Asra Minerals Reports Initial MRE for Yttria REE Deposit

THE DRILL SERGEANT: Asra Minerals (ASX: ASR) reported its first JORC 2012-compliant Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the company’s 100 per cent-owned Yttria rare earth element (REE) deposit.

Asra Minerals reported the MRE covers the first two kilometres of strike at the Yttria REE deposit that sits within its Mt Stirling project near Leonora in the Goldfields region of Western Australia.

The Yttria MRE has come in at 15 million tonnes at 490ppm total rare earth oxide (TREO) with 67ppm scandium oxide (Sc2O3), 55 per cent of which has been categorised as Indicated.

The MRE has a high ratio of 55 per cent heavy rare earth oxides (HREO) incorporating high value dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb) rare earth oxides.

Asra considers the high ratio of 55 per cent heavy and 22.5 per cent magnet rare earth oxides boosts Yttria’s credentials as a well-studied deposit in a Tier 1 mining jurisdiction the company expects will expand as ongoing exploration and metallurgical work provides further detail on the controls on mineralisation and refinement in potential recoveries and methods of extraction.

Recently carried out phase one metallurgy found two potential pathways to extract REE at Yttria, with results, including magnet rare earth elements (MREO) extractions of up to 78 per cent.

“Our maiden MRE for the Yttria REE deposit is an exciting moment for Asra Minerals and our shareholders, placing us another step closer to delivering the critical minerals needed to charge global electrification,” Asra Minerals managing director Rob Longley said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“This MRE sits neatly within our extensive gold portfolio at Mt Stirling in the world-renowned Goldfields region, where we also hold a current gold JORC Resource of 152,000 ounces at 1.7 grams per tonne gold across the project.

“Our focus will now turn to progressively expanding and growing the REE resource at Mt Stirling and utilise these learnings for exploration activity at our nearby Kookynie West project, just south of Leonora.

“I look forward to providing further updates as we venture into this next phase of exploration across our multi-commodity portfolio in Western Australia.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE