Desert Metals says recent reconnaissance drilling at its Innouendy project in WA have confirmed ‘significant’ clay hosted Rare Earth Element (REE) intercepts close to surface.
This comes after the company initially announced in May that rare earth mineralisation had been intersected from assays of isolated 4m composite samples.
The additional 93 adjacent samples have now been received and confirm the thick and high-grade REEs.
Best results of Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO) include:
- 20m at 2139ppm from 16m (including 4m at 4376ppm);
- 12m at 1404ppm from 8m (including 4m at 2786ppm);
- 20m at 1187ppm from 28m (including 4m at 2428ppm); and
- 20m at 1195ppm from 28m (including 4m at 2185ppm).
Plus, Desert Metals (ASX:DM1) says recent metallurgical test work has confirmed the results are economic – the rare earths are easily leached with >80% recoveries in the high-grade zones.
20,000m drilling program currently underway
With only sparse reconnaissance holes drilled in the initial program, the company reckons there’s potential exploration upside at the project, and they’ve already kicked off an extensive 20,000m follow-up infill AC and RC drilling program.
The aim is to test the extent of the shallow, clay-hosted REE mineralisation and also follow up on previously announced intercepts of up to 1.76% nickel.
And if consistent grades and widths are intercepted, DM1 plans to work towards defining an inferred resource.
Belele assays a copper bonus
As an added bonus, the company has also received assays from its Belele Copper project, which has confirmed the extension of copper mineralisation downdip.
Belele was drilled thanks to a WA state government Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) grant of $180,000 – the third grant awarded to Desert Metals’ projects which takes the total funding provided by the scheme in the last 18 months to $480,000.
These grants add a tidy contribution to the company’s drilling budget and allow the testing of more targets without using shareholder’s money – which DM1 says increases the odds of discovery.
This article was developed in collaboration with Desert Metals, 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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