ABx Group (ASX:ABX) is looking to increase the existing Deep Leads – Rubble Mound JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) through a follow-up drilling program in northern Tasmania.
The $16.23 million market capitalisation company says the follow-up drilling will test step-out locations from its previous campaigns, which intersected the highest assays of rare earth elements (REE) to date.
Drilling will begin at the Wind Break deposit before moving to the northern extensions of the Deep Leads – Rubble Mound resource which ABx in September identified a series of ‘high-grade’ exploration results, including hole RM336 with 17,333 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO).
This result is 4 times higher than ABx’s previous ‘highest-grade’ discovery.
The company notes drilling at Wind Break is supported by funding from Mineral Resources Tasmania for round 8 of the exploration drilling grant initiative (EDGI). Funding is for up to a maximum of $70,000 on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
ABx hopes potential discoveries from this campaign, in conjunction with ‘high-grade’ results from previous drilling, will increase the Deep Leads – Rubble Mound resource, which currently sits at 27 million tonnes (Mt) @ 803ppm TREO (24Mt inferred and 4Mt indicated).
ABx Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director Mark Cooksey says the drilling program adds to the company’s strategy of building a reputation as a ‘highly active’ explorer in Tasmania.
“ABx continues to build a reputation as a highly active exploration company in Tasmania, with continuous discoveries made throughout the year and now the launch of our next campaign which is anticipated to run until at least the end of 2023.
Given the spectacular results from our last campaign, the team is very keen to get back on the ground to further test this heavily enriched critical minerals channel. ABx has followed this REE channel for 16 km eastwards from Deep Leads to its Wind Break REE discovery and, to date, the best grades appear to occur in hilly scrub country or plantation forests.
These increasing grades are coupled with the knowledge that the rare earth deposit has been confirmed to contain ionic adsorption clay rare earths. These are amenable to low-cost benign production methods with the potential to significantly reduce extraction costs.”
ABx is a high-tech Australian company delivering materials for a cleaner future.
The company’s current areas of focus are the creation of an ionic adsorption clay rare earth project in northern Tasmania and the establishment of a plant to produce hydrogen fluoride and aluminium fluoride from recycled industrial waste through its 83% owned subsidiary Alcore.
ABx had $6.896 million cash and cash equivalents at hand as of 30 September 2023, according to its latest quarterly report.
Write to Adam Drought at Mining.com.au
Images: ABx Group
