Magnum Mining and Exploration (ASX:MGU) has completed 161 auger holes across 7.4km² at its Piracanjuba rare earths project in Brazil, targeting exploration by September and JORC Resource by November.
The 161 holes for 1,607m were drilled across the Piracanjuba North Target within the Azimuth Rare Earth Elements Project, extending coverage beyond the initial footprint.
“With 161 auger holes already completed, the program remains on track … subject to exploration results,” Managing Director Antonio Vitor Junior says.
The current campaign aims to expand the dataset and test whether shallow ionic adsorption clay-style rare earth element responses can be replicated across a broader regolith and saprolite footprint.
Previous drilling delivered first assays of up to 3,971 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxide and 1,360ppm magnetic rare earth oxide.
This includes desorption recoveries of up to 75% total rare earth oxide and 94% magnetic rare earth oxide under mild leaching conditions.
The 85km² geophysical footprint at Piracanjuba North and wide drill hole spacing of up to 5km suggest a laterally extensive ore body.
All 13 first-pass auger holes intersected and ended in ionic adsorption clay-hosted rare earth elements mineralisation, despite the wide spacing.
The Azimuth Project is located within the Azimuth 125° Lineament, a prominent crustal-scale structural feature, approximately 50km from CMOC’s (HKG:3993) Catalão Project, one of Brazil’s highest-grade niobium mines.
“Brazil is rapidly emerging as a strategic REE jurisdiction of choice for Western and allied markets,” Vitor Junior notes.
“We believe Piracanjuba has the potential to become a significant rare earth opportunity within this landscape.”
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: Unsplash
