Askari survey picks up new rare earths targets

Using hyperspectral imagery, Askari Metals has identified numerous rare earth element targets at the company’s Red Peak pegmatite project located on the border of WA’s Gascoyne region. The news builds upon lithium-focused sampling completed by the company in January that revealed several areas highly anomalous in a suite of rare earths including lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium and europium.

The find has piqued the explorer’s interests as the lithium project is located just 15km east of ASX-listed Krakatoa Resources’ renowned Mt Clere rare earths project.

On April 12, Krakatoa broke out of a trading halt with news of a rare earths discovery taking its share price on a wild ride upwards from $0.059 to its 52-week high of $0.14 on April 21. The uncovering of ion adsorption clays enriched in rare earths was the main driving force behind the rising share price, however the company is also investigating its ground for rare earths within sand and hard rocks.

A rare earths deposit of the ionic adsorption clay variety is a coveted style of mineralisation currently only in commercial production in South China. The main advantage of the clay deposits is a low-cost and efficient method of processing despite the low grades when compared to hard rock deposits.

Using Krakatoa’s confirmed rare earths mineralisation to calibrate its hyperspectral analysis, Askari was able to delineate about 17 target zones for follow up work. The explorer also used a helium-based dataset and marked a further six areas of interest with four of them overlapping some of the 17 targets produced from the calibrated analysis.

Askari is currently designing further follow up field programs with the new targets in its sights. Whilst its primarily going after rare earths in zones of clay and soil it is worth noting that historical exploration by BHP and Astro Mining in the 1990s confirmed the presence of enriched monazite sands.

The company also plans to complement the work with a wide-scale auger drilling program that will test for rare earths in the upper soil, sand and clay horizons. In the medium term, the company plans to follow its auger program with a shallow air core drilling campaign.

Askari Metals Vice President of Exploration and Geology, Johan Lambrechts said: “The company has recently completed a comprehensive review of the Rare Earth Element potential of the Red Peak project given its strategic location in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia and its proximity to an existing REE discovery at the Mt Clere project owned by Krakatoa Resources where a significant exploration target has recently been defined.”

Back in November last year with lithium on its mind, Askari moved to peg its Red Peak and Mt Deverell projects along the border zone between WA’s Gascoyne and Mid West regions. The pair of tenements — separated by a short 30km — were subsequently granted in February.

Extensive pegmatites are found to outcrop across the Red Peak project with at least 11 significant pegmatites identified exhibiting strike lengths more than 3km with widths between 150 and 200m. Even though the Red Peak was pegged as a strategic lithium-land grab, the recent revelation of rare earths could prove equally as lucrative for the company given the group of metal’s increasing role in green technologies.

Askari says about 750 grams of rare earths used in magnets go into every electric vehicle motor and about two tonnes go into offshore wind turbines. Given it’s no secret the sectors of electric vehicles and wind turbines are set to soar, it is easy to see why the company is enthused by the potential of rare earths at Red Peak.

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