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Pure Resources (ASX:PR1) has announced its execution of an option to acquire a WA-based hard rock garnet deposit called Reedy Creek.
The company has its eyes on industrial end-users in a world where the project becomes a full-blown mine. Garnet, a commodity for which pricing is notoriously opaque, is used heavily in industrial water jets used in machining.
The company reported known garnet outcropping at Reedy Creek, reflecting a potentially low-cost mining operation. “Trial mining” will commence in the coming months, all cards in order, as Pure looks to Asian demand.
Notably, company EC Patric Glovac reckons Reedy Creek has what it takes to potentially become “one of only three commercially viable hard rock garnet mines in the world.”
“In the three months from entering into the Option, Pure has managed to extend the skarn strike by 4.5km and generated an end-product that represented 80% garnet after ore sorting in one single pass alone,” Glovac added.
If early analyses are correct, the company believes it can reliably produce garnet at 93%+ purity.
Some 90km north of Halls Creek, the company has its eyes on around 5km of outcropping strike and notes there’s a not unlikely chance the company could boost its resource estimates.
“We are confident of rapidly progressing the project through feasibility and mining studies with a view to becoming the next Australian garnet producer,” Glovac said.
Pure Resources is fairly illiquid – reflected in morning volumes on Monday. The company has a market cap of $6M and wound up the September quarter with $1.4M.
PR1 last traded at 15cps.
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