Victory Metals (ASX:VTM) reports it has found further ‘high-grade’ rare earth element (REE) results from aircore drilling at the North Stanmore Project in Western Australia.
The company says the latest assays received have confirmed a ‘significant’ average total rare earth oxide (TREO) grade of 1,001 parts per million (ppm) from 1m samples, and up to 5,239ppm with a cut-off of 500ppm.
These assays confirm a ‘valuable’ heavy rare earth element (HREO) ratio of 38% HREO/TREO and critical magnet metals neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) plus a dysprosium-terbium (DyTb) ratio of 21% of total REEs.
“What an extraordinary moment for Victory with the confirmation of a significant rare earth mineralisation extension at our North Stanmore REE discovery”
Commenting on the find, Victory Metals Executive Director Brendan Clark says: “What an extraordinary moment for Victory with the confirmation of a significant rare earth mineralisation extension at our North Stanmore REE discovery.
Combined results from our previous and latest aircore drilling program continues to validate high-grade rare earth mineralisation at significant scale with the latest results being up to 6.25km north of our initial rare earth results giving Victory’s North Stanmore project excellent potential.
The latest assays also continue to confirm a significant scandium (Sc) discovery with metallurgical studies to focus on the recovery of this element with other critical metals.
Also speaking on the results, Victory Metals Technical Consultant Ken Collerson says: “Victory’s North Stanmore REE system is clearly emerging as an extremely large regolith hosted ionic clay deposit with the system having a regionally extensive footprint. The elevated niobium-tantalum (NbTa) ratio of 14.3 and significant HREE (heavy rare earth elements) enrichment together with anomalous scandium is consistent with derivation from a mafic alkaline igneous source.
Assayed samples are identical in Ce variability, a mobile REE during weathering induced mobility, to data reported from other ionic clay REE deposits.
Specifically, Ce and TREO systematics are identical to behaviours reported from ionic clay-hosted REE deposits in China, Madagascar, and Brazil. Knowledge of these systematics has provided Victory with a significant vector to identify samples for metallurgical testing by leaching.”
Victory reports to date it has completed about 16,000m of aircore drilling at North Stanmore, with fusion inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (IC-PMS) assays returning REE grades higher than 500ppm REYO in the majority of the drillholes.
The company says assays from the latest drilling program completed in December have started to be reported by ALS Laboratories together with the remaining assays from the previous aircore drilling programs. Furthermore, all assays are expected to be reported by the end of Q1 2023.
Victory also reports anomalous yttrium (Y) grades over 100ppm (a vector for HREEs), as well as La and Nd (vectors for LREEs) recorded by p-XRF analysis now cover an area greater than 45km-square across the North Stanmore project. These observations, together with the interpretation of key geochemical ratios indicate the North Stanmore intrusion is part of a large mantle plume generated by an alkaline magmatic complex.
The company says Dynamic Group Holdings (ASX:DDB) subsidiary Orlando Drilling has been engaged to immediately start a reverse circulation (RC) infill drilling program for about 5,000m to underpin a JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for North Stanmore.
Victory Metals is an emerging multi-commodity exploration company focused on the development of its North Stanmore REE and Sc discovery in the Cue region of Western Australia.
The company’s key assets include the Coodardy, Nemesis, Emily Wells, Young Australia, Buttercup, Klondyke, Mafeking, and Eaglehawk tenements located in the Cue region about 665km from Perth.
Images: Victory Metals Ltd
