- Environmental mining licence granted for commencement of exploration activities
- Phase one resource extension drilling program of 10,000m planned
- Testing for potential expansion of existing 40Mt inferred mineral resource
- RC drilling to be complemented by sonic drilling
Newly listed Barkly Rare Earths (ASX:BAK) has received critical approval to proceed with its maiden drilling campaign at the company’s flagship Barkly project in the Northern Territory.
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Barkly, which listed on the ASX on January 30 after completing a successful $8 million initial public offering, has been granted an environmental licence for exploration, including the proposed 10,000m campaign of RC and sonic drilling.
The phase one drilling program is designed to complete around 400 shallow holes with an average depth of approximately 25 metres each. Mobilisation is planned for late May CY26, with drilling on track to commence in June once the ground at the site is sufficiently dry for the operation of heavy machinery.
Since closing the fully underwritten and oversubscribed IPO and subsequent listing on the ASX, the company has focused on planning and preparation for the RC and sonic drill program, which is targeting expansion of the existing 40 million tonnes (Mt) inferred rare earth mineral resource.
The established rare earth element inferred mineral resource comprises 40 Mt at 2,100 parts per million total rare earth oxide for 82,000 tonnes of contained TREO.
The initial rare earth resource is currently classified within two optimised pit shells, and mineralisation opens in all directions laterally.
Previous drilling between the two resource areas identified the potential for lateral resource expansion in the intervening 20km and more broadly across an immediate zone.
Based on indications of continuity from existing data, the company has elected to utilise a wide-spaced drilling grid of approximately 800m by 800m.
The company will use pXRF instruments at the drilling rig to assess the approximate grade of rare earth minerals in samples. The pXRF data collected each day will inform the priority focus areas for the balance of phase one drilling, supporting ongoing optimisation of the programme as results are received.
The majority of the drilling programme is planned to be completed using an RC drilling rig, complemented with sonic-drilled twin holes to evaluate the quality.
The company also intends to use sonic drilling samples for bulk density measurements to support the future development of indicated and measured mineral resources.
Elsewhere, Barkly is also advancing exploration activities at its Buntine base metals project in the Northern Territory. Reconnaissance mapping and rock-chip sample programme will be undertaken in May and June, to further assess the prospectivity for polymetallic mineralisation within outcropping Blue Hole and Campbell Springs formations over a nine-kilometre strike length.
BAK is steady at 21.5¢. Mkt cap $17.46M.
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