ABx Group has bumped up its ionic-adsorption clay-hosted (IAC) Tasmanian rare earths mineral resource estimate by 30 per cent to 27 million tonnes averaging 803 parts per million total rare earths oxide (TREO).
The company’s updated figure – up from its previous May estimate of 21 million tonnes containing 770ppm TREO – comes courtesy of an additional 36 drill holes that have stretched the target area across a 16km strike from the Deep Leads-Rubble Mound deposit through to its recent Windbreak discovery.
Since declaring a maiden resource estimate late last year at its rare earths project west of Launceston on the Apple Isle, ABx has kept the drill rods spinning, increasing its resource by a staggering 680 per cent.
Importantly, the updated estimate is enriched in permanent magnet rare earths, with dysprosium and terbium making up 4.3 per cent of the TREO. That pegs it as one of the highest reported ratios for any IAC rare earths deposit.
ABx Group managing director and chief executive officer Mark Cooksey said: “The 30% increase in Inferred Mineral Resources arises from the latest 36 holes that were our furthermost step-out drill holes. 69% of the holes returned resource grade assays, which is above average for such wide-spaced scout drilling in new areas.”
The junior explorer has its foot on a strategic patch of dirt nestled between Deep Leads and Windbreak. Pending the final granting of the tenement, the company says recent exploration activity will have increased the target area threefold from 35 square kilometres to more than 100sq km.
Its latest foray with the drillbit pulled up a new record intercept of 11m going 1700ppm TREO from just 2m. The impressive intercept was taken 5km to the north-east of Deep Leads, suggesting the company has tapped into a lucrative new deposit. The headline hit is laden in permanent magnet rare earths, especially dysprosium and terbium, that tip in nearly 5 per cent of the TREO content.
The four permanent magnet rare earths – neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium – account for more than 90 per cent of the total rare earths market value and are a crucial component of the global drive towards net-zero outcomes.
It comes as no surprise that China dominates the world’s rare earths mining and processing and it sources most of its supply from IAC deposits in southern China and neighbouring Myanmar. However, not all rare earths clay deposits are created equal and very few clay-hosted rare earths deposits are amenable to low-cost benign extraction and production methods.
Metallurgical testwork undertaken by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) on a selection of samples from Deep Leads, has confirmed the mineralisation is ionic-adsorption clay capable of delivering high-recoveries in excess of 70 per cent. The process developed by ANSTO is considered relatively benign, as it uses reactive agents with less acidity than what is found in apple juice and avoids the need for more aggressive and expensive methods of extraction, in addition to lessening the environmental impact.
As more lucrative rare earths spill from the soil at its Tasmanian tenure, ABx has a brief moment to sit back and enjoy the fruits of its labour while contemplating where to point the rig next on the Apple Isle. But with a fresh patch of dirt at the ready, a prospective corridor stretching 16km and a new high-grade discovery begging for more drilling, one thing is certain – it will be the briefest of moments.
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By Helen Barling
