Athena uncovers Rare Earth Element and Nickel-Copper anomalies a Byro
Athena Resources (ASX: AHN) has uncovered Rare Earth Element (REE) and additional base metal anomalies in a recently completed geochemical soil sampling programme at the company’s Milly Milly Prospect, within the Byro Project in Western Australia.
Managing Director Ed Edwards said the highly significant results have providing high priority targets for further exploration.
A total of 1,020 samples were sent to Australian Laboratory Services (ALS) in Malaga for multi- element (61 element) analysis, including the REE suite. The areas targeted were the ultramafic and mafic intrusive units of the Milly Milly intrusion and surrounding lithologies where possible carbonatites may occur.
Sampling was carried out on a 400m by 100m grid spacing covering the majority of E09/1607. The sampling followed a 2023 assessment of drilling at the project, which identified a several zones of strongly elevated REE pathfinder elements (Ce, Y, La, Sc) in the shallow, clay zones. The recent soil sampling programme was the first time systematic geochemical work was carried out targeting REEs along with other elements, particularly base metals
New REE Anomalies
The soil sampling at Milly Milly is the first geochemical sampling programme targeting REE mineralisation in the history of the project.
The Milly Milly REE contain high amplitude TREO peaks, with a maximum value of 888ppm. Top 33 sample results (TREO<350ppm) found the percentage of the more valuable magnetic rare earth oxides (MREO) averaged 37%. Further, the ratio of neodymium (Nd) + Praseodymium (Pr) to TREO averages a high 32%.
Athena believes these credentials are highly encouraging and indicate the potential for the Milly Milly Prospect to yield even more significant anomalies as targets for drilling.
Two of the anomalies identified are oriented north-south, with strike lengths of approximately 2km each. These anomalies, along the south-eastern edge of the sampling area, have average TREO values of >300ppm, each with widths of between 200m and 300m.
Nickel-Copper anomalies
The Milly Milly Intrusion has previously shown to have significant nickel and copper mineralisation that has been previously targeted by both the company, and by previous explorers. The recent sampling has shown extensions to previous base metal soil anomalies, and their special relationship with the ultramafic body. Of significance, is the southern “tail” region, which may represent the feeder zone to the system, although this has undergone significant deformation post its formation.
In addition to the high grade REE mineralisation in this area, are strong nickel anomalies occurring in a linear trend along the south-eastern contact with the surrounding metasediments and granitoids.
