Encounter Resources flags latest niobium hits in fresh assay data

Encounter Resources (ASX:ENR) was closely watched by HotCopper users pre-market on Monday as the company flagged its latest niobium drilling results at the Crean and Emily targets respectively.

At Crean – 200m east of a previously reported positive intersection of 52m @ 3% niobium – the company has unveiled two more assay results:

• 46m @ 3.1% niobium from 60m depth
• 18m @ 3.2% niobium from 76m depth

Likewise, at Emily, the company has just pulled its first assay results for niobium mineralisation at the target. On Monday it reported:

• 16m @ 2.7% niobium from 50m depth
• 20m @ 2.7% niobium from 41m depth

The announcement caught the market’s interest given the success of WA1 Resources (ASX:WA1), which has gone from a 20c stock to a $20+ stock in less than three years based on that company finding the biggest niobium deposit in decades, as well as one onshore Australia.

In weeks of late, an increasing amount of companies have been pivoting into niobium with mixed effect.

A third round of niobium assays are also due back to Encounter in the weeks ahead from a target of interest called ‘Green.’ Results are expected before August.

“Aircore drilling is defining new belts of shallow niobium-REE carbonatite hosted mineralisation in the West Arunta,” company EC Will Robinson said.

“Highly enriched, near surface mineralisation has now been intersected at both the Crean and Emily targets which are located on separate structures at Aileron, over 10km apart.”

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