Krakatoa Resources (ASX: KTA) reports that it has secured a new clay-hosted, REE-prospective tenement at its Rand Project in New South Wales’ Riverina district.
The EL9366 license, dubbed Urana, covers approximately 2,241km² across a region that has been identified by the NSW Geological Survey as holding ‘significant’ potential for hosting rare earth elements.
The company had earlier undertaken a drill program at the nearby EL9000 tenement which resulted in elevated REEs associated with weathered intrusions at the Bullseye Magnetic Targets. Key results included:
- Hole HAC020: 11m @ 1,223ppm TREO from 43m
- Hole HAC023: 7m @ 1,285ppm TREO from 42m; within 28m @ 598ppm TREO from 38m to end of hole
- Hole HAC029: 4m @ 1,424ppm TREO from 35m; within 12m @ 633ppm TREO from 31m
- Hole HAC043: 8m @ 1,230ppm TREO from 9m; within 35m @ 579ppm TREO from 1m to end of hole
The work carried out by the NSW Geological Survey had identified four main intrusive groups surrounding the Rand Project area, and also identified a potential association of REEs to Devonian granites.
The accumulation of rare earths in clay-rich weathered zones may represent ionic adsorption clay REE deposits
The company notes that sedimentary cover has prevented more-detailed bedrock exploration activity in the past, providing opportunity for further exploration.
Due to this, geochemical and petrographic studies are being undertaken in order to better-understand the various intrusion types.
The accumulation of REEs in clay-rich weathered zones is of particular importance, as these may represent ionic adsorption clay REE deposits which are more economical to mine compared to hard-rock deposits.
Moving ahead, Krakatoa has said that it plans to undertake shallow AC drilling across areas of known intrusives in a bid to test upper zones of the weathering profile for REE mineralisation. This work is expected to commence in midd-2022 subject to drill rig availability.
