iTech Minerals (ASX:ITM) reports the presence of ‘thick, high-grade’ intervals of rare earth elements (REE) mineralisation following the return of final drilling assays at the Caralue Bluff Prospect, as part of its Eyre Peninsula Kaolin Project in South Australia.
The results, generated by the remaining 109 drill-holes of a 478-hole drilling campaign, have defined an expansive area of consistent clay hosted REE mineralisation over an area of 10km x 9.5km with mineralisation remaining open in all directions.
Key drilling intersections include:
- Hole CBAC22-101: 14m @ 1,148ppm TREO from 30m
- Hole CBAC22-120: 9m @ 1,286ppm TREO from 12m
- Hole CBAC22-144: 8m @ 1,437ppm TREO from 10m
- Hole CBAC22-162: 10m @ 1,157ppm TREO from 14m
- Hole CBAC22-170: 5m @ 941ppm TREO from 20m
Addressing the results, iTech Minerals Managing Director Mike Schwarz stated: “The Caralue Bluff Prospect has now been confirmed as iTech’s most significant occurrence of clay hosted REE mineralisation within the Eyre Peninsula Project.
“The Caralue Bluff Prospect has now been confirmed as iTech’s most significant occurrence of clay hosted REE mineralisation”
With consistent, shallow and high-grade REE mineralisation over an area of 10km by 9.5km it forms a solid foundation to investigate the potential.”
The company also notes that these results infill and confirm the ‘high-grade’ nature of the clay hosted REE mineralisation across the prospect and continue to show that ‘significant’ intersections of REE’s occur within the Kaolin (clay) rich weathered horizon across larger areas.
In addition, metallurgical test work on 60 mineralised samples from the Caralue Bluff prospect are now progressing rapidly following delays in commercial geochemical analysis with results expected in the coming weeks.
The Eyre Peninsula Kaolin Project is located about 70km from the township of Whyalla within the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia and covers a total land tenure of 1,445km-square, comprising 6 prospects that are prospective for halloysite-kaolinite and rare earth elements.
The Caralue Bluff prospect is located about 30km south-west of Kimba in the central Eyre Peninsula and is host to bright, white kaolin at less than 10m depth and 17m thick with historical chemical analyses demonstrating it has exceptional purity and brightness.
With the drilling campaign complete and all remaining results returned, iTech announces that it has sent an additional 60 samples to ANSTO from across various projects, including Caralue Bluff, Ethiopia, Burtons, and Franklyn.
Results from the first batch of initially tested samples are expected within the coming weeks.
Images: iTech Minerals Ltd
