Sayona Mining Boosts Moblan Lithium Resource

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Sayona Mining (ASX: SYA) reported an expansion to the company’s Canadian lithium resource base.

Sayona Mining released an initial JORC Mineral Resource estimate for its 60 per cent-owned Moblan lithium project (SYA 60%; SOQUEM Inc 40%), that includes maiden resources for the recent South dyke discovery.

The company said the numbers highlight the potential for its northern lithium hub in Québec’s highly prospective Eeyou Istchee James Bay region.

Sayona has now estimated a total JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 70.9 million tonnes at 1.15 per cent lithium oxide (Li2O) (0.25% Li2O cut‐off grade), which it claims to represent one of North America’s single largest lithium resources.

This includes higher grade tonnage opportunities with Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resource of 51.4 million tonnes at 1.31 per cent Li2O (0.55% Li2O cut‐off grade in the sensitivity analysis).

Sayona aims to further enhance the size and grade of this Resource through additional drilling, with extra drilling planned at Moblan.

“Speed and tonnes are crucial and with our North American Lithium operation in production, we are now bringing significant added resources to the market,” Sayona Mining managing director Brett Lynch said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“Moblan now represents one of the single largest lithium resources in North America, justifying our move to fast‐track a major drilling program that has delivered a resource within just a year of acquisition.

“Sayona already has the leading advanced lithium resource base in North America and this latest expansion further entrenches our competitive advantage, particularly given our projects’ favourable access to infrastructure, market proximity and availability of low‐cost, sustainable hydropower.

“Together with our established Abitibi lithium hub in the south, Sayona has quickly developed two emerging centres of lithium production amid surging demand from North America’s EV and battery revolution.

“As we progress these projects from spodumene concentrate production towards downstream processing, the significance of these assets will only increase as the market scrambles for supply.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Musgrave Minerals Releases Stage 1 PFS Results for Cue Gold Project

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Musgrave Minerals (ASX: MGV) released results of a Stage 1 Prefeasibility Study (PFS) on the company’s 100 per cent-owned Cue gold project in the Murchison region of Western Australia.

Musgrave Minerals reported the outcomes of the study demonstrate the Cue project to be a technically and financially robust project.

The company explained the Stage 1 PFS Life of Mine (LOM) plan focuses predominantly on the current 417,000 ounce Indicated component of the 868,000 ounce Southern Area Mineral Resource to generate gold production of 345,000 ounces with compelling physical and economic metrics.

Musgrave indicated it would now advance to Stage 2 PFS, which is expected to extend the LOM as ongoing drilling tests new prospects and extends and upgrades existing Inferred Mineral Resources into the mine plan, within the company’s 100 per cent-owned tenure.

“The excellent Stage 1 PFS outcomes demonstrate that Musgrave’s Cue gold project is one of the highest margin, undeveloped gold projects in Australia,” Musgrave Minerals managing director Rob Waugh said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“This potential new standalone development has a rapid payback period of nine months from first processing due to the extraordinary near-surface, high-grade nature of the Break of Day and White Heat deposits.

“The project has an IRR of 95 per cent (pre-tax) and the potential to deliver over 65,000 ounces of gold annually over an initial five year period, including 80,000 ounces/year for the first three years, at an AISC of $1,315 per ounce and AIC of $1,675 per ounce (based on full amortisation of start-up capital).

“The project generates cashflow of $314 million (before tax) and an EBITDA of $528 million (at $2,600/oz) with a C1 cost of $934 per ounce.

“With this cost profile (based on Q1 2023 capital and operating cost assumptions), the project is expected to be in the lowest cost quartile of gold producers in Australia.”

“The Stage 2 PFS, is set to add mine life through the extension and conversion of existing Inferred Resources to the higher confidence Indicated category, together with the potential inclusion of newly discovered resources.”

 

 

Encounter Resources Identifies New REE Projects near Laverton in WA

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Encounter Resources (ASX: ENR) has joined the ranks of rare earth element (REE) aspirants by announcing it has secured 100 per cent of projects in the Laverton region of Western Australia.

Encounter Resources REE tale began in 2009, when the company conducted aircore drilling near Lake Irwin located north-west of Laverton following up a gold trend it had identified in auger drilling.

This program intersected anomalous REE in a felsic intrusion below a sequence of transported sands and clays.

At the time, only the lower portions of the holes, close to the cover/basement geological boundary, were analysed for REE, from which REE anomalism was identified that included 6 metres at 0.55 per cent total rare earth oxide (TREO) from 74m to end of hole in ELI0118, which was one of the deepest holes in the program.

With the historical drilling in mind, Encounter carried out an evaluation of regional geophysicsthat highlighted a series of anomalies it has interpreted to be intrusions.

In late 2022, Encounter applied for four tenements (approx. 800sqkms) to cover the REE targets identified at Irwin.

“The Encounter generative team has a well-established track record of moving early into new mineral belts,” Encounter Resources managing director Will Robinson said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“We were early to identify copper opportunities in the Greater McArthur Superbasin in the NT and a BHP and South32 have joined us as project partners.

“Encounter also moved early into the emerging West Arunta region where mineralised carbonatites have been discovered recently.

“REE projects have mounting strategic and economic importance for Australia.

“The confirmation of undercover REE mineralisation in historical drilling has important regional implications.

“Particularly given that the region contains the world-class Mt Weld REE mine.

“A series of geophysical anomalies have been identified and ground truthing of these anomalies has commenced.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

 

Venture Minerals Identifies Tin-Boron Zones at Mount Lindsay

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Venture Minerals (ASX: VMS) has added a further commodity string to the company’s Mount Lindsay project bow in Tasmania.

Venture Minerals has completed Mount Lindsay Underground study work, from which it has identified potential for additional, large-scale quantities of tin and boron throughout the greater Mount Lindsay skarn system.

The company explained the tin-boron zones are in the form of borate minerals that have not previously been assessed in any mining studies at Mount Lindsay.

Boron is a critical mineral in the solar panel industry, which Venture elucidated do not only occur in the current Mount Lindsay resources, but also occur extensively throughout the numerous skarns surrounding the company’s current tin-tungsten deposits which it claims to be analogous to well-known large skarn deposits in Russia and China, that contain the same borates.

“The value of the Mount Lindsay project, as a potential supplier of critical minerals to the globe, has been further enhanced by the potential to extract the rare light metal boron, an important and versatile element in the modern world, used in everything from computer screens to fertilisers to creating powerful magnets for wind turbines and EVs,” Venture Minerals managing director Andrew Radonjic said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“In addition to being a significant tin-tungsten deposit, Mount Lindsay also has the potential to be a large-scale boron project, similar to producing projects in China and Russia, particularly when you consider the multitude of targets outside the Main and No.2 Skarns containing significant quantities of boron with tin and iron.

“The company will now look to define the process of extracting the boron along with the other already proven critical minerals tin and tungsten.

“Venture looks forward to continuing to advance its feasibility studies and delivering results at its flagship Mount Lindsay project over the coming months.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Kin Mining Drills More High-Grade Potential at Cardinia

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Kin Mining (ASX: KIN) continues to encounter gold hits while drilling at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Cardinia gold project (CGP) near Leonora in Western Australia.

Kin Mining carried out further Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling in February at the CGP targeting a recently-identified high-grade exploration opportunity along the Eastern Corridor.

RC drilling along the Helens East Fault intersected a strongly mineralised zone of vein-style quartz-sulphide mineralisation over a strike length of approximately 1km, associated with the Helens East Fault position.

Results include:

HE23RC055
21 metres at 1.9 grams per tonne gold from 103m, including 2m at 5.98g/t gold from 122m;

HE23RC059
5m at 2.6g/t gold from 111m; and

HE23RC056
1m at 15.2g/t gold from 63m.

Kin Mining considers the Helens East Fault to be a second mineralised structure, running parallel to the Helens-Rangoon Fault, which forms part of the Eastern Corridor series of deposits at Cardinia.

The Eastern Corridor has been a major focus for Kin’s exploration activities over the past 12-18 months.

“Our exploration strategy targeting the emerging high-grade potential along the Eastern Corridor is rapidly gaining momentum,” Kin Mining managing director Andrew Munckton said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“These latest assays build on the strong results reported earlier this year and show that there is an exciting new exploration opportunity based on a high-grade lode style of mineralisation at Cardinia, located below and along strike to some of our existing shallow deposits.

“These results show that the Helens East Fault is a significant structure, hosting high-grade gold mineralisation over a strike length of approximately one kilometre and extending to at least 200 metres below surface, which runs parallel to the Helens-Rangoon Fault.

“We now know that the Eastern Corridor hosts a number of significant structures including the Helens-Rangoon Fault, the Helens East Fault and the Cardinia Hill Fault containing several yet-to-be drilled targets where narrow, high-grade quartz-sulphide lodes persist to significant depths as part of a large mineralised system.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Aeris Resources Releases Kurrajong Mineral Resource Estimate

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Aeris Resources (ASX: AIS) reported a maiden JORC 2012 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Kurrajong deposit, located within the company’s 100 per cent-owned Tritton tenement package in New South Wales.

The MRE comes in at a time when global demand for copper is on the rise and the price hovering around US$9,000 per tonne.

Aeris now has 2.2 million tonnes at 1.7 per cent copper to add to the pile.

The MRE for the Kurrajong deposit comprises 2.2 million tonnes at 1.7 per cent copper, 0.2 grams per tonne gold and 5g/t silver containing 37,000 tonnes copper metal, 13,000 ounces gold metal and 347,000 ounces silver metal

The MRE includes a high-grade massive sulphide lens of 1.1 million tonnes at 2.5 per cent copper, 0.3g/t gold and 7g/t silver.

Drilling carried out below the MRE has intersected copper mineralisation, demonstrating potential to extend the Kurrajong MRE with further drilling.

“The high-grade nature of the deposit and possibility of further extensions at depth makes Kurrajong an attractive potential future ore source for the Tritton Operation,” Aeris Resources executive chairman Andre Labuschagne said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“The high-grade massive sulphide lens contained within the MRE has a similar copper grade tenor to that of the Avoca Tank resource.

“Even though over 900,000 tonnes of copper has already been discovered on the Tritton tenement package, we believe it remains highly prospective for further discoveries.”

 

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

RareX Reports Substantial Increase in Cummins Range Mineral Resource

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: RareX (ASX: REE) has reported an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the company’s 100 per cent-owned Cummins Range rare earths-phosphate project in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

RareX explained the first instalment of the updated Cummins Range MRE is based on the Rare Dyke deposit and contains an Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource of 397 million tonnes at 0.33 per cent TREO (total rare earths oxide) and 4.2 per cent P2O5 (phosphate) with good quantities of niobium and scandium.

The amount of contained TREO is 1.3 million tonnes with 280,000 tonnes of contained
neodymium praseodymium (NdPr).

This represents an increase of 500 per cent from the previous MRE RareX reported in 2021.

Complementing the increase in TREO is a very large phosphate resource of 16.7 million tonnes of contained P2O5.

The updated Rare Dyke MRE includes 44 million tonnes at 6.3 per cent P2O5 in the higher-confidence Indicated category, which is mostly contained in the upper 100m.

RareX indicated it anticipates a large increase in the phosphate tonnes from the Phos Dyke MRE, which is expected to be completed in late April.

When the Phos Dyke MRE is complete, a global resource containing both the Rare and Phos Dykes will be announced.

“Cummins Range has today been unequivocally confirmed as the second largest undeveloped rare earths deposit in Australia and as a potential long-term source of both rare earths and phosphate for Australia’s critical minerals and agricultural industries,” RareX managing director Jeremy Robinson said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“This is an exceptional result which positions RareX at the forefront of the critical minerals sector in Australia.

“I would like to thank our hard-working geological and project teams for their exceptional efforts over the past few years to get this point.

“The future for RareX is looking very exciting.”

 

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Green Technology Metals Scores High-Grade Lithium Assays From Root Bay

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Green Technology Metals (ASX: GT1) reported the first lithium assay results from the Root Bay prospect at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Root project, located just down the road from its Seymour project in Ontario, Canada.

Drilling initially targeted the Root Bay outcrop, a large ridge of pegmatite rich in coarse grained spodumene crystals.

Green Technology Metals said drilling has confirmed grades continue with depth (Pegmatite 1) and in a number other spodumene bearing pegmatites (Pegmatites 2 & 3) that were intersected highlighting a stacked system which is shallower and thicker.

Results for hole RB-23-001 returned down dip grade continuity intersections from 79.7 metres, including:

67.1m at 1.13 per cent lithium oxide (Li2O) from 60.9m (Pegmatite 1)
7.3m at 1.44 per cent Li2O from 162.0m (Pegmatite 2)
5.3m at 1.34 per cent Li2O from 174.3m (Pegmatite 3)

Green Technology Metals has received assays for the first three diamond holes at the Root Bay prospect.

Seventeen diamond holes have been completed, leaving 14 pending assays, that have intersected numerous pegmatites along an east-west ridge which the company considers highly prospective for some six kilometres.

“Root Bay is the third prospect located on the eastern side of the Root project with drilling now confirming multiple stacked lithium bearing pegmatites cross cutting a magnetic ridge that extends over six kilometres of highly prospective ground,” Green Technology Metals CEO Luke Cox said in the company’s ASX announcement.

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

Lithium Energy Gets Resource Drilling Underway at Corella Graphite Prospect

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Lithium Energy (ASX: LEL) has commenced drilling on the Corella graphite prospect part of the company’s 100 per cent-owned Burke graphite project in Queensland.

Lithium Energy is conducting a combined program approx. 20 reverse circulation (RC) holes and approx. two diamond core holes to test the extent of graphite mineralisation identified through previous surface sampling and Electro Magnetic (EM) surveys.

The company is drilling with the objective being to delineate a maiden JORC Inferred Mineral Resource for the Corella prospect, which it considers important in the overall development strategy of the Burke graphite project.

An infill drilling campaign recently completed at the Burke Tenement is anticipated to finalise an upgrade of the Burke deposit from its current Inferred status to an Indicated level to provide a higher confidence level for its graphite inventory.

In parallel to this resource upgrade, Lithium Energy commenced metallurgical test work on graphite recovered from the Burke deposit, the results from which will be used to support an Engineering Study for a proposed anode manufacturing facility based in Queensland to produce high value Purified Spherical Graphite (PSG) material for use in lithium-ion batteries.

“We are very excited to be at Corella now that weather conditions have permitted our drilling program to commence,” Lithium Energy executive chairman William Johnson said in the company’s ASX announcement.

“Corella holds great promise for us to significantly expand the size of our overall graphite inventory which could then potentially feed into our overall Burke graphite project.

“Our project and the aim of the company is to capitalise on the exceptionally high grades of graphite already discovered by the company to feed into a proposed vertically integrated anode manufacturing facility based in Queensland.

“We look forward to the drilling results of this maiden program being received which could add to the world class nature of our existing graphite assets.”

 

TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE

 

 

Great Boulder Resources Reports RC results from Mulga Bill

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THE DRILL SERGEANT: Great Boulder Resources (ASX: GBR) reported assay results from the first phase of RC drilling at the Mulga Bill prospect, within the company’s Side Well gold project near Meekatharra in Western Australia.

Great Boulder Resources explained the results are standard fire assays including samples from hole 23MBRC006A that were initially assayed using the Photon assay technique, which it announced in March.

Full assays from hole 23MBRC006A which intersected visible gold include:

7 metres at 8.13 grams per tonne gold from 93m;
6m at 589.44g/t gold from 114m, including 1m at 3,160g/t gold from 114m and 1m at 366g/t gold from 115m; and
6m at 396.58g/t gold from 154m, including 1m at 2,250g/t gold from 158m and 1m at 94.4g/t gold from 159m.

Other results included:

23MBRC008
4m at 22.1g/t gold from 184m; and
19m at 12.83g/t gold from 229m, including 2m at 112.4g/t gold.

Great Boulder Resources managing director Andrew Paterson said in the company’s ASX announcement.
“These are extremely high-grade results, and while the spectacular visible gold intersections in 23MBRC006A have garnered plenty of attention it’s great to see the new deep high-grade zone in hole 23MBRC008.

“The Challenge Drilling RC rig will be back on site in the second week of April for a follow-up program at Mulga Bill and Ironbark.

“By that time, we will also have results coming through from the AC drill program within the six kilometres Mulga Bill corridor.

“The GBR field team is continuing its busy start to the year at Side Well, and we expect a consistent stream of news flow from ongoing programs over the months ahead.”