- Mount Ridley Mines (ASX:MRD) confirms a fresh raft of REE drill hits at its namesake project in Western Australia
- The results were pulled from an aircore drill run sunk at its Mia prospect
- Among key drill intercepts included today was one section at 22 metres thickness for 2160 ppm TREO
- The company also noted that mineralisation appears to coincide with geologic structures apparent as ‘ridges’
- The company will soon get back to drilling
- Shares last traded at 0.2 cents
Mount Ridley Mines (ASX:MRD) has reported a fresh raft of rare earth element (REE) drill hits in its latest campaign at the company’s namesake project in Western Australia.
Among key drill intercepts included today was one section at 22 metres thickness for 2160 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO) with 23 per cent of those being high-value magnet rare earths (MREO). That came from a depth of eleven metres.
This was followed by 26 metres at 1780 ppm TREO and 23 per cent MREO from 30 metres depth, and, an 18-metre thick intersection from nine metres depth grading at 1386 ppm TREO and also 23 per cent MREO.
The results were pulled from an aircore drill run sunk at MRD’s Mia prospect on-site – one of eleven overall target areas of interest to the company’s geotechs.
This drill run sought to prove the continuity of mineralisation at Mia and the results confirm just that today with drilling building on an existing drillhole grid.
“Drilling has confirmed the continuity of high grade (>700ppm TREO) clay-hosted REE mineralisation between previously drilled 400m-spaced holes,” the company wrote on Wednesday.
The company also noted that mineralisation appears to coincide with geologic structures apparent as ‘ridges’ detected in aeromagnetic imagery.
The REEs are clay-hosted and boast a strike length of 9 kilometres and more than four kilometres in width.
The company will soon get back to drilling to further expand on the grid at Mia to test in which directions the mineral system does and does not continue.
A last batch of assay results is due back to the company and Mount Ridley has now commenced metallurgical testing with high extraction rates of up to 72 per cent TREO being clocked in early-stage tests.
The company was also able to return average grade upgrades of more than 160 per cent from the Mia target during beneficiation. Metallurgical tests will continue, inspecting different acid concentrations.
“These results tick another important box as we advance our project, confirming mineralisation continuity between drill holes,” MRD Chair Peter Christie said.
“Other highlights achieved this year include the many high grade, thick intersections of REE mineralisation at Mia, a projected grade upgrade of approximately 160 per cent through screening of Mia samples, and the efficacy of HCl to leach REEs into solution.”
Mount Ridley shares last traded at 0.2 cents.