- Mount Ridley Mines (MRD) outlines plans to launch successive phases of aircore (AC) drilling at its namesake Mt Ridley project in Western Australia
- This work will include infill drilling at its 25-square-kilometre Mia prospect after efforts in the March quarter confirmed it as the company’s first target
- During the March quarter, MRD completed a total of 234 aircore holes for 11,144 metres of drilling, targeting clay-hosted rare earth element (REE) mineralisation
- One particular hole at the Mia prospect returned one metre at 2.9 per cent TREO — the highest-grade TREO intersection to date from the Mt Ridley project
- Shares in MRD are trading at 0.3 cents at 1:00 pm AEST
Mount Ridley Mines (MRD) has outlined plans for successive phases of aircore (AC) drilling between its Mia and Marvin prospects within its namesake Mt Ridley project in Western Australia.
During the March 2023 quarter, MRD completed a total of 234 aircore holes for 11,144 metres of drilling in the area, targeting clay-hosted rare earth element (REE) mineralisation.
This drilling uncovered two new prospects, Jody and Marvin, while also confirming its Mia prospect as the company’s first target for resource drilling.
The company received results from 175 of the drill holes during the quarter, and of the holes analysed, 139 showed significant, greater-than-500-parts-per-million (ppm) TREO. Notably, one particular hole at the Mia prospect returned one metre at 2.9 per cent TREO — the highest-grade TREO intersection to date from the Mt Ridley project.
Mount Ridley said it was encouraged by the metallurgy at its Mia, Marvin and Jody prospects, which were believed to be dominated by felsics that, when weathered, formed a layer of silica-kaolin clay that may have similarities to REE deposits in China, Africa and Australia.
The company announced plans for infill drilling of the 25 square kilometre Mia prospect to bring drilling density down to a 400-metre-by-400-metre grid pattern. A program of works (POW) for these efforts has been approved, subject to completing heritage and flora surveys. The company has started the Heritage Protection survey.
Also, Mount Ridley has applied for separate POWs to enable drilling up to nine kilometres north and 10 kilometres south of the Mia prospect and as far south as its Marvin prospect.
As for metallurgical work, the company said beneficiation test work on 19 samples was in progress, which will be followed by leach testing to follow.
For the March quarter, Mount Ridley posted exploration expenditure was $1.06 million. The company had $4.17 million in available funding for future activities at the end of March.
Shares in MRD were trading at 0.3 cents at 1:00 pm AEST.