ABx Group (ASX: ABX) has delivered a maiden JORC compliant Mineral Resource Estimate for the Deep Leads – Rubble Mound channel area, the first estimate from within its rare earth elements (REE) project in northern Tasmania.
The Mineral Resource Estimate is 3.94 million tonnes averaging 655ppm TREO-CeO2and 918ppm TREO at a 200ppm TREO-CeO2 cut-off2 grade, including 511,917 tonnes averaging 785ppm TREO-CeO2 and 905ppm TREO in the indicated category.
This mineral resource estimate is a strong base from which ABx with which to significantly grow our rare earths resource in northern Tasmania,” Managing Director and CEO, Dr Mark Cooksey, said.
“Importantly, the resource represented in this estimate only covers approximately 7.5% of the total prospective area. It is a widespread province of clay-hosted REE mineralisation which has some exciting thick high grade REE channels that ABx intends to drill-out in January-March 2023, and I look forward to updating investors as we progress this campaign.
“Equally important is the ease of extraction of the REE from these clay-hosted REE deposits – not all clay deposits are equal. ABx will focus on its true ionic adsorption (IAC) mineralisation zones.”
Following completion of the maiden Mineral Resource Estimate for the Deep Leads – Rubble Mound channel, ABx will now undertake further metallurgical testing to obtain more data on recoveries. This will be followed by further drilling, commencing in January 2023, with an aim to grow the resource base.
Tonnage-grade graph
To assist the planning of further drill-evaluation strategies, a tonnage-grade graph was created to show the tonnages of resources and average grade of those tonnages, sorted from highest grade to lowest grade.
A channel of thick and relatively high-grade REE mineralisation was identified between Deep Leads and Rubble Mound,
This mineralisation will be tested metallurgically to determine the extraction rate of the REE and is a key target for drilling in January to March 2023.