Final drill assays from American Rare Earths Limited‘s Halleck Creek have indicated rare earth mineralisation spanning an eye-popping 10sqkm, as the company works to release its Maiden Resource Estimate for the project by the end of this quarter.

The new assays from the 38 drill hole program confirm Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO) grades are consistent from surface to depths of up to 150m throughout the Overton Mountain and Red Mountain areas. They also show rare earth mineralisation extending from surface to new depths at the Overton Mountain area.

Two drill holes are particularly significant for American Rare Earths (ASX:ARR) because they infer continued mineralisation within the Overton and Red Mountain areas towards the Bluegrass area to the east of the 3,304ha Wyoming project.

Importantly, only 25% of the total project area has been sampled to date and the deposit is still open.

This gives ARR further confidence in the project which already has globally significant  exploration target of 1.01-1.27 billion tonnes of rare earth mineralised rocks.

Managing director Chris Gibbs said: “These results confirm American Rare Earths has discovered a strategically significant rare earth deposit in the USA at Halleck Creek. The deposit covers over 10 square kilometres and is potentially the largest rare earth deposit in North America.

“The consistency of Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO) grades at increased depth is perhaps the most significant element of the results thus far, considering the small area of the project drilled to date and the consistency of surface samples across the entire project area.”

Rare advantage

In another major boost for the cost and ESG profile of the project, the latest assays show average values for the penalty elements thorium and uranium continue to remain very low for a major rare earths project.

The most recent metallurgical test work, completed in February, demonstrated that a simple, less costly and more environmentally sensitive process can produce a rare earth concentrate and maximise the recovery of high-value magnet rare earth elements Neodymium and Praseodymium. The latest minimal readings for radioactive elements will further support ongoing and highly encouraging test work.

The ore’s almost negligible radioactive elements additionally enable the Australian-based company to collaborate with top-tier R&D partners including the US Department of Energy Innovation Hub, the Critical Minerals Institute and the Critical Materials Institute to develop a sustainable rare earths supply chain in the US.

Good news quarter

The company is now focused on announcing a maiden JORC resource by the end of March 2023 to conclude a very busy first quarter of the calendar.

This has included the previous set of assays, released last month, showing high rare earth grades from surface to as deep as 175.5m – 75.5% over the depth drilled for the maiden drill campaign of 100m last year.

Also highly encouraging is that the assays revealed 27% of the rare earths mineralisation includes the magnet rare earth elements essential for the clean energy transition.

And earlier last month ARR filed 118 new mining claims covering 855ha in the district.

The addition of the County Line claims provided ARR contiguous control of federal claims and state mining leases over seven discrete areas across 8kmx8km.

While ARR is now focused on the Halleck Creek JORC Resource, it’s also looking forward to conducting more exploration in its new areas within this major rare earths district.

Meanwhile in Arizona the company is advancing its La Paz project, which has a  current JORC Resource estimate of 170MT, with drilling targeting ~742-928MT of rare earths mineralised rocks to establish a JORC resource for the SW area.

 

 

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with American Rare Earths, 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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