RareX Limited (ASX: REE) announced that exceptional thick, high-grade results were returned from the first batch of assays of the in-fill and extensional drilling program at its Cummins Range Rare Earths Project in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The company announced that assays were received for the first three in-fill drill holes with outstanding results. Highlights include 41m at 4.0% TREO from 29m down-hole, including 29m at 5.2% TREO from 29m including 3m at 13.9% TREO from 30m; and 36m at 4.6% TREO from surface, including 3m at 25.1% TREO from 15m down-hole.
REE said that the high-grade zones are significantly above the known resource grade (Inferred Resource for Cummins Range of 13Mt at 1.13% TREO). The company said that the remaining assays are expected over the next month.
Cummins Range project
The Cummins Range Project is located 130km southwest of Halls Creek in the East Kimberley Region of Western Australia and is one of two known rare earth deposits bearing carbonatites in Australia.
The project has a significant Maiden JORC 2012 Inferred Resource of 13Mt at 1.13% TREO. The resource remains open at depth and along strike, indicative of significant exploration upside.
The Cummins Range REO deposit is located on tenement E80/5092 and is owned by Cummins Range Pty Ltd which is a wholly owned subsidiary of RareX Ltd. The Cummins Range REO deposit occurs within the Cummins Range carbonatite complex which is a 2.0 km diameter near-vertical diatreme pipe that has been deeply weathered but essentially outcropping with only thin aeolian sand cover in places
Drilling at Cummins Range
The company had recently commenced in-fill program at Cummins Range which was designed both to increase the confidence of the Resource from Inferred to Indicated category and to better define a higher-grade portion of the Resource.
REE said that 6,143m of drilling has been completed recently and the assays from the first three Reverse Circulation (RC) holes have returned results significantly above the resource grade. The company said that the results are expected for the remainder of the holes over the next month.
Ultra-high-grade assays
The company announced that ultra-high-grade assays of up to 25.1% TREO were reported within broader mineralised zones.
Assays were reported for RC holes CRX0001, CRX0002, and CRX0003. The company said that these holes intersected significant shallow zones of mineralisation including 41m at 4% TREO from 29m and 36m at 4.6% TREO from surface including an ultra-high-grade zone of 3m at 25.1% TREO.
Highlights include CRX0002: 41m at 4.0% TREO from 29m down-hole, including 29m at 5.2% TREO from 29m including 3m at 13.9% TREO from 30m; 12m at 1.7% TREO from 3m down-hole including 3m at 4.8% TREO; and 10m at 1.3% TREO from 79m down-hole including 6m at 1.7% TREO; CRX0003: 36m at 4.6% TREO from surface, including 3m at 25.1% TREO from 15m down-hole; 11m at 1.8% TREO from 50m down-hole including 2m at 6.8% TREO; and 5m at 1.3% TREO from 86m down-hole including 1m at 4.1% TREO.
Niobium and phosphate
The company said that assays will now be reported for niobium and phosphate given the nature of the carbonatite, being a Rare Earth Elements-Niobium-Phosphate deposit and both niobium and phosphate presenting possible by-product streams for the project. REE said that as of now, the final reportable Niobium and Phosphate assays are not available as check assays are being run.
Silver detected
REE said that appreciable silver was also detected in some of the assays and favorable geology for other precious metals was encountered during the program. As a result, the company said that additional assaying for gold and PGEs will also be undertaken.
What’s next?
The company announced that further work would include development of geological model; completion of metallurgical studies; and updating the current JORC inferred resource of 13mt @ 1.13% TREO+Y.
Management statements
RareX Executive Director Jeremy Robinson said: “We could not have wished for a better start to our exploration campaign at Cummins Range. The objective of the recent program was to upgrade confidence levels in the current Resource, define a possible high-grade zone within the Resource and potentially increase the scale of the Resource.
These first three holes have already gone a long way towards achieving these first two objectives, with the width and grade of the intercepts significantly exceeding our expectations.
We are delighted with these initial results and look forward to updating the market on the balance of the assays as they come to hand.This drill program represents a major step forward in terms of adding value to the Cummins Range Project and putting it on a clear trajectory towards development.”