Summit Minerals have reported broad, thick and shallow rare earths up to 3,783.4 ppm TREO as part of its proof-of-concept drilling at the Stallion REE Project in Western Australia.
Adding to the prize, critical permanent magnet metals, NdPr, avenged at 23.63%, well above the 16% industry average.
The outstanding results trump historical with new drilling outlining a priority a kilometre square zone of potential mineralisation that remains open in all directions.
We are delighted to have generated such compelling numbers from much shallower depths than those encountered in the earlier Manhattan Corporation drilling,” Summit Managing Director Jonathan King said.
“The step-out drilling produced several suitably wide intersections and total rare earth oxide (TREO) grades exceeding 1,000 ppm, with a peak value of 1.52% TREO. Other notable results include the high ratios of valuable, critical magnet metals, neodymium (Nd) and praseodymium (Pr), and dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb), averaging 24.95% ((NdPr) + (DyTb)).
“The scale potential is vast with the indicated mineralisation on a 1km x 1.25km grid. It remains open in all directions, and the trend pushes into our adjacent application (E28/3241).”
A Rare Market Opportunity.
Growth for rare earth materials driven from renewable energy, electronics, and other high-tech areas is projected to reach USD$9.6 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 12.3%.
The increasing adoption of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, is expected to drive the demand for REEs.
Furthermore, the increasing demand for electronic devices such as smartphones and electric vehicles is also predicted to boost market growth.
Next Steps for Summit
Summit will use the existing coarse reject from the recent drilling to undertake accelerated metallurgical and mineralogical programs to progress towards a geometallurgical model for Stallion.
The company will utilise the available POW-approved drilling to build further certainty and definition within the identified zone as a precursor to developing its potential maiden resource.
