The company’s REE project in Brazil is next door to the 911Mt at 1,200ppm TREO Serra Verde project. Pic: via Getty Images.
Mining
Alvo Minerals is gearing up to drill its Bluebush REE project in Brazil, which is right next door to – and in the same rocks as — the world-class Serra Verde project.
911Mt at 1,200ppm TREO Serra Verde is the only ionic clay rare earth project under construction outside China and is expected to commence production in late CY23.
Ionic clay hosted rare earth element (REE) deposits are highly favoured due to the relatively simple processing required to create a REE oxide concentrate and for the elevated levels of heavy and magnet rare earth element oxides, which fetch a higher price.
Alvo Minerals (ASX:ALV) considers Bluebush highly prospective for the high value magnet rare earth elements hosted in surficial saprolites, which are typically a clay-rich rock and could potentially be of the highly valued ionic adsorption clay classification.
Late last month the company reported 3,779ppm TREO (26% MREO) including 96ppm dysprosium and 16ppm terbium from auger drilling at the Boa Vista prospect.
Now, a diamond drill rig has been mobilised to site to test the depth profile of the saprolite clay across both the Boa Vista and Sao Bento prospects with an initial ~1,000m program.
Notably, auger drilling to date at Boa Vista did not always reach bedrock. This diamond drilling is expected to give the company a better picture of the saprolite profile at the project.
“Our confidence in Bluebush is growing following the exceptional drill results we released last week from Bluebush,” Alvo MD Rob Smakman said.
“We intend to test the saprolite clay depth profile immediately at areas with the higher- grade MREOs.
“Auger holes have a limited depth capability and with holes such as BLG008 ending in 3,779ppm TREO (26% MREO), we are confident in extending the modelled depth of high-grade mineralisation.
“It is important at this early stage to have a full picture of the saprolite profile at Bluebush and the best way to do this is via diamond drilling.
“The drill team- who have been drilling successfully at Palma since October 2021- will be onsite shortly.”
The drill core from this program will be saved for any resource estimation and metallurgical sampling purposes in the future.
The exploration push at Bluebush is part of the company’s due diligence, which it has six months to complete as part of its option agreement to acquire 100% of the project.
Alvo intends to utilise the due diligence period to not only verify the historical results by auger drilling but will also apply systematic exploration across the tenure to better understand the potential of the project.
Assays are pending for the remaining auger holes, with auger drilling ongoing and a Loupe portable electromagnetic survey (which is highly portable and perfect for variable terrain) planned to commence shortly to map the near surface conductivity and clay profile.
“October will not only see diamond drilling, but the start of a concerted push on exploration- with ongoing extensional auger drilling and commencement of the Loupe geophysical survey to better define the clay and regolith profile which will assist in preparing a clear exploration target,” Smakman said.
Ionic clay adsorption test work is ongoing and is expected to be released in October.
This article was developed in collaboration with Alvo Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
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