Latin Resources Limited (ASX: LRS) has announced the completion of the Company’s Maiden Inferred Mineral Resource for the Noombenberry Halloysite-Kaolin Project, Western Australia, in accordance with the JORC Code (2012). The company said that it has named its first deposit the Cloud Nine Deposit.
A global Inferred Mineral Resource of 207 million tonnes of kaolinised granite was estimated for the maiden MRE
LRS reported that a global Inferred Mineral Resource of 207 million tonnes of kaolinised granite was estimated for the maiden MRE prepared by independent consultancy RSC Global Pty Ltd. This included 123 million tonnes of bright white kaolin-bearing material; and 84 million tonnes of kaolin/halloysite-bearing material.
The Company said that it will immediately commence technical studies to feed into a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS), along with its next round of drilling to commence in July 2021, aimed at extending the Resource to the north and increasing the confidence of the MRE to a JORC Indicated and Measured classification. LRS said that all this would be funded with existing cash of more than $4 million at end of March 2021.
Cloud Nine deposit
The company had defined the first Kaolin-Halloysite deposit within the larger Noombenberry Project called “Cloud Nine”. The Could Nine deposit is located on exploration licence E70/2622, which is situated approximately 350km to the east of Perth.
LRS said that the initial reconnaissance sampling to the northeast of the Cloud Nine Deposit had confirmed additional occurrences of ultra-bight white kaolin and high-grade halloysite, with results of over 25% halloysite from one site and 84 ISO-B kaolin from the other.
MRE for Cloud Nine deposit
The company said that a global Inferred Mineral Resource estimate for the Cloud Nine Deposit of 207Mt of kaolinised granite was reported by RSC Global Pty Ltd, using an ISO Brightness (ISO-B) R457 cut-off of 75. This comprised two separate domains 123 million tonnes of bright white kaolin-bearing material; and 84 million tonnes of kaolin/halloysite-bearing material.
The company said that the halloysite sub-domain yielded 50Mt grading 6% halloysite using 1% halloysite cut-off, or 27Mt grading 8% halloysite using a 5% halloysite cut-off within the minus 45-micron (-45 μm) subfraction.
LRS said that the global kaolinised granite Resource contained a total of 73Mt of bright white (+75 ISO-B) Kaolin product with an ISO-B of 79 in the -45 μm size fraction, or 29Mt of ultra-bright white (+80 ISO-B) kaolin product with an ISO-B of 82; both of which are considered high-quality product specifications, potentially suitable for a range of industrial applications.
Latin Resources said that additional drilling to better define these high-grade zones will be undertaken in upcoming drilling campaigns aimed at extending the current resource to the north and increasing the confidence of the MRE to the Indicated and Measured classification.
Cloud Nine is situated close to major road and rail infrastructure and has potential for shallow open-pit mining. With only a thin layer of unconsolidated soil cover, the project provides a good opportunity for Latin to aggressively push towards development.
Next drilling in July
LRS said that it plans to carry out follow-up infill and extension drilling at Noombenberry Project. Latin Resources said that its next round of drilling would commence in July 2021, aimed at extending the Resource to the north and increasing the confidence of the MRE to a JORC Indicated and Measured classification.
Updates and further work
The Company said that it will immediately commence technical studies to feed into a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS), along with its next round of drilling. Latin Resources said that the PFS will consider supply to a range of traditional end-users of kaolin-halloysite, as well as investigating the potential for downstream marketing of the high-grade halloysite to emerging new applications, including the carbon-capture and hydrogen storage markets.
The company said that further metallurgical test work, including bulk density measurements and halloysite analysis will be undertaken as part of future studies.
With cash of $4 million in hand at end of March 2021, no debt, and very low drilling costs due to the shallow deposit and limited cover, the Company said that it is well placed to deliver in-fill drilling and resource growth with existing cash resources.
Management comments
Latin Resources Exploration Manager, Tony Greenaway said: “We are thrilled to have identified this globally significant kaolin-halloysite resource within only 18 months since acquiring the Noombenberry Project. It really puts us on the map in this emerging sector and provides a remarkable opportunity to potentially push Latin from explorer to producer within a brief period. We look forward to commencing the next round of drilling in July, which will have a dual focus of both uplifting the current resources to Indicated or Measured status, and resource growth.”
“Our exploration team have excelled in defining a world-class deposit despite the challenges of a difficult COVID environment”
Latin Resources Executive Director, Chris Gale said: “My fellow directors and I are extremely pleased that Latin has achieved this outstanding milestone for the Company. Our exploration team have excelled in defining a world-class deposit despite the challenges of a difficult COVID environment. This massive result adds enormous value to LRS and will elevate the company to a new level. We will now look to fast track the deposit through to development as quickly as possible to take advantage of the buoyant mineral prices. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to the landowners in Merredin for being so accommodating during the exploration and drilling process”.
Image Source: Latin Resources Limited