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McLaren Minerals Limited (ASX: MML) ("McLaren" or "Company"), is pleased to provide an update on the drilling program at its wholly owned McLaren Titanium Project.
Highlights
- Drilling has consistently intersected visible heavy minerals
- Additional 10m of mineral hosting sediments identified in northern area
- Metallurgical sample collected and dispatched for test work
- Pressurised saline water encountered in several holes on northern drilling lines
- Gypsum occurrence confirmed in north-western corner of EL69/2388
- First parcel of analytical samples has been dispatched to Perth for analysis
McLaren Minerals are currently exploring the McLaren Deposit located approximately 40km west of Balladonia in Western Australia by means of Air Core drilling and surface geological investigations. The 2025 exploration program is progressing well and is approximately 40% complete.
The drilling program, targeting infill drilling to a previously interpreted mineral sands strandline, should be complete by mid-April. Onsite geologists have confirmed visual mineralisation within targeted sediments and are encouraged by the consistent nature of mineralising orientation. It should be noted that visual estimates recorded during drilling activities and laboratory results do not always align.
Heavy Mineral Consistently Intersected
Drilling consistently intersected sediments hosting Heavy Minerals (HM) and it is interpreted to occupy paleo marine sediments below modern cover and are predictably identified within the elevated topographic feature. The mineral hosting sediments are observed to gently rise in an easterly orientation and overlay crystalline basement displaying a consistent heavy mineral assemblage dominated by Ilmenite and observed to contain a relatively low level of trash minerals. It is noted that a vertical extension to the historical drilling has been identified in the northern area, with current drill holes intersecting an additional 10m of mineral hosting sediments to those previously interpreted. Heavy Mineral present in the metallurgical sample grid is consistent along strike within the mineralizing beds and displays predictable mineral composition. Figure 1 below displays visual confirmation of HM observed during metallurgical test holes within the current 2025 infill drilling activities.
Figure 1: HM in drillholes - Left Image MM01, central image MM06, right image MM57
Metallurgical Sample
The samples of mineralised sediments required for metallurgical test work at IHC Mining laboratory in Queensland have been collected and dispatched. The samples were taken from 69 drillholes with those holes broadly representative of the first 5 years of planned operations (Please see Figure 2 below).
The sample equated to approximately 6 tonnes of material and will be used to validate the flowsheet designed by IHC and to complete follow up tests to allow development of a slimes management strategy for McLaren. As per previous test work (ref APS ASX Announcement 24 Sept 2024) slimes settling was achieved using addition of 3% gypsum, resulting in significant improvement in flocculant dosing rates, down to 150-200g/t.
The test work produced final products of:
- Ilmenite of a suitable grade to be classified as sulphate ilmenite
- Rutile of a typical quality with 95.7% TiO2, 1.49% Fe2O3,
- Zircon of a typical standard zircon quality, noting levels of U + Th at 265ppm were considered very low.
Water Encountered
In very positive news, pressurised water has been encountered in 3 holes being drilled in the north-western part of the known deposit area. In these holes saline water flowed freely from the hole while the rods were downhole, and in the second hole the water flow continued after rods were withdrawn and until the hole was plugged.
The groundwater occurs within a gravel terrace draping basement clays and occurs at shallow depth (approximately 20m). The crystalline basement below saprolite clays display an amount of alteration consistent to a shearing environment. The location is identifiable in regional geophysics data adjacent to a small-scale faulting feature striking approximately north south. It is likely that the gravel terrace was formed in a fluvial drainage feature, eroding and incising the softer sheared zones in the basement, later confined by overriding cover units. Further investigation will be required to determine whether the water is of sufficient volume and quality to support operations.
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This article includes content from McLaren Minerals Limited, 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.
Strategic Discovery of Deep-Seated High-Grade Rare Earths Confirmed at Ivigtût, Greenland
The results confirm the presence of high-grade rare earth element (REE) mineralisation at the Grønnedal Prospect, which is located within the Ivigtût Project Area.
The analyses, conducted by SGS Laboratories in Canada, demonstrate the occurrence of significant Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO) values. A sample from drillhole R between 25.5 and
25.8m returned 20,092ppm (2.01%) TREO thus reinforcing the project's potential as a strategically located and globally significant source of magnetic and critical REEs essential for decarbonisation and advanced technologies.
Significant Analytical Results include:
- Drillhole R (25.5–25.8m) returned 20,092ppm (2.01%)TREO with 4,677ppm Nd₂O₃, 1,143ppm Pr₂O₃, 246ppm Dy₂O₃, 855ppm Y₂O₃ and 58ppm Tb₂O₃;
- Drillhole S (14.7–15.2m) returned 17,595ppm TREO including 4,269ppm Nd₂O₃, 484ppm Y₂O₃ and 371ppm Gd₂O₃
Director of Eclipse Metals, Mr Carl Poppal, stated:
“These latest analytical results are outstanding. They exceed our expectations and confirm the scale and quality of REE mineralisation present at depth in the Grønnedal prospect. With TREO grades over 2%, including significant Nd, Pr, Dy and Tb concentrations, the magnetic rare earth potential is truly world-class. Importantly, these findings allow us to calibrate the HyperXRF system, enabling rapid assessment across the broader project area and helping fast-track our pathway to an expanded MRE and feasibility development.”
Introduction
The Grønnedal carbonatite-hosted mineral resource is located within the Grønnedal Igneous Complex (Figure 1). The initial mineral resource estimate (MRE) (Table 1) is based on limited shallow drill testing of a small portion of the larger carbonatite complex.
Table 1:Grønnedal Classified Mineral Resource (LREO: Light Rare Earth Oxides, HREO: Heavy Rare Earth Oxides, MREO: Magnet Rare Earth Oxides)
The MRE is underpinned by analytical data derived from both exploration trenching and shallow drilling programs (refer to ASX announcement 25 July and 8th August 2023). Thus, the vertical extents of the MRE are limited to an average depth of only 12m.
In 1950, Kryolitselskabet Øresund A/S, Cryolite Company drilled six diamond holes in the vicinity of the Grønnedal resource to test for a potential iron ore deposit (Figure 1). This drilling extends to depths of up to 200m.
During 2024, the Greenland Government granted Eclipse permission to conduct non-destructive analyses of the government-archived core from these drillholes using the Minalyze XRF TruScan technology developed by Veracio in Gothenburg, Sweden. These data, which are summarised in Table 2, suggest that anomalous rare earth mineralisation, as defined by six key indicator elements, extends to depths of approximately 200m (refer to ASX announcement January 2025).
Table 2: Statistics of Minalyze XRF TruScan Program
To verify the TruScan data, conventional laboratory analyses were required. In late 2024 Eclipse were allowed to extract small specimens from selected core intervals, using sampling protocols approved by the Greenland Government, from 23 intervals representing key lithologies for analytical test work. Sample treatment was carried out by SGS Lakefield, Canada using a sodium peroxide (Na₂O₂) digestion followed by ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry).
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This article includes content from Eclipse Metals, 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.