Equinox Resources off and drilling at district-scale REE targets in Brazil

EQN commences phase 1 RC drilling at Brazilian REE project
Drilling to test ultra-high-grade clay surface sample areas
Company investigating potential secondary product at project

Special Report: Equinox Resources has begun Phase 1 RC drilling at its Mata da Corda ionic-clay-hosted Rare Earth Elements (REE) project in Minas Gerais in Brazil.

The company holds ~975km² of prospective ground at the Mata de Corda project within the Alto Paranaíba Alkaline province in Minas Gerais State, as well as the huge 1801km² Campo Grande rare earths project in Brazil’s emerging world-class Rocha da Rocha REE district.

The plan for Phase 1 is to test the depth of the clay profile across ultra-high grade clay surface sample areas up to 10,110ppm TREO.

The first drill hole at tenement 833405/2023 is focused on a concentrated cluster of surface sample results averaging approximately 2500 ppm TREO, around 1km from Harvest Minerals’ KP Fértil mine.

Plus, the company has reported additional assay results from surface clay samples have confirmed ongoing high-grade REE clays at the project including:

5,879 ppm TREO
5,212 ppm TREO
4,733 ppm TREO
4,067 ppm TREO
3,928 ppm TREO;
3,690 ppm TREO.

Drilling district-scale targets

“The additional surface sample results confirm that Mata da Corda has exceptional district-scale targets, with over half the samples exceeding 2000 ppm TREO across the 972 km² project area,” Equinox Resources (ASX:EQN) managing director Zac Komur said.

“We have partnered with a nimble and cost-effective RC drilling contractor who will mobilise the rig based on high-grade surface sample anomalies for our Phase 1 drilling campaign.

“Additionally, we are utilising our own auger drill rigs to gain a comprehensive understanding of the clay profile and to map the clay horizon zoning, allowing us to penetrate the cerium anomalies observed on the surface.

“The same drilling contractor has also mobilised a drill rig to commence operations at the hard rock monazite sand project in Campo Grande.”

The initial set of drill holes is anticipated to be completed by mid-August, following which the drilling program will proceed to target the higher surface sample target anomalies.

Secondary product potential

Notably, surface sample results have also revealed significant anomalies in titanium dioxide ranging from 16-20% TiO2, which Equinox says indicates promising potential for a secondary product at Mata de Corda.

These samples were collected from the oxidised clay layer, which generally are weathered and hosts lower levels of mineralisation to what is indicatively directly beneath in the clay.

The company expects drilling to confirm the behaviour of the grades at depth.

This article was developed in collaboration with Equinox Resources, 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.