Gold Mountain (ASX:GMN) reports ‘encouraging’ metallurgical test results from the Capivara prospect within its Down Under Project in northeastern Brazil.
Testing on 58 diamond and auger drilling samples by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) achieved extraction rates of up to 65.9% for total rare earth elements and yttrium excluding cerium (TREY-Ce).
Additionally, up to 63.6% of magnet rare earth elements were successfully desorbed from the upper saprolite zone.
Executive Director David Evans says these results confirm the presence of ionic adsorption clay-style rare earth mineralisation at the prospect, representing a ‘significant’ milestone for the project.
“Importantly, the current auger drilling program has only tested the upper portion of the weathered profile, and the distribution of anomalous rare earth mineralisation suggests that the prospective saprolite-hosted zones may extend to greater depths,” Evans says.
Gold Mountain has also three priority target areas within the Irajuba prospect, where drilling covered 16km, for further evaluation.
The company says these areas demonstrate characteristics consistent with ionic adsorption clay deposits, returning low levels of contaminants.
“We currently have extensive wide-spaced auger drilling programs underway to systematically evaluate large-scale [total rare earth oxide] stream sediment anomalies across the 2,512km² Down Under Project,” Evans says.
“This metallurgical program represents an important step in advancing our understanding of the distribution, metallurgical behaviour, and development potential of rare earth mineralisation across the project area.”
The company plans to launch detailed follow-up drilling at Capivara and deeper auger drilling around high-performing near-surface drill holes as additional analytical results become available.
Additional auger teams are also being deployed to accelerate regional drilling coverage across all significant stream sediment anomalies.
Gold Mountain is an explorer focused on rare earth elements, with projects in Brazil.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Images: Gold Mountain
