Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR) has confirmed the Virgin Mountain Rare Earth Element Project in Arizona to bear xenotime as the most dominant mineral from a mineralogy study on rock chip samples.
The company says the definition of xenotime as a prominent mineral confirms the project’s heavy rare earth element (HREE) potential.
Currently, xenotime is one of the only HREE-dominant minerals with a proven commercial processing pathway.
Mineralogical samples include 3.73% total rare earth oxide (TREO), containing 48% heavy rare earth oxide (HREO) and 17% neodymium/praseodymium (Nd/Pr); 1.81% TREO, containing 58% HREO and 14% Nd/Pr; and 1.67% TREO, containing 62% HREO and 13% Nd/Pr.
Samples containing xenotime were sourced from a mineralised shear zone within a 5km mapped structure.
Executive Director Coraline Blaud says the results from samples are a “great outcome” for the company by highlighting the project’s potential value.
“Mineralogy reports have returned exactly what we are looking for from a HREE project,” Blaud says.
“With xenotime confirmed as the dominant rare-earth-bearing mineral, we can now confidently state that mineralisation at Virgin Mountain represents a potential source of heavy rare-earth elements, particularly the high-value elements dysprosium, terbium, and lutetium.
“The significance of xenotime is that it naturally hosts a substantial proportion of the in-demand high-value elements and is a well understood source of HRE with a proven flowsheet for commercial production.
“Combined with the high grades and elevated HREE ratios returned from recent sampling, these mineralogical results reinforce that the Virgin Mountain REE Project is well positioned to advance as a heavy rare earth opportunity with strategic relevance to the United States’ domestic supply priorities.”
Lodestar will return to the site in early April for further field activities.
Lodestar Minerals is a gold and base metal explorer focused on developing its portfolio of assets in Australia, Chile, and the US.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Lodestar Minerals
