Bayan Mining and Minerals secures $3.27m to pick up the pace at Desert Star projects

• Bayan raises more than $3m in placement to new and existing investors 
• Its Desert Star projects share characteristics with the Mountain Pass mine and Colosseum project
• Exploration is underway with results expected shortly 

Special Report: Excitement is building as investors pile into Bayan Mining and Minerals, snapping up a $3.27 million placement at 20 cents a pop in anticipation of exploration at its promising Desert Star and Desert Star North projects in California. 

The placement represents a 47.8% premium to the 15-day VWAP with strong support received from new and existing investors. 

Extensive sampling and geophysical programs are taking place, with 65 rock chips and 30 heavy mineral concentrate samples collected from Desert Star so far. 

Another 21 rock chips and 46 heavy mineral concentrate samples have been taken at Desert Star North and submitted for rare earth analysis with results expected shortly. 

A desktop review of existing geophysical datasets is underway, fast tracking the refinement of targets utilising high-resolution airborne magnetic, gravity and radiometric data, along with satellite imagery integration. 

Surrounded by industry heavyweights 

Bayan Mining and Minerals’ (ASX:BMM) Desert Star North project covers 45 federal lode claims (3.75km2) just 3km north of Dateline Resources’ (ASX:DTR) 1.1Moz Colosseum gold project where REEs have also been identified and within the same regional corridor as the operating Mountain Pass rare earth mine. 

Mountain Pass has been in production since 1952 and is the only active rare earth mine and processing facility in the US. 

It supplied about 15.8% of global rare earth production in 2020 and was the biggest source of rare earths until China started dominating the commodity global production in the late 1990s. 

BMM’s tenement occupies a structurally complex zone of the eastern Mojave Desert and comprises gneisses, schists, limestones, quartzites and shales, forming part of a broader assemblage of Paleozoic sediments and volcanics recognised throughout the Mountain Pass-Colosseum corridor. 

Target definition next in line 

BMM exec director Fadi Diab said the company was well positioned to define and advance high-priority targets following the completion of sampling. 

“The strategic location of our projects, within close proximity to MP Materials’ world-class Mountain Pass rare earth mine and Dateline Resources’ Colosseum gold mine, highlights the exceptional potential of our ground,” he said. 

“This funding allows us to rapidly progress exploration in a district that is both geologically proven and strategically important to the North American critical minerals 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.