Meteoric Resources Releases Caldeira REE Project Maiden Mineral Resource
THE DRILL SERGEANT: Meteoric Resources (ASX: MEI) reported its maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the company’s Caldeira REE project in Minas Gerais Brazil.
Meteoric Resources delivered the MRE at a 1000ppm TREO cut-off at 409 million tonnes at 2,626ppm total rare earth oxide (TREO) and contains Magnet REO grades of 631ppm comprising 24 per cent of TREO.
The company explained the MRE comes from just 24 per cent of the Caldeira REE project area, and only 20 per cent of the combined area in the company’s proposed acquisition it announced in late April.
An expanded diamond drilling program is currently testing depth extensions of the clay zone below the maiden resource model.
“What a beautiful set of numbers, this is indeed a world class, Tier 1 project,” Meteoric Resources executive chairman Dr Andrew Tunks said in the company’s ASX announcement.
“Since first encountering the Caldeira REE project in October 2022, we have come a long way in our understanding of the geology and the distribution of rare earth mineralisation within the clay zone of the regolith profile.
“Our maiden Mineral Resource Estimate marks another major milestone for Meteoric Resources and a crucial component of our plans to develop this project.
“There are several key take aways from today’s MRE announcement: First is the enormous size of the resource.
“Over four hundred million tonnes have been defined in our maiden resource, yet less than twenty percent of the holding has been drilled with an average hole depth of 6.9 metres and 85 per cent of holes terminating in grades above 1,000ppm TREO.
“The second key point to note is the remarkable grade, for a true IONIC Clay Rare Earth project, the high-grade resource above a cut off 3,000ppm equates to 115 million tonnes at a grade of 4,072ppm TRE.
“This is literally off the charts and makes this the highest-grade deposit yet discovered globally.
“A quick analysis of the grade tonnage curve and block-model maps and sections will show that within drilled areas there are several large ultra high-grade zones.
“These zones of exceptional TREO grades are the immediate focus of our exploration and development teams.
“We will soon commence a 100,000 metres drilling program, designed to convert portions of todays inferred resource into higher confidence categories of Measured and Indicated Resources.”
TO READ THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT: CLICK HERE