Mount Ridley Mines Limited (ASX: MRD) has received positive results from 36 aircore holes completed within E63/2117, a tenement located approximately 12km east of the company’s priority Mia Prospect in WA.
Drilling at the company’s eastern-most tenement, E63/2117, has returned thick intersections of rare earth elements, amongst some of the Project’s highest to date, revealing two new prospects now named Lance and Jimmie
The company holds an 85% joint venture interest in E63/2117 with Odette Geoscience, a private company, holding 15%. The drill sites are located approximately 90km northeast of the Port of Esperance, with drilling completed along two existing tracks with holes spaced at 400m intervals.
All previous Mount Ridley REE drilling has investigated clays overlying mid-Proterozoic-aged Biranup Zone granites and Grass Patch mafic rocks. These new drilling results are the first for the Company from clays overlying younger-aged Nornalup Zone granites, which have been the focus of exploration efforts by OD6 Metals Limited and West Cobar Metals Limited.
The fact that drilling in untested areas is still locating new, high-grade zones underlines the prodigious extent of clay-hosted rare earth mineralisation at the Mount Ridley Project,” Chairman, Peter Christie, said.
“It is noteworthy that almost all of the world’s critical heavy rare earths, in particular terbium and dysprosium, are sourced from clay deposits in China and Myanmar. As the Mount Ridley clay-hosted REE project advances, the potential for it to become an alternative source of these critical heavy rare earths is becoming more apparent.”
During October 2023, the company completed a 155-hole infill drilling programme (MRAC1642-MRAC1796, 6,712m) at its priority Mia Prospect, within 100% owned Mount Ridley tenements.
The company had previously tested the Mia Prospect on a grid pattern of approximately 2,500m x 400m. New drilling has infilled a 27km2 area with 400m-spaced lines, with aircore holes selectively spaced along lines at intervals between 100m and 400m.
The drilling programme was designed to confirm the apparent continuity of high grade (>700ppm TREO) clay-hosted REE mineralisation, and if successful, will augment data for the Company’s initial mineral resource statement.
Mineralisation at the Mia Prospect is thought to occur in elongate, parallel clay units, which often coincide with geological structures apparent in aeromagnetic imagery. To date, mineralisation ranges between 6m and 41m true thickness at an average of approximately 12m. The TREO basket includes up to 44% MagREO (average approximately 26%), with very low Uranium and Thorium.