Spark Energy Minerals has returned a project-record gallium grade at its Boa Vista target in Brazil's Lithium Valley, expanding the gallium-rare earth footprint of its Arapaima project. Surface sampling also defined a new, roughly two-kilometre anomalous zone alongside the company's first discovery at Cruzeta.
At a glance
- Spark Energy Minerals' maiden drilling at Boa Vista returned a project-record 114.3 grams per tonne gallium oxide over 2 metres from surface.
- Surface soil sampling at Boa Vista reached 134.4 grams per tonne gallium oxide, with 23 samples outlining a roughly 2-kilometre anomalous zone.
- Boa Vista sits 7 to 8 kilometres south of Cruzeta, Spark's first gallium-rare earth discovery at its 91,900-hectare Arapaima project.
Background
Gallium is a byproduct metal refined into gallium arsenide and gallium nitride semiconductors used in radar systems, 5G equipment and electric-vehicle power electronics. China supplies most of the world's gallium and restricted exports of it in 2023, pushing manufacturers to look for supply elsewhere. Spark Energy Minerals is a Vancouver-based explorer whose Arapaima project sits within Brazil's so-called Lithium Valley in Minas Gerais state.
What happened
Spark Energy Minerals said maiden drilling at its Boa Vista target, part of the Arapaima project in Brazil, returned a project-record assay. A single 2-metre interval from surface graded 114.3 grams per tonne gallium oxide. Three holes also intersected a broad rare earth interval alongside surface scandium mineralization.
The result builds on earlier surface sampling at Boa Vista, where soil samples reached as high as 134.4 g/t gallium oxide and stream sediments returned up to 1.0% total rare earth oxides. Twenty-three of the highlighted soil samples define a continuous anomalous zone roughly 2 kilometres long.
Why Boa Vista adds to the story
Boa Vista sits 7 to 8 kilometres south of Cruzeta, the target where Spark first reported gallium and rare earth mineralization across its roughly 91,900-hectare Arapaima project. A second mineralized centre this close to the first suggests the system extends beyond a single target. That is why the company now treats gallium, alongside lithium and scandium, as a core focus of the property.
Gallium has drawn attention since China, which refines most of the world's gallium, tightened export controls on the metal in 2023. Discoveries outside China, even at an early exploration stage, add to the small number of gallium projects that manufacturers and governments are tracking as alternative supply.
What it means
Spark, led by chief executive Fernando Tallarico since October 2025, is advancing gallium, rare earth, scandium and lithium targets at Arapaima rather than betting on a single commodity. Boa Vista remains a surface and maiden-drilling result, not a resource estimate, so the next step is testing how far the mineralized zone extends along strike from both Cruzeta and Boa Vista.
Our read
Outlook: neutral. Early-stage surface and maiden-drilling results from one junior explorer do not move the small, largely China-controlled gallium market on their own, but they add to the limited pool of non-China gallium discoveries manufacturers are watching.
What to watch
- Follow-up drilling connecting the Cruzeta and Boa Vista gallium-rare earth zones at Arapaima.
- Assay results from the broad rare earth interval and scandium mineralization reported in three Boa Vista holes.
- Spark's progress on its separate lithium and tungsten targets elsewhere on the Arapaima property.
For information only, not investment advice.
Gallium price in India
metalscost.com India reference price as of 2026-10-03.
Detailed analysis
Timeline
- 2026-09-24: Spark Energy Minerals reports the Boa Vista surface and maiden-drilling results at Arapaima.
Technical view
Price is trading below both its 20-period and 50-period moving averages, a bearish alignment.
Computed from metalscost.com's own stored price history.
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