ABx Group (ASX:ABX) has been granted 2 ‘significant’ exploration licences near Launceston in northern Tasmania.
The $18.90 million market capitalisation company says the 2 tenements (EL27/2022 and EL28/2022) cover an area of 483km-square and have been granted for an initial 5-year term.
ABx reports the ‘highly prospective’ licences secure the southwards extension of the ‘high-grade’ Portrush REE discovery about 52km east of its ‘major’ Deep Leads / Rubble Mound REE Project.
Exploration programs at both tenements will now move ahead targeting prospective areas using the knowledge it has gained at the Deep Leads / Rubble Mound project and re-assaying of bottom-of-hole samples from the Portrush licence.
Targets will then be tested for ionic adsorption clay rare earth deposits which, subject to results, may extend drilling programs at the tenements.
“We’ve wanted to secure these two exploration areas ever since we obtained our highest rare earths grade of 4,812 ppm total rare earth oxides in hole PR033 at our Portrush discovery“
Speaking on the new licences, ABx Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mark Cooksey says: “We’ve wanted to secure these two exploration areas ever since we obtained our highest rare earths grade of 4,812 ppm total rare earth oxides in hole PR033 at our Portrush discovery.
These 2 large exploration licences significantly increase our rare earths exploration footprint in Tasmania to almost 600km-square, and I look forward to getting on the ground and kicking off our exploration program to locate more ionic adsorption clay rare earth deposits.”
ABx Group is a ‘uniquely’ positioned and high-tech Australian company delivering materials for a cleaner future.
The company’s current projects are the creation of an ionic adsorption clay rare earth project in northern Tasmania, the establishment of a plant to produce hydrogen fluoride and aluminium fluoride from recycled industrial waste through its 83-owned subsidiary Alcore, and the mining and enhancing of bauxite resources.
ABx Group had $5.89 million cash at hand as of 30 June 2023, however, the company raised an additional $1.5 million through a share placement reported earlier this month (September 2023).
Write to Adam Drought at Mining.com.au
Images: ABx Group
