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Axel REE Limited (ASX: AXL, “Axel” or “the Company”) is pleased to advise the commencement of a robust drilling program at its 100% owned and highly prospective, but yet underexplored Caladão Project (Caladão). Caladão is located in a region known as the Lithium Valley in Minas Gerais, Brazil, where many major lithium discoveries have been made, including Sigma Lithium Corp’s Grota do Cirilo LCE mine. Axel is the first company to realise the area's potential for high-grade REE mineralisation in the well-known mining region and with excellent access to infrastructure.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Phase 1 exploration program to commence at the Caladão REE Project as part of the 20,000m drill campaign planned over the next 2 years
- Aggressive diamond drilling aims to extend the open REE mineralisation at two prospects (Area A and Area B) that previously uncovered 25km of mineralised strike, including a large radiometric circular structure at Area B
- Phase 1 program will also test the depth of the clay profile with diamond drilling the most effective method to drill to bedrock. Previous auger drilling (to average 15m depth) indicated REE mineralisation is open at depth
- This first program will include 52 holes and is anticipated to total ~2,600 metres of diamond drilling
- Phase 1 program at Caladão opens Axel’s aggressive IPO exploration strategy, with Caldas (Poços de Caldas REE) and Itiquira (Mato Grosso REE/Nb) Phase 1 campaigns to follow in the coming weeks
Axel holds ~400km² in exploration permits and applications at Caladão, which is one of four prospective rare earth elements (REE) and niobium (Nb) projects 100% owned by the Company that covers over 1,100km².
Managing Director, Dr Fernando Tallarico, said:
“Having successfully completed Axel’s IPO, we are now in the position to immediately embark on our strategy to unlock value in our highly prospective Caladão Project, in the Lithium Valley, by launching our Phase 1 2,600m diamond drilling program. This program holds immense potential as the historical auger results defined two target areas that spanned a combined strike length of 25km with mineralisation open at depth, laterally, and along the strike.
Diamond drilling will cross the entire regolith profile, and only cease once the bedrock is reached. This approach will enable us to comprehensively examine the entire clay profile, map the zoning of the clay horizons, and determine the true thickness of the potentially REE-bearing clay zone. We are also targeting a large circular radiometric structure at Area B and have planned our program to be fluid where we will follow the richest areas as results progressively return.
This Phase 1 program forms part of our 20,000m program planned at Caladão and aligns with our IPO strategy to aggressively work our projects. Our Caldas Project in the world-class Poços de Caldas Alkaline Complex and Itiquira REE/niobium project will progressively follow and we are excited for the continuous newsflow to come.”
Figure 1 – Map of the Axel REE’s 100% owned projects in Brazil.
Previous geochemical and shallow auger drilling programs completed by the Company in 2023 that covered only ~20% of the Project, determined two highly prospective targets (Area A and Area B), with elevated soil samples up to 3,547 ppm TREO and auger drill intercepts up to 2 metres @ 7,612 ppm TREO, with the thickest intercept including 18 metres @ 2,678 ppm TREO. All mineralised auger holes ended in mineralisation denoting that the true thickness of the REE mineralisation is yet to be determined. The prospective area is large-scale, covering more than 400km2 with Area A and Area B both open in all directions (along-strike and laterally).
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AXL:AU
Quarterly Activities/Appendix 5B Cash Flow Report
HIGHLIGHTS
1. High Grade Lithium Results The latest drill results at the Rio Grande Sur Project demonstrated lithium concentrations exceeding 500mg/L, enhancing project value and supporting an anticipated resource upgrade. These results reenforce the project’s significant potential
2. Pilot Plant Milestone On Track
The 250 tpa Lithium Carbonate Pilot Plant is set for initial production by late 2024, a key milestone that moves the project closer to generating revenue and showcases Pursuit’s commitment to advancing value-creating phases.
3. Focused Resource and Feasibility Expansion With recent drill data, Pursuit is targeting a resource upgrade and continues its feasibility study scheduled for delivery in H1, 2025. These developments pave the way for potential commercial scaling, aligning with value driven growth.
4. Offtake Discussions Ongoing
Advanced negotiations for offtake agreements for lithium carbonate from the Pilot Plant focus on securing product demand and building revenue streams, all whilst minimising cash burn and supporting continuous production targets.
5. Strategic Review of Commando Gold Project The Commando Gold Project, with high grade intersections and renewed market interest, is being evaluated for review for potential exploration or partnerships, aligning with Pursuit’s low-cost strategy to create shareholder value from underutilised assets.
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
During the September 2024 quarter, Pursuit Minerals Ltd (“Pursuit” or “Company”) has continued to advance through numerous engineering and geological workstreams, permitting approval processes and stakeholder engagement activities at our flagship Rio Grande Sur Lithium Project in the Salta province of Argentina.
Rio Grande Sur (RGS) Lithium Project Argentina
The Rio Grande Sur Project comprises of 5 tenements prospective for lithium on the Rio Grande Salar in the Salta province of Argentina, in addition to a Lithium Carbonate Pilot Plant located in the city of Salta. The five tenements cover approximately 9,233 hectares (Table 1).
Table 1 – Rio Grande Sur Tenement Schedule
Rio Grande Sur Stage 1 Drilling Campaign.
During the quarter, Pursuit announced the preliminary results of Drill Hole 2 / DDH-2 at the Sal Rio 02 tenement (announcement dated 29 August 2024) with full results announced following the end of the period (See announcement dated 30 October 2024.)
DDH-2 achieved a depth of 500m, with Pursuit’s on-site geologists and drilling team having been extremely encouraged by the geological units encountered across the depths of the hole.
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Significant High-Grade Lithium Achieved Following Completion of Drill Hole 2 at Rio Grande Sur
HIGHLIGHTS
- Drillhole 2 (DDH-2) at the Sal Rio 02 tenement of the Rio Grande Sur Project, has been completed with substantial high grade intercepts of lithium brine discovered at depths as low as 484m.
- High-grade assays include the following intervals:
- 527mg/L (“milligrams per liter of Lithium”) from an interval of 263m to 265m
- 520mg/L from an interval of 63m to 65m
- 511mg/L from an interval of 159m to 161m
- 506mg/L from an interval of 121m to 123m
- Importantly, some of these grades over 500mg/L were discovered at depth and are beneath the currently calculated mineral resource estimate and are expected to add to its size and grade.
- With completion of DDH-2 the drilling crew has demobilised from site. Demobilisation and suspension of drilling activities whilst interpretting the results from the first two holes has significantly reduced expenditure levels.
- The Stage 1 Drilling Program is targeting resource growth to the existing inferred JORC resource of 251.3kt LCE @ 351mg/L1.
- Following completion of DDH-2, Company’s focus is now on production of Lithium Carbonate from 250tpa Pilot Plant in Salta.
In relation to the completion of DDH-2 at the RGS Project, Pursuit Managing Director & CEO, Aaron Revelle, said:
“The results from DDH-2 continue to be significant as we demonstrate the world class potential of the Rio Grande Sur Lithium Project. With completion of DDH-2, we are seeing consistent increases in Lithium grades to depths both through and below the current mineral resource estimate with the results confirming the potential large scale of the project which the Company anticipates will support a significant low cost, high-grade long-term Lithium carbonate operation. With outstanding high grade brine intercepts of ~500mg/L at depths of ~60m and those grades continuing to ~380m, the project is continuing to exceed our expectations.
“We continue to progress with permitting at our highly prospective Mito tenement in the north of the Rio Grande Salar which will be the location of DDH-3, with the planned location of the hole less than 2km from a neighbouring companies drill hole which achieved 900mg/l Li intercepts being some of the highest grades achieved in Argentina. The decision to drill DDH-3 will be made in 2025, following completion of the permitting process as well as the interpretation of the first 2 drill holes into the resource model which is expected to yield a significant scale where future exploration expenditure may only be warranted in more favourable market conditions.
“In the immediate term we continue works at our Lithium Carbonate Pilot Plant which remains on track to produce our first Lithium Carbonate in the coming months, with Pursuit advancing off-take discussions with multiple requests for product samples from potential off-take partners.”
High-Grade, Deep Depth Lithium Brine Assay Results
Drillhole 2 (DDH-2) of the Stage 1 drilling program was completed on site at the Rio Grande Sur Project in October 2024 having reached a depth of 500m.
Throughout the progress of Drillhole 2, the on-site geologists and drilling team were extremely encouraged by the geological units encountered across the depths of the hole. Of particular interest were 2 sections, the first between 122 and 186 meters, where a sequence of porous sandstone, occasionally interbedded with anhydrite returned lithium grades up to 511 mg/L. A second significant interval was encountered between 240-300m formed by sandstone alternating with gravel, associated with grades up to 527 gm/L of lithium. Both sections returned highly positive results for RBRC (Relative Brine Release Capacity) and Specific Yield, important factors when taking into account locations of pumping well locations for production.
Table 1 – Lithium Assays, Interval Data and Drillhole Collar
Intercepts from DDH-2 have shown highly favourable geology in line with, and exceeding expectations from historical drilling (to depths of 50m) carried out on the Rio Grande Salar. Lithium brine sample grades from the sampling of the hole are averaging above 500mg/L Li against the average grade of 351mg/L Li used to develop the current Mineral Resource Estimate (“MRE”). Additionally, the mineralisation extended to a depth of ~480m also well below the depth used to develop the MRE1.
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This article includes content from Pursuit Minerals, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.