ABx wraps up new round of Tasmanian rare earths drilling

ABx Group has polished off a 37-hole air-core (AC) drilling campaign that explored a previously-untested north-west area of its Deep Leads rare earths project sitting 45km west of Launceston in northern Tasmania.

Previous success at ABx’s high-grade Deep Leads target has led it to interpret the area as prospective for rare earths and the latest extentional drilling has yielded 316 samples that have now been sent for analysis.

The company’s contiguous Rubble Mound and Deep Leads prospects are centred about 3.5km from each other in the western part of the northern tenement group. The Wind Break target is about 12.5km to the north-east of those two deposits, with the intervening area between them comprising a new tenement application where no exploration has been undertaken.

An additional area of interest known as Leech Scrub has already been defined about 3.8km north-east of Deep Leads, while a smaller area, Alluvial Flats, lies about 1km south of Rubble Mound. Together, the areas comprise four high-priority targets lying within a radius of about 4.5km of each other.

The unexplored corridor between Leach Scrub and the other three prospects is considered open to further prospectivity. If the latest Deep Leads drilling can demonstrate notable mineralisation, it could open up the entire corridor as a target for evaluation.

In early May, ABx said it had completed an update to its resource estimation of its Deep Leads-Rubble Mound and Wind Break rare earths resources, which now sit at an impressive 89 million tonnes in measured, indicated and inferred categories at an average grade of 844 parts per million total rare earths oxides (TREO). The TREO component contains an average combined proportion of 26 per cent of the magnet rare earths – neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium.

Importantly, the highly-prized terbium and dysprosium heavy magnet rare earths make up a combined proportion of 4.3 per cent of the TREO.

Rapid technological advances have resulted in some rare earths growing in importance in many domestic, medical, industrial and strategic applications because of their unique catalytic, metallurgical, nuclear, electrical, magnetic and luminescent properties. Examples of the many applications for these commodities include their use in magnets and super magnets, motors, metal alloys, electronic and computing equipment, batteries, catalytic converters, petroleum refining, medical imaging, colouring agents in glass and ceramics, phosphors, lasers and special glass.

ABx says its latest resource estimate arises from the inclusion of 400 additional drillholes, which has resulted in a 70 per cent resource expansion and its latest campaign has highlighted higher-grade zones that are its top candidates for production studies.

With its extensive resource area, shallow deposits, straightforward mining, good grades and a strong possibility of significantly lifting its resource numbers, the company sees an opportunity to address potential supply risks by providing an alternative secure source for the critical minerals.

And, perhaps, results from ABx’s latest drilling will provide it with greater direction to a particular holy grail that is being sought by many.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au