Bastion Minerals Ltd (ASX:BMO or the Company) is pleased to provide an update on its activities in Sweden, where the Company holds the highly prospective high-grade copper (Cu) and Rare Earth Elements (REE) Gyttorp area no. 100 property (Gyttorp Project or Gyttorp) and eight additional properties along the REE line (Figures 1 and 2, Table 1).
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Significant results returned with double digit percentage (%) REE and Copper, following Bastion’s recently completed reconnaissance mapping and pXRF sampling program across new properties along the REE Line granted earlier this year.
- Up to 18.5% Total Rare Earth Elements plus Yttrium (TREE+Y) and up to 24% copper in pXRF analyses associated with magnetite skarns, similar to Gyttorp1 (which are indicative of mineralisation, but represent analysis of only small volumes of rock). Results include:
- 18.56% REE (Striberg STRR001); 24.91% Cu (Striberg STRR002);
- 16.93% REE (Karlberg KARR001); 21.18% Cu (Karlberg KARR002);
- 11.2% REE (Karlberg KARR016); 19.93% Cu (Karlberg KARR037);
- 9.02% REE (Karlberg KARR010A); 13.32% Cu (Striberg STRR009);
- 6.97% REE (Striberg STRR012); 9.5% Cu (Karlberg KARR004);
- 6.25% REE (Karlberg KARR003); 8.01% Cu (Karlberg KARR021);
- 6.22% REE (Karlberg KARR010); 7.82% Cu (Nyberget NYRB004); and
- 5.66% REE (Striberg STRR011); 6.02% Cu (Karlberg KARR009).
- Properties host magnetite skarns, with widespread copper in the magnetite and REE mineralisation in the surrounding tremolite-actinolite alteration in multiple locations.
- The Company is currently analysing the distribution of associated base metals discovered during exploration and will report on these when lab results are received.
- The high magnetic response in the government magnetic data sets represents the presence of extensive mapped historical magnetite mines, which has provided a means of rapidly focusing into the areas of highest potential.
- Additional sampling planned to allow ranking of mineralised zones and selection of drill targets for shallow REE and copper mineralisation. Laboratory assay results expected late November.
Following granting of the additional properties earlier this year, Bastion has undertaken reconnaissance sampling and pXRF analyses of REE and copper mineralisation. Initial evaluation has shown that magnetite skarn is developed in calcareous horizons.
Bastion is using the same approach on the newly granted properties located further north along the REE line. These properties contain similar style REE and copper mineralisation to that at Gyttorp. Reconnaissance sampling was completed in October using a portable XRF. Assay results are expected during November from this initial rock chip sampling and mapping.
Commenting on the recently completed reconnaissance mapping and pXRF sampling program across new properties, Executive Chairman, Mr Ross Landles, said:
“The REE mineralisation in the newly granted properties is of the same skarn style as at Gyttorp, with similar high grade results. Given the extensive property holding along the REE Line, we will continue to conduct sampling and mapping across the properties, in order to establish the areas with the highest REE and Cu grades and the greatest thickness and length of mineralisation. This will allow us to rank the project areas and decide which is the highest priority for drilling.”
“These properties have been prospected using a pXRF and assay results from these samples will be reported when received from the laboratory later this month.”
REE-Line Field Activities
Initial prospecting, mapping and sampling has been completed in three of the eight new properties granted along the REE line. Work has been undertaken in the Striberg property, adjoining the north side of the Gyttorp area; the Nyberg property 20 km to the north and the Karlsberg property, the most northern of the eight properties.
Exploration results from evaluation of samples using a portable XRF to evaluate the presence of REE elements, copper and other base metals, showed that the while the Nyberget property contained some samples with elevated copper (to 7.8%) the samples in that project area had a maximum of 1.2% TREE + Y.
Samples from the Karlberg property have TREE + Y samples of up to 17% (Figures 4), with local pXRF analyses of up to 21% copper. Samples in the Striberg property, directly north of Gyttorp, had TREE + Y values to 18.6% and copper to 24.9% (Figure 3), with multiple samples containing > 1% copper. Results are presented in Table 2.
Figure 1: Location of the Gyttorp property (red cross), with new properties within the black square.
The same samples analysed with pXRF have been sent to ALS laboratories for analysis of the REE and sulphide suite of minerals with results expected in late November.
Historical drill core from the Nyberget (Figure 2) project (historical Scartbergsgruvan prospect), where copper mineralisation was historically intersected, will be reviewed to evaluate whether there is associated REE mineralisation.
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Figure 1: Location of the Gyttorp property (red cross), with new properties within the black square.
Table 1: Summary of financial metricsExchange Rates used, 1 
Figure 1 – ChemX HiPurA® Solvent Extraction (SX) module completed, pending energisation infrastructure installation
