Australian Critical Minerals (ASX:ACM) is gearing up for another round of geophysical activities across its Western Australian tenements in 2024.
The $4.35 million market capitalisation company says it is preparing to continue sampling at its Cooletha Lithium Project to follow-up on 10 target areas flagged from prior mapping and sampling programs, as reported by Mining.com.au.
According to the company’s latest quarterly report released today (31 January 2024) the targets total over 24km in length and demonstrate lithium and lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatite indicator minerals.
Assays from further sampling undertaken post-quarter end are currently outstanding.
Current sampling at Cooletha was designed for the company to gain an understanding of the broader geology and prospectivity upon which further exploration can be based.
Australian Critical Minerals is now laying the foundations for reverse circulation (RC) drilling to extend the current RC drill coverage to the north and south of a highlighted total rare earth oxide (TREO) target delineated by an auger sampling program at the Rankin Dome REE Project.
During the past quarter, 6 RC holes at Rankin Dome returned ‘thick’ continuous TREO with several ending in mineralisation. All drillholes returned intervals greater than 1,000 parts per million (ppm) TREO, with a stand-out grade of 2,534ppm and one of the longest intercepts to date (111m @ 913ppm TREO from 3m).
Results from an auger sampling program at Rankin Dome also demonstrated TREO grades up to 1,365ppm and resulted in the definition of a ‘substantial’ rare earth anomaly open to the north and south.
The company notes magnetic rare earths comprise 20% to 26% of the ‘significant’ result intervals.
Regional rock sampling will continue and be extended northward during the current quarter.
Australian Critical Minerals closed the December quarter with $3.258 million cash and cash equivalents at hand, according to its latest quarterly report.
The key projects are the Cooletha Lithium and Rankin Dome Rare Earth projects.
Write to Adam Drought at Mining.com.au
Images: Australian Critical Minerals
