Basin Energy (ASX:BSN) has more than doubled the mineralised strike at its Newmans discovery to 6.7km. The increase follows an 18-hole reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign at the Sybella-Barkly Rare Earth Project in Queensland.
Of the 18 holes drilled, 13 intersected shallow magnet rare earth mineralisation above 1,000 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxide (TREO).
Drill hole SBRC26014 reportedly returned Basin’s ‘highest-grade’ magnet rare earth oxide (MREO) at Newmans to date, delivering 25m @ 458ppm MREO within 2,164ppm TREO from 4m. This includes 12m @ 634ppm MREO within 2,940ppm TREO from 8m, and 3m @ 1,147ppm MREO within 5,253ppm TREO from 16m.
Basin also flagged its thickest intercept at Newmans to date via drill hole SBRC26016, which yielded 27m @ 364ppm MREO within 1,698ppm TREO from 6m.
The company also notes heavy rare earth oxide (HREO) mineralisation is a ‘repeating feature’ of the system, with seven holes across approximately 4.5km returning 3m composites above 500ppm HREO. One such intercept returned 4m @ 940ppm HREO from 12m.
Basin says the magnet basket has held at roughly 21% of TREO as grades increase, repeating the vertical architecture identified in June across the expanded footprint.
Managing Director Pete Moorhouse says that the consistent behaviour of the system as it grows is just as important as the increase in strike.
“The vertical architecture we described in June has repeated along the corridor, and the magnet basket has held at around 21% of TREO regardless of grade. That consistency is what turns a set of drill holes into a system,” Moorhouse notes.
“The question is no longer whether there is a discovery at Newmans; it is how big it can get, and we are already seeing district-scale potential.”
Basin holds approximately 685km2 of the Sybella Batholith, with Moorhouse describing the area as “a region both federal and state governments have committed to keep at the forefront of copper and critical minerals processing”.
The company notes that the Eight Mile and Three Ways targets have yet to be drilled. Newmans, in particular, sits approximately 50km from Mount Isa’s rail, gas, and power infrastructure.
The company intends to undertake initial leach test work and further RC drilling in Q4 2026. It will also rank other preserved-weathering targets using remote-sensing criteria developed at Newmans.
Basin Energy is an Australian critical minerals explorer focused on the discovery of rare earths and uranium in northwest Queensland.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Main image: Basin Energy
