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Heavy Rare Earths Limited (“HRE” or “the Company”) is pleased to report on-ground exploration for rare earths has commenced at its 100 per cent-owned Duke project in the Northern Territory.
- Assays of up to 732 ppm total rare earths in historical drilling and surface rock chips
- First pass soil survey underway over extensive area of rare earth enrichment and anomalous radiometric thorium
- The primary rare earth exploration target is unconformity type vein mineralisation similar to Browns Range in Western Australia
- Up to 20 metres of clay-rich regolith overlying rare earth-enriched granite also demonstrates prospectivity for ion-adsorption type rare earth deposits
The Duke project comprises two adjacent granted exploration licences EL33101 and EL33194 that together cover an area of 255 km2 . They are located on the Phillip Creek pastoral lease approximately 50 kilometres north-west of Tennant Creek and 25 kilometres west of the Stuart Highway. Both the Alice Springs to Darwin railway and Amadeus natural gas pipeline cross the central part of the project area (Figure 1). Exploration on and around HRE’s tenement package has in the past focused on ironstone hosted Cu-Au-Bi and IOCG deposits, but this is the first time the area will be subject to exploration for rare earths.
The exploration model being investigated by HRE is an unconformity-type REE deposit similar to those at Northern Minerals’ (ASX: NTU) Browns Range project in Western Australia. The unconformity in question occurs between the Proterozoic Warrego Granite and metamorphic rocks of the Flynn Group and overlying sandstone and conglomerate of the Tomkinson Creek Group. Rare earths are expected to be hosted in xenotime, an yttrium phosphate mineral that contains high concentrations of heavy rare earths (HREE). A secondary target for exploration at Duke is HREE-enriched ion-adsorption clay-type mineralisation hosted in saprolite developed on the extensive but poorly outcropping Warrego Granite.
Reconnaissance Visit – April 2023
HRE undertook a reconnaissance visit to the project area in April 2023 to assess access. During the visit prominent thorium (Th) anomalies from a previous explorer’s airborne magnetic/radiometric survey over the project area were investigated on the ground using a portable XRF (pXRF) and gamma-ray spectrometer. In addition, core from diamond drill hole PCRD001 drilled in 2009 to test a uranium anomaly from the same airborne survey (and in the same general area of the Th anomalies) was examined at the Northern Territory Geological Survey’s core library in Alice Springs. PCRD001 intersected Warrego Granite from 5 metres depth.
Figure 1: Location of Duke project tenements EL33101 and EL33194. Background image: 1:250,000 scale Tennant Creek Topographic Map.
pXRF analysis confirmed the presence of elevated rare earths both at outcrop and in the Warrego Granite. In situ analysis of silcrete outcrops and zones of quartz veining returned values ranging from below detection limits up to 0.21% TREE (total rare earths). Forty spot pXRF analyses on Warrego Granite intersected by PCRD001 averaged 745 ppm TREE with a maximum of 0.2% (2000 ppm) TREE.
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Heavy Rare Earths
Overview
Demand for rare earth elements (REEs) is rapidly increasing. These minerals are necessary to manufacture permanent magnets, auto and fluid cracking catalysts, and are also used in emerging technologies. Much of the world’s REE comes from China, making countries investing in clean energy largely reliant on Chinese supply. However, Australia is quickly ramping up production and was the fourth-largest REE miner in 2021, providing the market with 22,000 tonnes. The country also has the fifth largest reserves globally, with 4 million tonnes.
Heavy Rare Earths Limited (ASX:HRE) is committed to supporting the transition to sustainable technologies by providing new sources of these critical minerals. HRE has 100 percent ownership of two REE projects in Australia. The flagship Cowalinya Project is located in the premier mining jurisdiction of Western Australia and has demonstrated potential for a significant rare earth resource with an ideal composition. The company raised AU$6 million in its IPO, indicating foundation investor confidence and funding campaigns to advance its assets.
The Cowalinya Project has a JORC-compliant inferred mineral resource of 28 million tonnes at 625 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO). The resource has an ideal composition of 25 percent magnet REEs and 23 percent heavy REEs, and importantly also contains low concentrations of radioelements.
The company has also confirmed a substantial new body of rare earth mineralisation at Cowalinya. Assays from 215 holes from HRE’s 441-hole rare earth exploration and resource expansion drilling program in 2022 have revealed multiple high-grade REE intercepts (up to 7222 ppm TREO) and the project’s thickest mineralised intercept to date at 42 meters @ 790 ppm TREO from 12 meters in hole AC226 – within a substantial new Western Zone of rare earth mineralisation.
Heavy Rare Earths’ second project, Duke, is located in the Northern Territory and close to both road and rail. The Company plans to commence exploring the asset for heavy REE-enriched deposits similar to the Browns Range project in Western Australia in the middle of 2023.
A management team with extensive experience in the natural resources sector leads the company, with expertise in rare earth exploration and development, financial management and corporate administration. HRE’s leadership team creates confidence in its ability to bring new REEs to market to support the energy transition.
Company Highlights
- Heavy Rare Earths is an Australian exploration and development mining company focusing on rare earth assets to support the clean energy transition.
- The company has 100 percent mineral rights ownership of two assets in premier mining jurisdictions, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
- The flagship Cowalinya Project has a JORC-compliant inferred resource of 28 million tonnes at 625 ppm TREO with the highly sought-after composition of 25 percent magnet rare earths and 23 percent heavy rare earths.
- Heavy Rare Earths has confirmed a substantial new body of rare earth mineralisation at Cowalinya in 2023.
- An experienced management team leads Heavy Rare Earths with a range of expertise throughout the mining sector, including project management, corporate administration, and rare earth exploration and development.
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Rare Earth Elements in Western Australia and the Northern Territory