Bayan Mining and Minerals gears up for maiden drilling at Desert Star rare earth project

• BMM plans to test four high-priority rare earth targets at Desert Star and Desert Star North
• Drilling is expected to begin in October or November, as soon as approvals are in place
• Ground-based radiometric, magnetic, and gravity surveys underway

Special Report: Bayan Mining and Minerals is preparing for an inaugural drilling program at the Desert Star and Desert Star North rare earth projects in California, having submitted a plan of operations to the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

The company has also completed reconnaissance sampling and launched ground-based radiometric, magnetic, and gravity surveys across its project tenure at both Desert Star and Desert Star North.

Bayan Mining and Minerals (ASX:BMM) executive director Fadi Diab said the company had passed a significant milestone in submitting the plan of operations to the BLM.

“With our first drill program now firmly in sight, we are positioning Bayan at the forefront of US-based rare earth exploration,” he said.

“The strength of our geological model continues to be validated by outstanding surface assay results, and the integration of geophysical and geochemical datasets is providing a robust technical foundation for drill targeting.

“We look forward to receiving final BLM approvals and commencing drilling in the near term, as we take the next step towards unlocking the full potential of this highly strategic asset.”

The Desert Star project sits just 4.5km from MP Materials’ Mountain Pass rare earth mine, one of the largest and highest-grade rare earth operations globally and the subject of high-value agreements with the US Department of Defense and technology giant Apple.

Similarly, the Desert Star North project lies within the same regional corridor as the Mountain Pass Mine, just three kilometres north of the Colosseum Gold Mine.

Colosseum is home to a JORC 2012 resource of 27.1 Mt at 1.26 g/t gold for 1.1 million ounces.

Four high priority targets

Bayan has designed its first drilling program around the ST1, ST2, ST3 and NT1 targets, identified through structural intersections and geophysical anomalies similar to the Mountain Pass (MP) deposit.

The three targets on the Desert Star project (ST1, ST2, ST3) demonstrate strong gravity anomalies, elevated uranium and thorium levels, radiometric highs and structural characteristics similar to rare earth-bearing carbonatite systems at MP. 

BMM has interpreted the NT1 target as an area of fault intersections likely to hold structurally controlled rare earth mineralisation, with moderate radiometric anomalism and gravity highs.

Previous sampling over Desert Star’s tenure revealed heavy mineral concentrate values up to 26,286 parts per million total rare earth oxide, while rock chip sampling topped out at 7,841 ppm TREO.

The company is awaiting assays for 21 rock chip samples and 46 heavy mineral concentrate samples collected from the Desert Star North project, as 16 concentrate samples from Desert Star as well. 

Results are due in October – BMM will use the fresh data in combination with information from ongoing geophysical surveys to form a technically robust foundation for drill targeting.

In the meantime, Bayan is advancing downstream evaluations of its Desert Star projects, moving to secure access to the US supply chain.

This article was developed in collaboration with Bayan Mining and 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.