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Lodestar Minerals (ASX:LSR) has mobilised geologists at the Virgin Mountain project in Arizona and is now running field activities for the first time since the company signed an exploration agreement for the site in September.
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Through the program, Lodestar is looking to validate historic data as well as assess mineralised trends and “establish priority targets for future works.”
Virgin Mountain stood out to the Australian explorer mainly because it has historically boasted concentrations of both heavy and light rare earth elements, including yttrium, dysprosium, terbium, gadolinium, holmium, erbium, ytterbium, lutetium, thulium, neodymium, and praseodymium.
Historic channel samplings being used by Lodestar as a cornerstone in its preliminary exploration returned grades ranging from 0.53% to 1.26% total rare earth oxides, with heavy rare earths contributing 57% of the samples.
Most of the maiden search will be run in a 760-metre uranium-thorium structural trend that was originally mapped by the Arizona Geological Survey.
“We are very pleased to have now initiated our maiden exploration program at Virgin Mountain,” Lodestar’s executive director, Coraline Blaud, told shareholders, adding results had pointed to “compelling” discoveries to come.
“Our work now focuses on verifying historic data, improving our geological understanding [of the area], and defining priority targets for follow-up exploration.”
Virgin Mountain lies in an established infrastructure corridor and is located near the already-operating Mountain Pass rare earth mine in Arizona.
Following this first-pass fieldwork, which is being helmed by specialist geologists and metallurgical consultants booked by Lodestar this month, the explorer will spend some time analysing the new geological and geochemical data, refining targeting, and then start on mineralogical studies for confirmation.
LSR headed into Wednesday trade on the news at 2cps.
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