Lindian Resources expects to reveal a maiden rare earths mineral resource for its emerging Kangankunde project in Malawi in just a fortnight, on the back of what it says are some world-leading numbers.
After receiving the final assays from its phase-one drill program at the site, the company has revealed new results that show significant intersections of mineralisation in all of its latest 13 reverse-circulation (RC) drillholes, with a standout 58m hit going 4.5 per cent total rare earths oxide (TREO) from just 2m, including 29.2m at 6.6 per cent TREO from 6m.
Additional assays recorded 55m at 4.7 per cent TREO, including a 42.5m intercept grading 5.51 per cent TREO from 17.5m, while a third hole returned a 58m section reading 3.04 per cent TREO from 2m, including a 12m hit at 5.18 per cent TREO from 48m.
Lindian also received wider assays with a 180m intersection going 3.3 per cent TREO from surface to end-of-hole and 157m at 2.6 per cent TREO from surface, including 88m at 3.06 per cent TREO.
The company’s initial phase of drilling covered more than 12,500m and included 81 RC holes in addition to 10 core drill holes, including six core tails over 1642m. The latest results recorded a peak intercept of 21m at 6.8 per cent TREO from 44m.
Management says all assays contain significant values of the light rare earths neodymium and praseodymium at an average grade of 20 per cent of the TREO figure.
Lindian Resources chief executive officer Alistair Stephens said: “The results of this program, to the best of my knowledge, are unparalleled when compared with any other rare earths project, having defined such a huge extent of recoverable, non-radioactive mineralisation in such a short period of time. This is a testament to support from the Lindian Board, the community, a focused and unified professional team and the unique geology at Kangankunde.”
Kangankunde is considered one of the world’s biggest rare earths operations outside China and hosts an outdated resource of 2.53 million tonnes, grading 4.24 per cent TREO for 107,000 tonnes of contained rare earths when using a cut-off grade of 3.5 per cent. It is a carbonatite-hosted system with mineralisation exposed at surface and it is still open at depth.
In March, the company recorded a 3m hit at a whopping 15.6 per cent TREO from 69m. The high-grade intercept is contained within a bigger 26m section grading 6.15 per cent TREO from 58m and includes a 1m segment at a head-turning 18.76 per cent TREO from 71m.
Management is also expecting the results from its phase-two drill program that includes two deep drillholes to a depth of 1km. It is keen to understand the depth of the operation after several phase-one holes ended in mineralisation.
With a maiden mineral resource just around the corner and with Kangankunde’s reputation in terms of its magnitude seemingly growing by the day, the market will be keeping a close eye on what Lindian can reveal and just how big that initial figure will be.
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By Michael Philipps
