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MTM Critical Metals Limited (ASX:MTM) (MTM or the Company) has entered into a binding agreement to acquire 100% of Flash Metals Pty Ltd (Flash), the beneficial owner of three key exploration licenses prospective for niobium and rare earth elements (REE) in the West Arunta region of Western Australia.
Highlights:
- MTM to acquire 100% of Flash Metals Pty Ltd, the beneficial owner of 3 granted exploration licences in Western Australia’s West Arunta region, immediately adjacent to ground held by WA1 Resources (ASX:WA1) and Encounter Resources (ASX:ENR).
- Deal includes acquisition of the Mukinbudin Niobium-REE Project, comprising 2 granted exploration licences located 250km northeast of Perth in the South West Mineral Field of Western Australia.
- Flash also holds an option to exclusively negotiate the rights to Flash Joule Heating technology developed by Rice University in Houston, USA which has demonstrated the potential to treat REE mineralisation and more efficiently recover critical metals from critical metal-rich recycling and waste streams.
Covering ~140km2, the granted West Arunta Niobium-REE licences are located immediately adjacent to tenements held by WA1 Resources Limited (ASX:WA1, $484m mkt. cap.) and Encounter Resources Limited (ASX:ENR, $107m mkt. cap.), where niobium-REE mineralised carbonatites have recently been discovered:
The West Arunta region is one of Australia’s critical metal exploration hotspots with over $60m in exploration expenditure collectively invested in the district by a number of ASX companies including Rio Tinto Limited (JV with Tali Resources Pty Ltd) (ASX:RIO), CGN Resources Limited (ASX:CGR), and IGO Limited (ASX:IGO).
The Flash transaction also includes the acquisition of the Mukinbudin Niobium-REE Project, comprising two exploration licences located 250km northeast of Perth in the South West Mineral Field of Western Australia. The tenements that are included in the Flash transaction comprising the West Arunta Niobium REE Project (E/80/5858, E80/5874 and E80/5875) and the Mukinbudin Niobium-REE Project (E70/6048 and E70/6359) are together, the WA REE Tenements (Appendix I).
Flash also has an option (FJH Option) to exclusively negotiate the licencing rights to an early-stage processing technology for REE and precious metals known as Flash Joule Heating (FJH), which has been developed by researchers at Rice University in the USA (see Rice University article at https://news.rice.edu/news/2022/rare- earth-elements-await-waste).
MTM Managing Director, Mr Lachlan Reynolds said the Flash acquisition provides the Company with compelling exploration opportunities in line with its strategy to discover and develop critical metal projects.
“We are very excited to acquire such prospective ground in the West Arunta province, where there is an opportunity to discover new niobium-rare earth deposits in historically untested ground right next door to some emerging mineralised carbonatite projects identified by both WA1 Resources and Encounter Resources,” Mr Reynolds said.
“Additionally, Flash Joule Heating has shown promise during test work for metal recycling and for treatment of waste such as coal fly ash but we are very keen to see what applications it may have for treating rare earth mineralisation, where a breakthrough could unlock immense value from otherwise economically marginal deposits.”
Mr Reynolds said the immediate focus at West Arunta is to complete heritage agreements with the local Native Title holders and proceed with a first-pass exploration program.
West Arunta Niobium REE Project
Figure 1: The West Arunta Niobium-REE Project comprises three granted exploration licences in eastern central Western Australia, located within the Gibson Desert about 130km west of the Northern Territory/ Western Australia border in the East Kimberley Mineral Field.
Historical exploration in the West Arunta WA REE tenement areas is very limited. There has been no drilling on the ground, nor have any systematic geochemical sampling or geophysical surveys been completed. The West Arunta region has historically been explored for gold and copper with reconnaissance airborne geophysics and limited ground geophysical and geochemical surveys. The location of the West Arunta WA REE Tenements and their proximity to tenements held by WA1 and Encounter are shown in Figure 1.
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MTM:AU
Maiden Mukinbudin Quartz Processing Testwork Achieves Premium HPQ Product
Highlights
- Exceptional Processing Testwork results received from North Carolina State University’s Mineral Research Laboratory (NCSU-MRL), an industry leading independent High Purity Ǫuartz lab.
- Ǫuartz sample T1-C, a maiden sample from the Mukinbudin Project, achieved >99.991% SiO2 from a simple processing flow sheet that included attrition, flotation and magnetic separation treatment, opening opportunities for early stage offtake.
- All samples sent to NCSU-MRL, from both Pippingarra and Mukinbudin demonstrated outstanding purity levels, confirming the exciting potential of IND’s quartz deposits and their suitability for high-end applications.
- In parallel with the numerous ongoing offtake discussions and ongoing end customer testing, IND now plans to undertake further comprehensive independent testwork at leading industrial minerals consultancy ANZAPLAN in Germany to further assist in finalising product offtake.
IND is exploring for High Purity Ǫuartz (“HPǪ”) at several of its projects in Western Australia, and the testwork was completed on samples from IND’s Pippingarra Ǫuarry Project and Mukinbudin Ǫuartz/Feldspar Project.
Jeff Sweet, Managing Director of Industrial Minerals, commented:
“We are extremely encouraged by achieving +99.99% SiO2 purity through to the acid leaching stage of our process testwork. These results are incredibly promising for our HPǪ production. With calcination and hot chlorination stages yet to be tested, we anticipate even greater purity levels can be achieved. This progress underscores our confidence in achieving premium quality in our final product.
“The Mukinbudin quartz was purified to 99.991% SiO2 through magnetic separation and flotation process work alone. This simple flowsheet will allow IND to pursue early-stage offtake opportunities into a broader range of HPǪ applications.
“Given the large price differential at the premium end of the HPǪ market as illustrated in Figure 1, IND’s ultimate goal is to now test the maximum purity level achievable across the Company’s quartz projects with the aim to be a recognised long term supplier of quality HPǪ products.”
Figure 1: High Purity Ǫuartz raw ore pricing CIF China based on industry feedback2
Processing Testwork Results
North Carolina State University’s Minerals Research Laboratory is a world leader in research, development and implementation of mineral processing techniques. The main focus of NCSU- MRL’s research is the beneficiation of industrial minerals.
Ǫuartz Ore Samples
IND sent three 20kg quartz ore samples to NCSU-MRL for the purpose of assessing the potential to use as feedstock for the production of High Purity Ǫuartz. Test samples T1_A and T1-B were sourced from IND’s Pippingarra Ǫuarry Project (Figure 2) and test sample T1_C was sourced from the Mukinbudin Project (Figure 3).
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This article includes content from Industrial 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.
Jeffreys Find Gold Mine Toll Milling of 150,000 Tonnes Commenced, Second 2024 Campaign
HIGHLIGHTS
- Processing of 150,000 tonnes commenced at Greenfields Mill.
- 75,600 tonnes on ROM Pad at Greenfields as of 23 July 2024.
- Second campaign expected to finish early September 2024.
- On target to process 300,000 tonnes at Greenfields Mill in 2024/2025.
- BML expects to mine well in excess of 300,000 tonnes in 2024/2025.
- First cash distributions to Auric this quarter.
MANAGEMENT COMMENT
Managing Director, Mark English, said: “We have the good fortune of pouring gold just as the price firms. It happened last year when the price went to $3,000 an ounce, this year it’s around $3,600 an ounce.
“The ever increasing gold price will result in Auric and our joint venture partner generating cash surpluses well in excess of what we had budgeted and anticipated.
“150,000 tonnes is a sizeable parcel of ore for this campaign. While it will take six weeks or so to mill, we expect it to generate well in excess of $25 million through gold sales for the joint venture.
“The mill contract is to process 300,000 tonnes in 2024. This 150,000 tonnes parcel will be the largest for Stage 2 of mining of Jeffreys Find. That leaves an additional 120,000 tonnes for milling at Greenfields towards the end of 2024.
“Jeffreys Find will be a substantial cash producer for Auric in 2024. We are on target to receive our first distribution within about a month.” said Mr English.
The Jeffreys Find Pit as of 16 July 2024
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Viani - Low Sulphidation Epithermal Gold Project License Renewed
Highlights
- MRD notified Alice Queen on Friday 19 July 2024 via email that its Viani license (SPL1513) has been renewed for a further three years with effect from Wednesday 3 July 2024.
- Viani, located on the Pacific Rim of Fire on Vanua Levu in Fiji, covers an area greater than 200km2 and is largely under explored (see Figures 1 and 2).
- The Dakuniba prospect within Viani has been previously sampled where epithermal gold mineralisation has been recorded in outcrop samples over a >3km strike length.
- Multiple epithermal veins within the Dakuniba prospect area, 5km by 1.5km surface gold-in- soil geochemical anomaly - the footprint of the epithermal mineralisation is comparable to other economically productive gold epithermal deposits globally.
- Previous drilling by Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in 1997 focused on a small, shallow part of the overall system and intersected high grade epithermal gold mineralisation.
- (Hole MJFV-5 (see Figure 3) over 6 vein zones at 50 to 100m below surface with best results, 0.6m @ 27.6 g/t Au & 900 g/t Ag and 0.4m @ 11.7 g/t Au1 and remains open in all directions.
- The JICA drilling was limited to only 600m of strike-length of the 5km long gold-in-soil anomaly (>10ppb Au) supported by epithermal geochemistry i.e., Ag and As.
- Based on discovery knowledge from epithermal systems worldwide, it is apparent the historical drilling was an inadequate test of the Viani gold system.
Alice Queen’s Managing Director, Andrew Buxton said,
We are delighted the SPL1513 license has been renewed for a further three years and look forward to continuing to work alongside the Fiji Mineral Resources Department as we commence our next phase of exploration activities. The Viani Gold Project is a tremendous prospect which has demonstrated it has the potential to become a significant epithermal system. With the license now renewed and the Company fully funded for its Fiji exploration plans, Alice Queen will continue the systematic exploration of the Viani Gold Project with the Company having commenced planning for its upcoming exploration programs.
Viani
Figure 1. Fiji Project locations.
Figure 2. Location of the Dakuniba Prospect in relation with SPL1513.
The Viani project (SPL1513) covers an area greater than 200km2 on the Caukadrove Peninsula on the Pacific Rim of Fire, Vanua Levu, Fiji. It is well serviced from Savu Savu on Vanua Levu and is highly prospective for a high-grade LSE gold system (see ASX releases 2 December 2022, “VIANI UPDATE” and 6 March 2023, “ALICE QUEEN UPGRADES VIANI EPITHERMAL PROJECT”.
Following a renewal process for Viani (SPL1513) which the Company commenced earlier this year (including as announced in the Quarterly Activities Report released to ASX on 23 April 2024), MRD notified Alice Queen on Friday 19 July 2024 that the license had been renewed with effect from Wednesday 3 July 2024 for a further three years. The renewed license includes typical terms for a license of this nature, including minimum work program and expenditure requirements.
Whilst the greater project area remains under explored, extensive sampling, trenching and (historic) limited drilling of the Dakuniba prospect area has been previously completed.
Previous drilling by JICA in 1997 returned multiple epithermal gold intersections in shallow drilling. Hole MJFV-5 (see Figure 2) intersected 6 vein zones at 50 to 100m below surface (best results include 0.6m @ 27.6ppm Au & 900ppm Ag, 0.4m @ 11.7ppm Au & 4.3ppm Ag)1. The JICA drilling was limited to only 600m of strike-length of the 5km long gold-in-soil anomaly (>10ppb Au) supported by epithermal geochemistry i.e., Ag and As.
Further details in relation to upcoming exploration plans at Viani will be announced in due course.
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This article includes content from Alice Queen 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.