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- Ionic Rare Earths (IXR) begins phase four drilling at its Makuutu Rare Earths Project in Uganda
- This program is aiming to convert a significant portion of the inferred resource to indicated and converting exploration targets to classified resources
- A second drill rig is expected to arrive on site later in the week with a third expected in late July
- The company is awaiting results from its phase three rotary airblast drilling program which are expected shortly
- Ionic is up a slight 1.92 per cent on the market with shares trading at 2.7 cents at 12:07 pm AEST
Ionic Rare Earths (IXR) has begun the phase four drilling program at its Makuutu Rare Earths Project in Uganda.
The Makuutu Project lies 120 kilometres east of the capital city of Kampala and is made up of three licences which total 132 square kilometres.
It currently has a mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 315 million tonnes at 650 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxide (TREO).
This drilling program will aim to convert a significant portion of the inferred resource to indicated and converting exploration targets to classified resources.
“We are gold to have resumed core drilling at Makuutu. We have ambitious plans for the next six months, and with a second rug due to arrive on site in coming days, we expect to complete a substantial amount of core drilling during this phase four program,” Managing Director Tim Harrison said.
“The plan is to work towards converting the majority of the higher grade inferred resource base at RL1693 to indicated resources over the second half of 2021.”
“Additionally, we are working on the required drilling to define a measured resource base at RL 1693 and to help deliver this, a third drill rig is being coordinated to arrive at site in the second half of July.”
Samples from Ionic’s phase three rotary airblast drilling program are currently being analysed and results are expected to be reported on shortly.
Ionic was up a slight 1.92 per cent on the market with shares trading at 2.7 cents at 12:07 pm AEST.
