Marvel Loch East Rare Earth Project Ultrafine™ Soil Survey Identifies New REE Area Potential For Clay-Hosted REE Mineralisation

Venus Metals Corporation Limited (“Venus” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the results of reconnaissance soil and laterite sampling programs on its tenement E15/1796 (in the name of Redscope Enterprises Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Venus) located ~60 km east of Marvel Loch.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Soil samples (UltraFine™) contain up to 6,092 ppm TREO (total rare earth oxide), including 702 ppm Nd2O3 on and adjacent to bedrock.
  
• Monzogranite bedrock is enriched in rare earth elements (REEs).
• The analytical results define REE anomalies in soil, laterite, and rock chips (both from Venus and the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA)) along the ~25 km strike length of the arcuate aeromagnetic high and suggest the presence of REE-rich bedrock associated with the prominent magnetic features.
• Historical RAB and AC drilling in E15/1796 indicates the residual weathering profile is preserved between areas of monzogranite outcrop to depths of up to ~40 m.
• Shallow AC drilling is planned targeting residual clay zones on REE-rich bedrock to test for clay-hosted REE mineralisation.

Venus MD, Matthew Hogan, comments: “The REE analyses of up to 6,092 ppm TREO in soil are exceptional and highly significant, especially when considering they are discovered in an area that has a 25 km aeromagnetic high with associated REE-enriched monzogranite bedrock.”

Project background

Venus’ Marvel Loch East Rare Earth Project is comprised of one granted exploration licence (E15/1796) and four applications (ELAs 15/1944, 15/1946, 15/1947 and 77/2721) for a total area of 283 blocks (828 km²) (Figure 1).

As part of a regional reconnaissance exploration program, Venus has completed systematic soil sampling on E15/1796 at 400 x 400 m spacing for 273 samples, and 100 x 100 m spaced infill sampling (319 samples) across one target area (Target D — see Figure 2). A total of 49 rock-chip and laterite samples were taken to complement the soil survey.

Anomalies in REE are defined in soil, laterite, and rock chips (Figure 3) along the ~25 km strike length of the arcuate aeromagnetic high in the west and across an oval shaped magnetic feature (~3 x 4 km) in the east of E15/1796. Maxima for TREO in soil and laterite (ferruginous gravel) are 6,092 ppm and 700 ppm, respectively, in the ultrafine fraction in area D (Figure 3).

The arcuate and ovoid aeromagnetic highs within granite terrain of E15/1796 are suggestive of a different bedrock type. The aeromagnetic features were previously interpreted as potential remnant greenstone. GSWA rock-chip samples 207529, 207527, and 207526 (Figure 2), characterised as monzogranite, are located within E15/1796. Two of these rock-chip samples have anomalous TREO concentrations of 935 ppm and 765 ppm. Venus rock chip sample 22056540A (Figure 4) has visible REE mineralisation and a TREO concentration of 1,407 ppm (Table 1). These results, which are up to ~7 times the average crustal abundance for TREO (Taylor & McLennan, 1995), indicate that bedrock in the project area is anomalous in REE.

Venus considers the REE-enriched bedrock as a potential REE source for residual enrichment within the regolith during weathering, a process that may have led to the formation of clay-hosted REE mineralisation. So far, only surface samples have been analysed and there is scope for heavy REE (HREE) enrichment at depth in the weathering profile. Clay-hosted REE deposits may have higher HREE concentrations closer to the bedrock (Li et al., 2017).

Historical RAB and AC drilling (targeting gold and base metals) by Dominion Mining Ltd (Wamex report A70400) and Image Resources NL (Wamex report A75297) to depths of up to ~40 m in E15/1796 indicates the residual weathering profile is preserved between areas of outcrop. This is considered favourable for the formation of in-situ clay-hosted REE mineralisation.

Future Work

Venus is planning an immediate field mapping program to investigate the regolith settings followed by a shallow AC drilling program to test areas of deep weathering and preserved regolith for clay- hosted REE mineralisation. Petrography work is planned to understand the genesis and nature of the REE mineralisation.

Field studies and data interpretation will be carried out by rare earth specialist consultants from RSC who are also involved with the Company’s Mangaroon REE Project (see ASX release 5 September 2022).

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