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Pensana extends NdPr footprint at its Longonjo Project in infrastructure rich Angola
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Special Report: Earlier this month, Pensana Metals expressed its confidence in the potential of its Longonjo neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) Project in Angola.
The latest assay results suggest that confidence was well deserved.
The company (ASX:PM8) announced today that its second round of drill results have extended the mineralisation to the north and identified new and deeper zones of NdPr mineralisation extending from the surface and up to 65m in thickness.
Drilling returned rare earth oxide (REO) grades of up to 2.61 per cent, including 0.71 per cent NdPr from surface.
The first 14 holes showed mineralisation up to 50m in depth.
Pensana has now finalised results from a further 23 holes of the total 108-hole program.
Pensana’s Longonjo Project already has a resource of 11.6 million tonnes at 4.3 per cent REO, with a good composition of NdPr at around 20 per cent.
Drilling is testing an area 10 times that of the maiden resource, which remains open in all directions.
The company believes it can grow the resource by at least four times.
It has set an initial resource target of 50 million tonnes at 4.6 per cent REO, which would give it 2.3 million tonnes of contained REO and make Longonjo one of the world’s largest NdPr deposits with the distinct advantage of being located adjacent to a major rail link to the Atlantic port of Lobito.
NdPr is used in the manufacture of high-strength permanent magnets that are used in the automotive industry for electric components such as seats, mirrors, wipers, steering and braking, as well as in the traction motors of hybrid and electric vehicles.
More to discover
The new mineralisation intersected in the north is particularly enriched in NdPr which can comprise around 27 per cent of the total rare earths, compared to around 20 per cent in the resource estimate area.
The mineralisation was also found to contain high-grade niobium.
Niobium — sometimes referred to by its old US name of columbium — is a shiny metal used in everything from hypoallergenic jewellery to jet engines to superconducting magnets.
Its major use — accounting for 90 per cent of world production — is in the making of high-strength, low-alloy steel (HSLA).
Ferro-niobium — an alloy of iron and niobium and the main agent used for HSLA steel — is in high demand, according to consultant Roskill.
Of the results, Pensana’s executive director Dave Hammond said, “These thick intersections from surface have confirmed widespread and particularly NdPr-rich mineralisation in the untested northern area of the project.”
“We are very much looking forward to receiving results from the remaining 71 holes as the scale of this very promising NdPr deposit begins to unfold.”
Pensana Metals is a Stockhead advertiser.
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