Power Minerals (ASX:PNN) continues drilling at Morro do Ferro toward a maiden resource, after one hole returned a 1.2m sample grading 40.5% total rare earth oxides (TREO).
Drillhole MFSR-057 at the Morro do Ferro Rare Earths Project in Brazil intersected 111m @ 8.25% TREO with 1.28% magnet rare earth oxides (MREO) from surface.
That includes 51m @ 15.42% TREO and 2.43% MREO from 24m, and 15m @ 20.42% TREO from 42m. Five individual samples in the hole exceed 20% TREO.
The 40.5% sample, which carries 7.73% MREO, is the highest at Morro do Ferro. It replaces a 2m sample @ 24.13% TREO from MFSR-44.
The company drilled the hole northwest of the Base Section to test continuity between section lines. The nearest hole on section NW-01, MFSR-38, returned 80.3m @ 4.33% TREO.
Applying a 15% top-cut to the 40.5% sample reduces the 51m interval grade from 15.4% to 14.8% TREO.
Results remain pending for the lower sections of MFSR-053 and MFSR-054, which contained ‘high-grade’ rare earth oxides in their last assayed samples. The company will release further results progressively as drilling continues.
CEO Alistair Stephens says the hole supports resource work.
“Importantly, this result adds to our understanding of mineralisation between drill sections and provides further data for the upcoming maiden Mineral Resource estimate,” Stephens notes.
He adds that the company is also advancing metallurgical testwork to assess recovery of magnet rare earths.
Power Minerals is an Australian critical minerals explorer advancing lithium, niobium, and copper-gold projects across Argentina and Brazil.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: Power Minerals
