Northern Minerals increases Browns Range Resource
THE DRILL SERGEANT: Northern Minerals (ASX: NTU) has increased the JORC-compliant, heavy rare earth (HRE) Mineral Resource estimate for the company’s Browns Range project in northern Western Australia.
The Total Mineral Resource at the Browns Range project is now estimated at 8.47 million tonnes at 0.62 per cent total rare earth oxides (TREO) comprising 52,372,000kg (52,372tonnes) contained TREO using a cut-off grade of 0.15 per cent TREO.
Location and geology of Mineral Resources. Source: Company announcement
The company explained a key feature of the Browns Range Mineral Resource is the dominance of the high-value dysprosium, terbium and yttrium elements with average grades of 0.51kg/t, 0.08kg/t and 3.44kg/t respectively within the Total (Indicated and Inferred) Resource.
The HRE percentage of the Total Rare Earths is 87 per cent (Indicated and Inferred Resource).
Northen Minerals claimed the presence of xenotime as the dominant HRE mineral is a major competitive advantage for Browns Range.
Its reasoning being that the xenotime mineralisation is not only rich in dysprosium, it is also hosted in a mainly silica rock which allows the ore to be concentrated, up to 30 times, through a relatively simple beneficiation process with excellent recoveries.
“The upgrade in resource is a fantastic result for the project and a clear demonstration of the project’s future exploration potential,” Northern Minerals managing director George Bauk said in the company’s announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
“Our exploration results continue to exceed our expectations, and we have been successful in converting these results into defined resources.
“Today’s resource upgrade shows continued growth of the Browns Range asset base with the inclusion of two new deposits Cyclops and Banshee.
“Drilling at both deposits has been limited and like all of Browns Range’s deposits, they remain open, indicating the opportunity to further expand the Mineral Resource estimate and increase the project’s mine life.”
Email: info@northernminerals.com.au
Website: www.northernminerals.com.au