Spark Energy Minerals Inc. press release

Spark Reports 1.54% TREO in Boa Vista Soil and 137.1 g/t Gallium Oxide in Encachoeirado Rock Sample

2026-10-23

CSE - Canadian National Stock Exchange · Lithium · Rare Earth Elements · Gallium · Tin · Cesium · Tantalum · Niobium · Rubidium · Manganese · Beryllium · Canada · Drill Results

Magnet rare earth oxides make up 35.3% of TREO in the peak Boa Vista soil sample; surface results guide the next tests across two Arapaima targets

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - October 23, 2026) - Spark Energy Minerals Inc. (CSE: SPRK) (OTC Pink: SPARF) (FSE: 8PC) ("Spark" or the "Company") reports surface sampling results that guide the next exploration steps at Boa Vista and Encachoeirado, within its Arapaima Project in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The results bring Boa Vista's rare earth zone into focus at surface and identify rare earth and gallium anomalies at the undrilled Encachoeirado target.

Surface Results Point to the Next Exploration Opportunities

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1.54% TREO in soil. ARA-SL-219, collected on strongly kaolinized Caladão Granite saprolite at Boa Vista, returned 15,434 ppm (1.54%) TREO with 35.3% MREO/TREO and 5,171 ppm NdPr. ARA-SL-080, a pink clayey soil, returned 3,047 ppm TREO with 29.3% MREO/TREO.

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About half of the soils above 500 ppm TREO. Forty of the 81 Boa Vista soil samples exceeded 500 ppm TREO. The gallium results for these samples (59 above 50 g/t Ga₂O₃, up to 134.4 g/t) were reported on September 24, 2026.

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Rare earths at surface. The five maiden holes at Boa Vista intersected the rare earth zone from 20 to 32 m below surface, beneath the gallium-rich horizon. The soils show the same zone at surface on the slopes, where the upper horizon has been stripped, as at the Cruzeta road cut (at least 2.00% TREO in a grab sample; 22 m averaging 2,392 ppm TREO in channel; October 8, 2026).

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Encachoeirado, a third target. Six of 65 stream-sediment samples exceeded 500 ppm TREO, with a maximum of 1,621 ppm (ARA-SS-292a); a pegmatite-biotitite rock chip (ARA-CR-184) returned 2,428 ppm TREO with 637 ppm Li₂O and 137.1 g/t Ga₂O₃; and five of 13 soils exceeded 50 g/t Ga₂O₃. Not yet drilled.

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Next steps. Close-spaced soil sampling and RC holes sited where the rare earth zone is exposed at Boa Vista; trenching and channel sampling at Encachoeirado. Subject to financing.

Comment from the CEO

"At Cruzeta, the road cut showed us the rare earth zone at surface. At Boa Vista, the soils are telling us the same thing. Where the gallium-rich upper horizon has been stripped by erosion or by a road cut, the rare earth zone is at surface, and the best of those soils, at 1.54% TREO, is of the same order as the grab sample we reported at Cruzeta. The model that led us to Boa Vista now explains what we see at surface at both drilled targets. Our next holes at Boa Vista will be sited where the zone is exposed, so that they test it from the first meter. A single sample does not make a deposit, but a soil dataset that behaves the way the model predicts is a good reason to drill," said Dr. Fernando Tallarico, P.Geo., FSEG, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman.

[](https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10093/320519_caaa839b84664bd5_002full.jpg)

Figure 1. The Cruzeta, Boa Vista and Encachoeirado targets, Arapaima Project: geology (Company compilation after the SGB-CPRM 1:100,000 sheets) draped on shaded relief, with the lateritic cover of the plateau surfaces, drainage, faults and the Spark tenements; the surface samples at the three targets by sample medium; and the 33 publicly reported RC drill holes. Filled symbols are the samples reported in this news release (the Boa Vista soils and the Encachoeirado samples); open symbols are the Cruzeta surface samples and the Boa Vista stream-sediment and rock-chip samples, whose yttrium values were reported on October 20, 2026. Inset: position of the map within the Arapaima tenements.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10093/320519_caaa839b84664bd5_002full.jpg

Boa Vista: Magnet Rare Earth Oxides Account for 35.3% of the Peak Soil TREO Result

Boa Vista lies 7 to 8 km south of Cruzeta (Figure 1). Five maiden reverse circulation (RC) holes, reported on August 27, 2026, returned gallium from surface in every hole and a rare earth zone starting 20 to 32 m below surface, with composites of 1,188 to 1,565 ppm TREO and 17.3% to 23.4% MREO/TREO.

The surface results reported on September 24, 2026 covered the gallium signature of the soils, with 63 of the 86 soils then reported above 50 g/t Ga₂O₃ and a maximum of 134.4 g/t (ARA-SL-062). Five of those soils (ARA-SL-075 to -078 and ARA-SL-144) plot outside the Company's tenements and are not included in this news release.

The rare earth results for the other 81 soils are reported here. ARA-SL-219, collected on strongly kaolinized Caladão Granite saprolite, or weathered rock, about 2 km west-southwest of the maiden holes, returned 15,434 ppm (1.54%) TREO with 35.3% MREO/TREO and 5,171 ppm NdPr, and ARA-SL-080, a pink clayey soil, returned 3,047 ppm TREO with 29.3% MREO/TREO (Table 1; Figure 2).

Gallium in ARA-SL-219 was below the detection limit, as it was in the Cruzeta grab sample, a pattern consistent with both samples coming from below the gallium-rich horizon.

[](https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10093/320519_caaa839b84664bd5_003full.jpg)

Figure 2. Boa Vista target: the 81 soil samples classed by TREO, with the five maiden RC holes, on the geology and shaded relief of Figure 1. Inset: the holes and the depth at which each intersected the rare earth zone (August 27, 2026). The holes were collared on the lateritic cover of a plateau surface; ARA-SL-219 lies about 2 km to the west-southwest, on saprolite outside the mapped lateritic cover. Stream-sediment and rock-chip samples at Boa Vista are not shown; their results are not reported here.

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10093/320519_caaa839b84664bd5_003full.jpg

The soils were collected along access routes, where road cuts and slopes expose the weathering profile beneath the gallium-rich upper horizon. The Company interprets the rare earth-rich soils as samples of the rare earth zone where it reaches surface (Figure 3). In the five maiden holes the zone lies 20 to 32 m below surface and follows the topography; on the slopes and in road cuts, where the upper horizon has been removed, it is at surface.

The same relationship was reported at the Cruzeta road cut on October 8, 2026, where channel sampling of exposed saprolite averaged 2,392 ppm TREO over 22 m and a grab sample of lightly weathered granite returned at least 2.00% TREO (praseodymium exceeded the laboratory's upper limit; the over-limit analysis is pending).

ARA-SL-219 is a single sample. Its grade is of the same order as that grab sample and about ten times the drill composites, and the planned work will test whether it reflects local primary rare earth enrichment in the granite, as proposed at Cruzeta, or secondary enrichment in the saprolite.

Table 1. Boa Vista: the two highest soil TREO results. All 81 soil results are in Appendix Table A1.

| Sample | Material | TREO (ppm) | MREO/TREO (%) | NdPr (ppm) | Ga₂O₃(g/t) | | ARA-SL-219 | kaolinized saprolite, Caladão Granite | 15,434 | 35.3 | 5,171 | <1.3 | | ARA-SL-080 | pink clayey soil | 3,047 | 29.3 | 866 | 48.4 |

MREO/TREO is the magnet rare earth share of TREO; NdPr is Nd₂O₃ + Pr₆O₁₁; "<" indicates a result below the detection limit (shown as oxide). Individual surface samples; not drill intervals.

[](https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10093/320519_caaa839b84664bd5_004full.jpg)

Figure 3. Boa Vista. A: section along the line of the five maiden RC holes (true distances between collars; vertical exaggeration 2x): gallium from surface in every hole and the rare earth zone 20 to 32 m below surface, sub-parallel to the topography; contacts interpreted between holes; collar elevations as corrected in October 2026 (see Qualified Persons & Data Verification). B: plan of the holes and the section line. C: schematic relationship of the soil samples to the weathering profile (not to scale).

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10093/320519_caaa839b84664bd5_004full.jpg

Encachoeirado Adds an Undrilled Gallium and Rare Earth Target

Encachoeirado is a new target in the south-west of the project area, approximately 16 km west-southwest of the Cruzeta drilling (Figure 1). It has not been drilled. Reconnaissance sampling comprised 65 stream-sediment, 29 rock-chip and 13 soil samples within the Company's tenements; all results are listed in Appendix Tables A2 to A4 (selected results in Table 2).

Six of the 65 stream-sediment samples exceeded 500 ppm TREO, with a maximum of 1,621 ppm TREO and 19.7% MREO/TREO in ARA-SS-292a, and three exceeded 50 g/t Ga₂O₃, with a maximum of 64.5 g/t (ARA-SS-313).

Four of the 29 samples of the rock-chip series exceeded 500 ppm TREO, led by a pegmatite-biotitite sample, ARA-CR-184, with 2,428 ppm TREO, 20.3% MREO/TREO, 637 ppm Li₂O, 239 ppm Nb₂O₅ and 137.1 g/t Ga₂O₃. The other three, ARA-CR-168 (1,212 ppm), ARA-CR-165 (657 ppm) and ARA-CR-186 (520 ppm), are soil and saprolite material collected within the same series; 17 of the 29 samples in the series are soils and are identified as such in Appendix Table A2.

None of the 13 soil samples exceeded 500 ppm TREO (maximum 481 ppm, ARA-SL-130), and five returned more than 50 g/t Ga₂O₃, with a maximum of 65.9 g/t (ARA-SL-121).

The gallium in ARA-CR-184 occurs in a biotite-rich rock and is interpreted as a lithological signature of the mica, not as the adsorbed gallium of the weathering profile at Cruzeta and Boa Vista; its lithium and niobium values are pathfinder-level anomalies for pegmatite.

Stream-sediment anomalies locate catchments, not sources. ARA-SS-292a, the highest stream-sediment result, is isolated: the samples upstream (ARA-SS-295a, 370 ppm) and downstream (ARA-SS-288a, 136 ppm) on the same drainage, and on the adjoining tributary (ARA-SS-291a, 229 ppm), are below 500 ppm TREO.

Follow-up will trace the anomalous drainages upstream (ARA-SS-289a, -292a, -316, -317, -347 and -350), map and sample the pegmatite-biotitite body around ARA-CR-184, and test the soils at closer spacing.

Table 2. Encachoeirado: selected results by sample medium. All results are in Appendix Tables A2 to A4.

| Sample | Medium | TREO (ppm) | MREO/TREO (%) | NdPr (ppm) | Ga₂O₃(g/t) | Li₂O (ppm) | | ARA-CR-184 | rock chip, pegmatite-biotitite | 2,428 | 20.3 | 451 | 137.1 | 637 | | ARA-CR-168 | soil (rock-chip series) | 1,212 | 19.7 | 221 | 41.7 | 32 | | ARA-SS-292a | stream sediment | 1,621 | 19.7 | 293 | 14.8 | 30 | | ARA-SL-121 | soil | 126 | 16.8 | 17 | 65.9 | 26 |

Rock chips are selective samples and may not be representative. Stream sediments reflect transported material from the upstream catchment. Individual surface samples; not drill intervals.

Surface Sampling Guides the Next Tests at Boa Vista and Encachoeirado

The following work is planned, subject to field conditions, financing and required permits and access permissions (see Cautionary Statements on Exploration Results and the Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information below):

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Close-spaced soil sampling at Boa Vista around ARA-SL-219 and ARA-SL-080 and along the slopes and road cuts where saprolite is exposed, to map the rare earth zone at surface.

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RC holes at Boa Vista sited where the rare earth zone is exposed, to test it from surface, together with the step-out and infill holes around the five maiden holes announced on August 27, 2026.

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At Encachoeirado, repeat and upstream stream-sediment and soil sampling in the catchments of ARA-SS-289a, -292a, -316, -317, -347 and -350, mapping, trenching and channel sampling of the pegmatite-biotitite body around ARA-CR-184, and mineralogical characterization of the host minerals.

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Reporting of surface results from the remaining Arapaima targets as the database review is completed.

Technical Notes & Reporting Basis

TREO is the sum of La₂O₃, CeO₂, Pr₆O₁₁, Nd₂O₃, Sm₂O₃, Eu₂O₃, Gd₂O₃, Tb₄O₇, Dy₂O₃, Ho₂O₃, Er₂O₃, Tm₂O₃, Yb₂O₃, Lu₂O₃ and Y₂O₃. MREO (magnet rare earth oxides) is Nd₂O₃ + Pr₆O₁₁ + Dy₂O₃ + Tb₄O₇; NdPr is Nd₂O₃ + Pr₆O₁₁. MREO and NdPr are included within TREO and must not be added to it; MREO/TREO is calculated for each sample from the oxide sums. Ga₂O₃ = Ga × 1.3442; Li₂O = Li × 2.1525; Nb₂O₅ = Nb × 1.4305; Sc₂O₃ = Sc × 1.5338. One g/t equals one ppm. Oxide values are calculated analytical equivalents of the elemental assays, not recoverable products, and gallium oxide values are not elemental gallium grades.

Results below the detection limit are reported as "<" followed by the detection limit converted to oxide and are not substituted; where a component of a sum is below the detection limit, the sum is calculated with that component at the detection limit and reported with "<".

"Mineralization" and "anomalous" in this news release mean values above 500 ppm TREO, 50 g/t Ga₂O₃ or 100 ppm Li₂O in an individual sample; these thresholds are reporting conventions of the Company, not economic cut-offs.

The Appendix lists every sample collected within the Company's tenements in the programs reported here, including samples below the reporting thresholds: all 81 soil samples at Boa Vista and all 29 rock-chip, 13 soil and 65 stream-sediment samples at Encachoeirado, with coordinates, sample type and the field description of the sampled material, so that the results can be assessed as a whole. Six further samples, ARA-SL-075 to -078 and ARA-SL-144 at Boa Vista and ARA-SS-361 at Encachoeirado, plot outside the Company's tenements in the ANM SIGMINE layer (October 2026), 37 to 772 m from the nearest boundary, and are not reported. In the ANM registry, the Boa Vista soils lie on exploration permits and on exploration applications: 46 of the 81, including ARA-SL-080, lie on applications 830.189/2023 and 831.922/2024, for which exploration permits have not yet been granted.

Sampling, Analysis & Quality Control

Soil samples were collected by Company geologists along access routes at approximately 200 m spacing, with additional samples where the sampled material changed. Each soil sample of approximately 5 kg was taken at a depth of 50 cm or more, below the stone line where one was present, preferably from the B or C soil horizon. The field description records the color and texture of the material and, where observed, the parent material (for example saprolite). Rock-chip samples were collected from exposed fresh or weathered rock and are selective by nature; at Encachoeirado, 17 of the 29 samples of the rock-chip series are soils, and three are saprolite or regolith (Appendix Table A2). Stream-sediment samples were collected from active drainage channels, classified in the field as primary (36 samples), secondary (26) and tertiary (3) drainages, and were sieved in the field at 60 mesh (250 µm) or finer. At the laboratory every sample was prepared as received, without further size fractionation (see below). Sample locations were recorded with handheld GPS units in SIRGAS 2000 UTM Zone 24S; the horizontal accuracy of individual readings was not recorded and is typically within 3 to 10 m for such units.

Samples were prepared and analyzed by SGS Geosol Laboratórios S.A. (SGS Geosol Laboratórios Ltda. for the 2025 batches) in Vespasiano, Minas Gerais, Brazil, a commercial laboratory that is independent of the Company and is ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certified. Preparation (PRP70J_A2) comprised drying at 105 °C, crushing to 75% passing 3 mm, Jones riffle splitting and pulverizing of a 250 g split to 95% passing 150 mesh (106 µm). Analysis was by sodium peroxide fusion with ICP-OES and ICP-MS finish (ICM90A) for 56 elements. Laboratory quality control in the 10 batches that contain the samples reported here comprised 16 preparation blanks, 15 preparation duplicates, 15 pulp replicates and 24 analyses of the certified reference materials OREAS 460, OREAS 461, OREAS 753, AMIS0683 and AMIS0684. The preparation blanks returned at most 4.8 ppm TREO and gallium below the detection limit; the duplicate and replicate pairs agreed within 9.4% for TREO (median 3.0%); and OREAS 460, the reference material inserted in 9 of the 10 batches, returned TREO with a coefficient of variation of about 3.5% between batches. Compared with their certified values, the reference-material results for the rare earth elements were within three standard deviations, except samarium in three batches (about 9% low) and erbium in one (11% high); on average the rare earth results were 2 to 6% below the certified values, and OREAS 460 returned 95% of its certified TREO, so the reported rare earth values are, if anything, slightly understated. Gallium and lithium in AMIS0683, AMIS0684 and OREAS 753 were within three standard deviations, except gallium in OREAS 753 in one 2025 batch, which was 22% low. None of the reference materials used carries a certified fusion value for scandium. No Company-inserted blanks, duplicates or reference materials were included in these surface batches; the Company's controls (ITAK QG-01 blank; ITAK-713, ITAK-715, GRE-07 and GRE-13 reference materials) were used in the RC drilling program.

Qualified Persons & Data Verification

Jonathan Victor Hill, BSc (Hons), FAusIMM, VP Exploration, Country Manager and Director, and Dr. Fernando Tallarico, P.Geo., FSEG, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, are Qualified Persons as defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. They have prepared or supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information in this news release, including the interpretations, and have reviewed and approved it. Neither is independent of the Company.

The Qualified Persons have verified the data disclosed, including the sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information and opinions in this news release, by comparing every value in the text, tables and Appendix against the SGS Geosol certificates of analysis (188 samples in 10 certificates; all element values and derived oxide totals match); reviewing the laboratory quality-control results for the batches reported; checking the sample identifiers, coordinates and field descriptions against the field records; and reviewing the chain of custody from the field to the laboratory. As part of this review, the collar elevations (RL) of the RC holes were re-determined by interpolation of 2 m topographic contours and checked against the SRTM-based digital elevation model (SRTM 30 m and its 12.5 m ALOS PALSAR resampling). The corrected elevations agree with the model within 15 m for 32 of the 33 holes reported to date (median difference 6 m; maximum 19 m, ARA-RC-025). The previously published elevations were handheld GPS readings; they differed from the model by more than 15 m for 24 of the 33 holes, by up to 142 m (ARA-RC-033). At Boa Vista the corrected RLs are 1,018 m (ARA-RC-006, previously 1,015 m), 1,015 m (ARA-RC-007, previously 1,018 m), 1,014 m (ARA-RC-008, unchanged), 1,006 m (ARA-RC-030, previously 903 m) and 994 m (ARA-RC-031, previously 980 m); at Cruzeta, for example, 944 m for ARA-RC-033 (previously 796 m) and 915 m for ARA-RC-034 (previously 826 m). All holes are vertical and the intervals are measured down-hole, so the reported intervals and grades are unaffected. The corrected elevations of the 28 Cruzeta holes are included in the updated public assay spreadsheet for Cruzeta; those of the Boa Vista holes are stated above. The verification is subject to the following limitations: the samples were collected by Company personnel; no independent sampling, resampling or check analysis at a second laboratory has been undertaken; sample coordinates are handheld GPS readings; collar elevations have not been surveyed by differential GPS; and the Qualified Persons have not independently audited the laboratory's internal procedures beyond its certification and quality-control record.

Cautionary Statements on Exploration Results

Early-stage results. The results in this news release come from reconnaissance surface sampling: 81 soil samples at Boa Vista and 29 rock-chip, 13 soil and 65 stream-sediment samples at Encachoeirado. They are individual samples, not drill intersections, channel averages or composite grades. They are preliminary, and they are not conclusive evidence of the presence or absence of an economic deposit.