmenite, zircon and rutile, with the company also saying QEMSCAN work has confirmed monazite throughout the deposit.

The project is one of the mineral sands assets Chilwa is trying to move toward study stage within its broader multi-commodity ground position at Lake Chilwa.

Today’s update materially changes the scale and confidence profile of that asset.

The company said the new Mpyupyu resource is up 114% on the prior estimate, while contained THM increased 62% to 3.61Mt.

Resource Classification Shift

The classification shift is also notable, with 24.47Mt now in Measured, 73.57Mt in Indicated and 11.61Mt in Inferred.

That means about 89% of the resource now sits in the higher-confidence Measured and Indicated categories.

Chilwa also highlighted a higher-grade core of 50.62Mt at 4.65% THM using a 3.0% THM cut-off.

That improved confidence is expected to support Chilwa's mine planning inputs for the scoping study targeted for Q3 2026, although no decision to mine has been made.

There is an important trade-off in the numbers.

Average grade at the 1.0% THM cut-off fell to 3.28% from the prior estimate, a decline of 1.08 percentage points.

So while the deposit is now larger and geologically better defined, the filing does not yet show how the lower average grade could affect processing assumptions, recoveries, or costs.

Mpyupyu in Context

The Mpyupyu deposit sits within Chilwa’s larger Lake Chilwa minerals portfolio in southern Malawi, on a single contiguous licence about 1 kilometre from the Nakombe niobium-REE target, which links the HMS project to Chilwa’s separate critical minerals exploration push.

Chilwa has been advancing both tracks at the same time.

The company had earlier outlined a maiden conceptual Exploration Target at Nakombe South for a niobium-REE-tantalum-gallium system.

That helps explain why management is framing Mpyupyu as part of a wider district-scale development sequence rather than a standalone sand deposit.

Within the HMS side of the portfolio, Mposa remains the company’s more advanced anchor asset based on earlier disclosures.

Chilwa previously reported a JORC 2012 Mineral Resource at Mposa of 25.65Mt at 4.14% THM, with 83% of that resource in the Measured category.

Against that backdrop, the Mpyupyu upgrade appears to give the company a second larger inventory base for upcoming study work.

Chilwa has also been trying to grow the Mpyupyu footprint beyond the current estimate. Earlier this month it identified the Mpyupyu West HMS target over about five square kilometres, and sonic drilling is continuing there.

However, Mpyupyu West remains a conceptual Exploration Target and there is currently insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource.

What Comes Next

The clearest next milestone is the Mpyupyu scoping study, which the company said is targeted for release in Q3 2026.

That study is likely to be the first point at which outsiders can test whether the bigger and higher-confidence resource converts into a workable development concept through mining sequence, product mix, processing route, logistics and recovery assumptions.

Drilling at Mpyupyu West continues, but the company has been clear that the area remains conceptual.

Any future conversion from mapped mineralisation into a Mineral Resource would depend on more drilling and sufficient continuity.

In its 31 December 2025 quarterly, Chilwa reported A$3.591 million in cash after completing an A$8 million private placement, but prior disclosures also pointed to a tight funding runway and ongoing capital needs as the company pursues parallel HMS study work and niobium-REE drilling.

Bigger Resource, Harder Questions Next

Chilwa’s Mpyupyu update is significant because it combines a sharp increase in tonnage with a large shift into Measured and Indicated categories, giving the company a stronger platform for its next-stage study work.

The next phase of the story is less about more tonnes and more about whether the Q3 2026 scoping study can show workable economics, funding pathways and a realistic development sequence across the Lake Chilwa portfolio.

Regulatory and execution issues remain in view as well.

The company’s preferred sequencing, including the idea of HMS being a first potential development front within the broader Chilwa Critical Minerals Project, is forward-looking and subject to approvals.

More broadly, the next stages still depend on technical study outcomes, financing capacity, permitting steps and metallurgical work.