ABx Group (ASX:ABX) is planning its next round of drilling which is set to begin in late October at the Deep Leads / Rubble Mound project in Tasmania.
As well as planned exploration drilling, the $19.38 million market capitalisation company will progress expanding the rare earths target area from 35km to more than 100km at the Deep Leads / Rubble Mount to the Windbreak discovery area.
The company notes the rare earths target area also has the potential to expand ‘significantly’ to the west of drillhole RM336.
This news follows after ABx received an ‘outstanding’ 17,333 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxide (TREO) assay result from its recent drilling program.
ABx says these intersected from drillhole RM336 are 4x higher than the previous ‘highest grade’ discovery hole RM302.
Hole RM336 contained ‘extraordinarily’ high grades grades of the 2 most critical rare earth elements, dysprosium and terbium: up to 819ppm Dy2O3 and up to 138ppm Tb4O7. ABx’s rare earth discoveries in Tasmania are heavily enriched Dy and Tb.
Results from this drilling campaign has given ABx further ‘encouragement’ that the company has located another ‘high-grade’ zone to complement those at Deep Leads, Rubble Mound, and Windbreak within an exploration target area that exceeds 100km-square and is only partly evaluated to date.
An update resource estimation process is now underway to identify the ‘high-grade’ thick zones within the widespread resource and to identify those areas that require follow-up.
The company has started research testwork to assess the trade-off between cost of extraction and the value of the concentrate produced whilst using benign leaching methods.
Commenting on the latest results, ABx Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Cooksey says: “Our ionic adsorption clay rare earths resources are exceptionally enriched in the 2 most critical rare earths, namely Dy and Tb.
Hole RM336 is our most enriched intercept to date, with grades that I believe are unrivalled in Australia. These latest results have confirmed that ABx’s exploration technology is unravelling the genesis of this unique rare earths resource and leading us to the richer, thicker rare earths mineralisation.”
ABx Group is an high-tech Australian company, focused on 3 current ‘significant’ projects prospective for rare earths.
As of 30 June 2023, the company had $5.89 million cash at hand, according to its latest quarterly report. Subsequent to the end of the quarter the company conducted at $1.5 million single tranche share placement.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: ABx Group
