ASX Quarterly Wrap: Updates for Haranga's uranium and Corella's HPA, as Asra bags two new lithium projects

It’s a wrap for Q3 2023 and here are some of the latest highlights from a few ASX juniors on their activities for the three months to the end of September.

Haranga Resources (ASX:HAR)

Uranium is hot right now, punching up through the US$70/lb mark after being in the doldrums for years, with analysts predicting US$100/lb in the not-too-distant future.

During the quarter, Haranga completed a pivotal maiden resource of 12.5Mt @ 587ppm U3O8 for its Saraya uranium deposit in Senegal – flagging its suitability for shallow open-pit mining within 160m of the surface.

Ongoing field exploration included termite mound sampling over the Saraya permit, with over 12,823 mound samples collected to identify uranium concentrations across the project area.

Significant uranium anomalies were identified in the Saraya NNE grid, showcasing the potential for substantial mineralisation extensions.

Haranga also announced a $2.86m share placement to continue exploration work for both Saraya and its Ibel South gold project to the west.

At Ibel South, laboratory assays confirmed walk-up drill targets detailing a 2.5km northeast trending gold anomaly and a sampling grid was commenced to indicate possible drill locations.

Corella Resources (ASX:CR9)

Q3 2023 exploration delivered a significant resource upgrade to Corella’s Tampu high purity alumina (HPA) deposit to 24Mt with an average yield of 50% for 12.2Mt @ 36.5% Al2O3 <45μm in the very high-quality HPA feedstock specification.

Mineralisation has a shallow average depth of 4m and a footprint covering less than 0.15% of Corella’s total landholding, indicating significant potential for future growth of the project.

Corella appointed Jess Maddren to the role of CEO during the quarter as well as accelerating an advanced-stage scoping study for the Tampu project in WA’s Mid West.

A test pit has been planned for multiple bulk scale samples for a number of potential offtake partners.

“The upgrade of the resource at Tampu has delivered precisely what we set out to achieve as we press on towards production,” Corella MD Tony Cormack says.

“Firstly, we have defined Australia’s best specification deposit of feedstock for HPA and second, we have defined a deposit that will support a long mine-life.”

“We are now progressing a scoping study, where we anticipate the high grade and low impurities at Tampu to translate into a low cost operation with high profit margins.”

Asra Minerals (ASX:ASR)

During the quarter, critical minerals explorer Asra secured exclusive options to acquire interests in the Lake Cowan and Lake Johnston lithium projects in the WA Goldfields.

Lake Cowan is just 15km from the Bald Hill lithium mine and has potential to host lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites, while Lake Johnston covers 410km2 of highly prospective ground across three exploration licenses close to Poseidon Nickel (ASX:POS) Maggie Hills nickel mine and is thought to be fertile for LCT pegmatites similar to Covalent Lithium’s Early Grey deposit to the west.

Planning for exploration at both new projects is underway and will include field mapping, sampling and surveying ahead of a planned maiden drill program.

Near Leonora, assays from the final 74 holes from a whopping 387-hole drill program at its Yttria REE discovery at the Mt Stirling project near Leonora are due back from the lab to further prove up heavy rare earth oxides within the tenure.

Previous results show the deposit has high levels of pricey magnet rare earths such as dysprosium, terbium, praseodymium and neodymium with intervals announced in July showing an average total rare earth oxide (TREO) ratio of 57% across a 2km wide zone of near surface clay.

Results from the more recent testing will “provide guidance on the most effective process to optimise recovery of valuable rare earths metals”.

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Haranga Resources, Corella Resources and Asra Minerals are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.