Emu NL has tabled anomalous rare earths results in 33 of 34 air-core (AC) holes sunk at the company’s Condingup project near Esperance, with assays as high as 2513 parts per million total rare earth oxides (TREO).
The company’s latest assay highlights show solid wide intercepts, with a 42m hit grading 1105ppm TREO from 68m, 36m going 1578ppm TREO from 72m and 28m at 1092ppm TREO from 72m. The peak assay of 4m reading 2513ppm TREO from 64m was contained within an 8m section at 2067ppm TREO from 64m.
High-grade results of more than 750ppm TREO were recorded in 67 per cent of the holes drilled. Management says its first-phase AC campaign demonstrated continuity of grade and thickness through multiple kilometres with mineralised lenses running from 6km to 8kms in length.
Emu says its proof-of-concept drill program effectively demonstrated that substantial concentrations of rare earths are hosted in the deeper clay trap zones within the weathering profile overlying fresh host Booanya granites. The granites initially sparked the company’s interest, with rock-chip TREO grades turning some heads after sampling efforts last December.
The grades included 2124ppm, 1242ppm, 1090ppm and 1206ppm TREO. Historical rock chips have gone 1142ppm and 1263ppm TREO and there have been a further 17 results between 450ppm and 1000ppm.
The company's latest drilling results also show a relatively high magnetic rare earth oxides (MREO) ratio to TREO of 21 per cent – and as high as 40.7 per cent at the Merivale Road target. Heavy rare earth oxides ratios up to 53.08 per cent were also recorded.
MREO are the sum of the oxides of neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium and are commonly used in the manufacture of high operating temperature permanent magnets that are notable for their durability and strength.
Neodymium-praseodymium oxide is an input for magnets that have 10 times the strength of conventional magnets and there is currently no known substitute. The oxide represents about 90 per cent of the value in rare earths markets and is currently trading at a spot price of about $60 per kilogram.
HREO are made up from the oxides of about 10 elements and also form critical inputs in the manufacture of hybrid cars, fiber optics and medical devices.
Emu’s latest drill campaign targeted only a small part of the of viable clay trap sites and deeply-weathered Booanya granites within the 1560-square-kilometre Condingup project, which management says shows the vast scale of prospectivity available for further testing.
According to the Federal Government, China has the world’s biggest rare earths reserves, the highest production of rare earths concentrates and controls as much as 90 per cent of global production at various value-added stages of the supply chain.
In 2021, China produced 168,000 tonnes of rare earths oxide equivalent – almost four times more than the world’s second-biggest producer, the United States, which pumped out 43,000 tonnes.
But Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King says Australia is already the fourth-biggest producer of rare earths concentrate and has the potential for significant growth given the country’s high-quality deposits of both light and heavy rare earths.
Emu’s Condingup project appears to be in the right neighbourhood for rare earths as it sits just 7km south-east of OD6 Metals’ Splinter Rock project, where that company recently unveiled a maiden mineral resource of 344 million tonnes at 1308ppm TREO.
While it is still early days at Condingup, the company will no doubt be buoyed by its early results from its first phase of drilling at the operation.
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By Michael Philipps
