Encounter Resources (ASX:ENR) is preparing a ‘major’ drilling campaign at the Emily target as part of the Aileron Project in Western Australia, on the back of intersecting ‘high-grade’ mineralisation.
The $106.59 million market capitalisation company is planning a combination of reverse circulation (RC) and aircore (AC) drilling for 20,000m in 2024, targeting the Emily and Green targets.
Ahead of this program, additional heritage surveys will be completed early next year at both targets to facilitate detailed drilling.
Encounter Resources Managing Director Will Robinson says next year’s field season will be a potentially transformational year, with follow-up drilling to be conducted of the discoveries made to date in 2023, as well as testing ‘exciting’ new targets within Aileron.
Drilling will also be conducted at the Crean and Hurley targets, as well as at its ‘large-scale’ Mawson, Wordie, and Perce gravity targets.
Meanwhile a recent RC drilling program conducted at Emily intersected ‘high-grade’ niobium-rare earth element (REE) mineralisation.
Some of the ‘high-grade’ results include drillhole EAL098 with 12m @ 2.3% niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5) and 0.85% total rare earth oxide (TREO) from 54m, including 130m @ 0.7% Nb2O5 and 0.23% TREO from 50m; and EAL136 with 32m @ 1% Nb2O5 and 0.25% TREO from 34m.
Robinson says the mineralisation at Emily and Green remains open and are considered ‘priority’ drill targets for 2024.
“Over the past 6 months Encounter has completed first pass drilling at 6 targets at Aileron and niobium-REE mineralisation has been intersected at 4 of them.”
The company’s wholly owned Aileron Project covers 1,765km-square and sits in the West Arunta region of Western Australia.
Encounter Resources is an Australian diversified mineral explorer primarily focused on discovering ‘major’ copper and critical mineral deposits.
As of 30 September 2023, the company had $9.414 million cash and cash equivalents at hand, according to its latest quarterly report.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Encounter Resources
