Diatreme Resources (ASX:DRX) reports a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 91.7 million tonnes of high-purity silica sand for its Western Resource Area (WRA) in Queensland.
Located within the $85.78 million market capitalisation company’s flagship Northern Silica Project, the MRE includes 10.3Mt of indicated resource, with Diatreme’s total silica sand resource base now at 402Mt across its Queensland projects.
The mineral resource was estimated by independent specialist engineering company Ausrocks.
Diatreme Resources Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Neil McIntyre says the WRA resource demonstrates how ‘extraordinary’ the size and nature of the deposit is. It also provides the company with flexibility in future planning and development options.
“We continue to build a resource base that will support a long-term silica sand mining operation, generating valuable new jobs, and economic benefits in an area of high unemployment, while helping to power global decarbonisation.”
Diatreme is now focusing on increasing geological continuity in areas that are likely to have economic mineralisation. This will be undertaken using aircore (AC) drilling with hand augering an appropriate first pass exploration method.
The company will also target metallurgical testwork to determine the WRA’s amenability to process using Diatreme’s Galalar Silica Sand Project’s optimised silica product processing criteria.
Diatreme Resources is an emerging Australian producer of mineral and silica sands, based in Brisbane.
As of 30 September 2023, the company had $11.9 million cash and liquid assets at hand, according to its latest quarterly report. This does not include a further $5.9 million in its silica sand projects joint venture.
Post quarter-end, Diatreme and global material solutions company Sibelco completed the second tranche investment of $24 million into the JV company Cape Silica Holdings.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Diatreme Resources
