PEC to drill-test Raptor REE
Program will follow-up on auger drilling that returned high-grades of magnet REE-rich mineralisation
Company will also advance detailed metallurgical testwork and mineralogical characterisation
Special Report: Perpetual Resources is finalising plans for the next phase of drilling targeting depth extensions at the Portão Verde, Pina Colada and Pinheirinho prospects of its Raptor rare earths project in Brazil.
This program will be designed to fully assess broader project-scale potential to support a maiden JORC resource estimate.
Perpetual Resources (ASX:PEC) intends for the follow-up aircore holes to be drilled to depths of 30-40m to follow previous shallow auger holes demonstrating that mineralisation is open at depth.
This program will assess mineralisation at depth and test its full extent across the project to understand the volume potential.
Notable previous assays from the earlier drilling, which was limited by handheld auger capacity, include:
5m grading 5591ppm total rare earth oxides (35% neodymium and praseodymium) ending in 5533ppm TREO; and
12m at 4601ppm TREO (23% NdPr) ending in 2914ppm TREO.
Metallurgical testing by ANSTO has also recovered up to 94% for key magnet REEs.
Highlights from metallurgical testwork following maiden drilling. Pic: Perpetual Resources
Raptor project
The Raptor project sits within the world-class Caldeira Alkaline Complex in Minas Gerais, a region that is rapidly emerging as a globally significant hub for ionic adsorption clay-hosted REEs.
It is close to Meteoric Resources' (ASX:MEI) Caldeira project, which has a resource of 1.5Bt at 2359ppm TREO and Viridis Mining and Minerals' (ASX: VMM) Colossus project.
Both projects have recently attracted substantial government grant funding and institutional equity support – underscoring growing national and global interest in the district's critical minerals potential.
PEC's upcoming drill program will investigate new high-priority targets across the broader project area.
The company will also advance detailed metallurgical test work and mineralogical characterisation to support future development studies and underpin Raptor's positioning as a potential long-term supplier of critical rare earths.
This article was developed in collaboration with Perpetual Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Australian
4 hours ago
- The Australian
WTM on trail of large gold corridor
Special Report: Waratah Minerals shot up more than 40% in early trading after drilling at Spur project in the East Lachlan region of NSW reinforced the potential of the Spur gold corridor to host a large-scale, high-grade epithermal gold system. WTM says multiple high-grade gold zones extend Spur Gold Corridor Project shaping up to host sizeable epithermal system in NSW Company undertaking extensional RC and diamond drilling The latest assays returned: 208.7m at 1.17 g/t gold from 514m including 89m at 1.96 g/t from 614m and including 38m at 3.61 g/t from 665m (drill hole SPRCD062 at Consols prospect); 27m at 1.03 g/t Au from 163m (SPRC078 at Essex Zone); 28m at 0.88 g/t Au from 160m (SPRC077 at Essex Zone); and 21m at 0.73 g/t Au from 133m (SPRC076 at Thistle Zone). Waratah Minerals (ASX:WTM) also found visible gold at Consols, which it says represents a major extension of the Spur Gold Corridor. A broad spaced drill program is planned for Consols to determine the extent of the mineralised system from surface to approximately 450m depth. Scale and significance becoming clear The company is confident the drilling demonstrates the potential scale, significance and growth upside of the rapidly emerging Spur Gold Corridor. 'Drill hole SPRCD062 represents a pivotal drill hole for Waratah at our Spur project,' MD Peter Duerden said. 'We have always believed that the epithermal gold mineralisation of the Spur Gold Corridor crossed the Essex Fault and should extend to the northeast, despite historical drilling having been unable to locate extensions. 'The decision by the exploration team to extend SPRCD062 twice based on encouraging geological indicators has resulted in the identification of a new mineralised zone including visible gold with high grades at Consols which represents a major extension of the Spur Gold Corridor and the best intercept at the project to date. 'With the ongoing exploration success and a high-level team in place the company is planning to accelerate activity at the project.' Extensional RC and diamond drilling is now underway at the Spur Project to define epithermal gold across the >1.5km Spur Gold Corridor whilst simultaneously testing for porphyry mineralisation in the Breccia West area. This article was developed in collaboration with Waratah Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
The Australian
5 hours ago
- The Australian
Koonenberry Gold outlines emerging bulk tonnage gold play with high-grade potential at Sunnyside
Koonenberry drilling at Sunnyside prospect in NSW delivers 60m at 0.7g/t gold intersection Results from completed Phase 1 drill program indicate Sunnyside as an emerging bulk tonnage gold play Sunnyside Shear Zone shows potential for growth with ~2km prospective zone identified Special Report: Final assays from diamond drilling at Koonenberry Gold's Enmore project in New South Wales highlight the Sunnyside prospect as an emerging bulk tonnage play with high-grade potential. Latest results extend the mineralised zone to more than 260m with hole 25ENDD007, which was drilled 40m along strike from hole 006, returning a 60m intersection grading 0.7g/t gold from a down-hole depth of 105m including 9m at 2.74g/t from 112m. Adding further interest for Koonenberry Gold (ASX:KNB), holes 008 to 010 were potentially drilled beneath the up-plunge projection of mineralisation intersected to the east. This is highlighted in a long section, where the mineralisation has an apparent ~easterly plunge with gold mineralisation open up-plunge, along strike and at depth. There are indications of higher grades such as a 1m zone at 11.9g/t gold from 244m within the broader intersection of 6m at 2.58g/t gold from 243m in hole 25ENDD010. Managing director Dan Power said the 'extremely successful' phase 1 drill campaign at Enmore had delivered exceptional results that pointed to an emerging gold discovery story at Sunnyside, which had standalone bulk tonnage as well as high-grade gold potential. 'The final four holes all intersected altered granite host rock, however the reported intercepts have become narrower and lower grade to the SW,' he added. 'These holes are within the mineralised system but may have drilled 'underneath' or peripheral to the better grades and widths intersected in holes to the east and at depth. 'When plotted in long section, results indicate a potential plunge of the mineralisation along the shear zone towards the east with a high-grade zone of ~130m clearly open at depth.' He added that drilling had intersected mineralisation from surface to a vertical depth of 300m, strike of ~260m and true width of ~75m, with the system remaining open at depth and along strike to the southwest and northeast along the Sunnyside Shear Zone, and providing clear potential for growth. 'To the east of Sunnyside, we see the potential for extensions and/or repetitions with gold and arsenic in soils and high-grade rock chips highlighting a ~2km long prospective zone along the shear at the contact between the granite and sediments,' Power noted. 'Limited, wide-spaced and relatively shallow historical drilling in this location also highlights the potential for additional discoveries, with most of these holes intersecting anomalous gold but rarely testing broad intervals of the preferred granite host rock.' Enmore project The 302km2 Enmore project sits within the underexplored New England Gold Belt, which hosts the 1.7Moz gold-antimony Hillgrove mine, the 8Moz Ravenswood gold mine, the 7.7Moz gold and 0.36Mt copper Mt Morgan mine and the 2.5Moz Cracow gold mine. While results from Sunnyside have really underscored its potential, it is far from being the only prospect of interest, with the Borah fault hosting historical high-grade intersections, while historical workings are present at Sherwood, Queen of Sheba and Lone Hand. Small wonder then that the company is using today's results to plan more than 10,000m of further drilling that will be funded from its existing cash position of $8.6m. This follow-up drilling is anticipated to start in late August and will test the continuity and extensions to mineralisation at Sunnyside as well as discovery and growth drilling along the Sunnyside Shear Zone. Growth drilling will focus on the east of the Shear Zone where KNB has identified a ~2km strike length of highly prospective granite associated with gold and arsenic soil anomalies, high-grade rock chips and wide-spaced, relatively shallow historical drilling containing anomalous gold. Induced polarisation surveys are being conducted at Sunnyside as a tool to help rank district targets and assist with drill targeting. This article was developed in collaboration with Koonenberry Gold, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions. Sponsored Nova Minerals has released a conceptual processing flowsheet for its 1.24Moz RPM deposit in Alaska. Sponsored Rhythm Biosciences has announced that its second-generation ColoSTAT blood test detects colorectal cancer consistently across all stages of the disease.
The Australian
7 hours ago
- The Australian
Locksley Resources to expand antimony push at Mojave project, California
Locksley Resources' expanded plan of operations at Desert Antimony prospect now includes 2180m of drilling Drilling will test three NNE-SSW veins and one E-W structure within a broader target zone Program approvals expected in September, with drilling to begin soon after Special Report: Interpretations from structural mapping at the Desert Antimony prospect have been incorporated into an expanded drilling plan at Locksley Resources' Mojave antimony and rare earth project in California. Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY/OTCQB: LKYRF) has submitted a new Plan of Operations to the US Bureau of Land Management, planning to test three north-northeast to south-southwest trending quartz-carbonate-stibnite vein positions and one east-west trending structure within a broader target zone. Locksley technical director Julian Woodcock said the expanded submission was a major step forward in unlocking the critical minerals potential of the Mojave project. 'With the benefit of a strengthened balance sheet following our oversubscribed capital raise, we are accelerating exploration to test a larger mineralised footprint at the Desert Antimony prospect,' he said. 'This is in addition to the already approved drilling program at the El Campo rare earths prospect. 'With our claims located only 1.4km from MP Materials' Mountain Pass Mine, we are placed at the centre of the US drive to secure domestic supply chains for antimony and rare earths." Earlier this year the US Department of Defense inked a 10-year deal with MP Materials to purchase rare earths at a US$110/kg price floor, around double the price of NdPr oxide in China. That was followed by a US$500m deal between MP Materials and US tech giant Apple for the supply of magnet rare earths, clear evidence of the strategic importance of the minerals in the US. Watch : Locksley's head of critical minerals goes over the US industry Working toward a JORC exploration target Locksley expects to receive the necessary approvals for its expanded drilling program from the BLM sometime in September, with site preparation and drilling to follow quickly after. In the meantime, LKY's structural mapping and enhanced 3D modelling of the project's geology have enlarged the footprint of mineralisation targets, offering data for the eventual definition of a JORC-compliant exploration target. The company is well funded to pursue its exploration ambitions, with a recent oversubscribed capital raise lifting its cash position to more than $6.5m. Locksley expects to release a steady flow of news over the next 4-5 months in the lead up to the drilling program, continuing through the release of any resulting assays. This article was developed in collaboration with Locksley Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions. Sponsored Nova Minerals has released a conceptual processing flowsheet for its 1.24Moz RPM deposit in Alaska. Sponsored Rhythm Biosciences has announced that its second-generation ColoSTAT blood test detects colorectal cancer consistently across all stages of the disease.
