Ahead of an initial resource from the C3 carbonatite on track for next month, Dreadnought Resources has uncovered more high-grade zones of rare earth and niobium within its wholly-owned Mangaroon project in the West Australian Gascoyne.
Assays have now been received for 18 holes of a 24-hole infill drill campaign which has now defined a 0.16 square kilometre area with thick intercepts and grades up to 3.88% TREO and 1.03% niobium pentoxide at C3. At the same time, first-pass drilling over C5 also returned significant levels of rare earth and niobium pentoxide as high as 1.4%.
The high-value NdPr to TREO ratio was consistently over the 20 per cent mark. Dreadnought Managing Director Dean Tuck said drilling had achieved a significant objective in demonstrating the high potential for thick, high-grade zones of critical minerals.
Ongoing drilling along the ~6.5kms x 1km of carbonatites could well deliver additional high-grade zones. Despite only completing a third of the first pass drilling, the large scale of the critical metal opportunity at Mangaroon is already apparent,” Mr Tuck said.
“We are excited to have two RC rigs on site and to be re-commencing our ongoing first pass drilling of the carbonatites. Infill Resource drilling at C3 is also showing significant promise,” he added.
“The high-grade niobium intercepts may also be a sign of things to come as we infill the wide spaced drilling.”
Dreadnought has delivered a heftily upgraded resource from the Yin Ironstones this month. It has an auspicious period of news in the pipeline before a Mangaroon rare earth resource upgrade is earmarked for the year’s end.
More rare earth assays are expected this month ahead of the initial C3 resource, and Dreadnought will soon begin RC drilling on the outcropping high-tenor Ni-Cu-PGE blebby sulphides at the Money Intrusion and over-outcropping high-grade gold-bearing quartz veins – all from within its Mangaroon territory.