• Drill core samples from Godolphin’s Narraburra clay rare earths project have been sent to ANSTO for the second phase of test work
  • Initial leach test highlighted exceptional recoveries earlier this year
  • Planned work designed to provide a greater understanding of Narraburra’s rare earths extraction alternatives

 

Godolphin has begun metallurgical test work on samples from the Narraburra rare earths project, which pulled in ‘some of the best’ recovery rates from an Australian weathered clay hosted REE deposit earlier this year.

Godolphin Resources’ (ASX:GRL) Narraburra project northeast of Temora in central west NSW hosts a 94.9Mt resource at 739ppm TREO, which includes a higher-grade component of 20 million tonnes at 1,079ppm TREO.

The project has been explored since 1999, when programs by its previous owner revealed the Devonian Age rocks, upwards of 350 million years ago, to host a cornucopia of rare earth elements.

They included neodymium and praseodymium, the key light rare earth metals prized for their use in permanent magnets for EV motors and wind turbine generators.

Other critical metals included zirconium, yttrium, niobium, dysprosium, terbium, most importantly very low levels of the radioactive uranium and thorium which are inherent to many rare earth deposits.

 

Maiden metallurgical work provides solid foundation for Phase 2

The promise of clay-hosted rare earths deposits like Narraburra is that Australian miners could become cost competitive on a global level without the billion dollar plus capex bills for projects like Dubbo or Lynas’ Mt Weld mine in WA.

Godolphin has been working hard proving up the scale and potential of its Narraburra project with initial recoveries from leach testing back in April returning 92% recovery of valuable magnet REEs.

The explorer said the results confirmed the potential for Narraburra to enjoy low-cost development.

This test work also found that extraction percentages increase with time and temperature, with a significant increase in REE recovery at 50 degrees Celsius reported for clay-rich samples.

Godolphin now plans to undertake the second phase of metallurgical test work with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) to expand on the Phase 1 results.

Additional work will include desorption testing, size fraction analysis and composite samples from both vertically down hole and spatially across the orebody to define the leachability of REE’s on a larger scale.

 

‘Exceptional’ recovery rates amongst Australia’s best

GRL managing director Jeneta Owens says the company is excited to have commenced this second phase of metallurgical testing with an organisation of ANSTO’s calibre.

“The first round earlier this year resulted in some exceptional recovery rates, which are amongst the best from an Australian weathered clay hosted REE deposit,” she says.

“Commencement follows ongoing collaboration with ANSTO over the last few months on selecting the right program of works and we look forward to this continued relationship with ANSTO over the coming weeks to better understand the Project’s metallurgical characteristics.

“We expect to have the results of this important work within the next three months.”

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Godolphin 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.

 

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