Drilling Program Supports Additional Growth Potential at Makuutu

The Board of Ionic Rare Earths Limited (“IonicRE” or “The Company”) (ASX: IXR) advises on progress at its 60 per cent owned Makuutu Heavy Rare Earths Project (“Makuutu” or “the Project”) in Uganda.

• Phase 5 Rotary Air Blast (RAB) Tranche 2 assays received on Exploration Licence (EL) 00257 and Retention Licence (RL) 00007 reporting clay-hosted rare earth intersections achieved in 26 of 31 drill holes, including;
  • 8 metres at 975 ppm TREO from 7 metres in RRMRB117;
  • 20 metres at 865 ppm TREO from 6 metres in RRMRB115;
  • 20 metres at 789 ppm TREO from 4 metres in RRMRB116;
  • 24 metres at 781 ppm TREO from 4 metres in RRMRB129; and
  • 20 metres at 756 ppm TREO from 4 metres in RRMRB120
• Completed Phase 5 RAB assays confirming clay-hosted rare earth intersections in 69 of 76 drill holes across EL 00147, EL00257, and RL00007;
• Metallurgical test work initiated on RAB samples from drill program, feeding into revised Makuutu Exploration Target expected late 2023;
• Makuutu’s basket contains 71% magnet and heavy rare earths content, and is one of the most advanced heavy rare earth projects globally available as a source for new supply chains emerging across Europe, the US, and Asia; and
• Diamond drilling is continuing infill drilling at Retention Licence (RL) 00007, aiming to increase resource classification to Indicated Resource, with 103 holes completed (2,032 metres) to date.

IonicRE’s Managing Director Mr Tim Harrison said the Phase 5 RAB Tranche 2 assay results confirmed the expected potential of the northwest tenement to provide additional growth potential for a much larger Makuutu Project in years to come.

“EL00257 has now confirmed clay-hosted rare earth mineralisation in 21 of 26 RAB holes drilled in this program.

“The Project now moves to metallurgical test work on a selection of sample intervals to map the potential of this tenement and EL00147, expected to add significantly to the Makuutu Project development plan.

“Our focus on the delivery of the Makuutu Heavy Rare Earths Project in Uganda positions us to provide a secure, sustainable, and traceable supply of magnet rare earth oxides. Along with our Belfast recycling facility, Makuutu is key to us harnessing our technology to accelerate mining, refining, and recycling of magnets and heavy rare earths that are critical for the energy transition, advanced manufacturing, and defence,” Mr Harrison said.

The Tranche 2 results are from drilling located on Exploration Licence EL00257 (26 holes) and Retention Licence (RL) 00007 (5 holes), located at the western end of the extensive licence holding at Makuutu (see Figure 1).

A total of 31 rotary air blast (RAB) holes were drilled across EL00257 and RL00007, with 26 holes recording intervals of regolith hosted rare earth mineralisation above the 2022 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) cut-off grade of 200 ppm Total Rare Earth Oxide minus Cerium oxide (TREO-CeO2). (ASX: 3 May 2022). Table 1 lists the intersection compilations and Figure 2 shows the location of the drill results.

Figure 1: Makuutu project drill status plan showing location of RAB results and current core drilling program location (refer to Figure 2 area dashed outline).

Table 1: Makuutu Phase 5 Tranche 1 RAB results above MRE cut-off grade of 200ppm TREO-CeO2.

EL00257 RAB Drilling

The RAB drilling on EL00257 is the first drilling to test this tenement. The aim of the drilling was to test the endowment of rare earth element (REE) in the regolith and determine the extent and thickness of mineralisation. This drilling has successfully confirmed zones of thick REE mineralisation on the northwestern half of the licence.

Results from the drilling (Figure 2) show the northwestern half of the area contains greater thickness of regolith under hardcap with significant intersections including;

• 8 metres at 975 ppm TREO from 7 metres in RRMRB117;
• 20 metres at 865 ppm TREO from 6 metres in RRMRB115;
• 20 metres at 789 ppm TREO from 4 metres in RRMRB116;
• 24 metres at 781 ppm TREO from 4 metres in RRMRB129; and
• 20 metres at 756 ppm TREO from 4 metres in RRMRB120.

This area is interpreted to be underlain by the Iganga Suite granite basement rocks, an older and different protolith from the Makuutu deposit hosted in a Karoo age sedimentary basin.

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