Heading downriver, Miramar is hoping to start the search for heavy minerals with REE at its new placer target. Pic via Getty Images
Miramar pegs out placer target downstream of the REE-rich Gascoyne Province
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Miramar has its sights set on a rare earth elements placer target in Western Australia characterised by a large coastal embayment north of the Gascoyne River mouth.
The new exploration licence applications have the potential to contain heavy mineral sands that host REEs as the Gascoyne River drains a very large catchment area of about 71,000km2 that contains several significant bedrock REE discoveries.
Miramar Resources (ASX:M2R) noted that a series of parallel historical shorelines can be seen at the new project, which is significant as heavy mineral strandlines are formed along current and historical coastlines as a result of wave action.
That the local geological setting is analogous to the Coburn mineral sands project near Shark Bay and other heavy mineral sands projects along Australia’s west coast just adds to its prospectivity.
“There are a number of significant heavy mineral sands deposits hosting rare earth minerals along the West Australian coastline and the Gascoyne River catchment contains multiple significant bedrock rare earth discoveries,” executive chairman Allan Kelly said.
“It makes sense that the most obvious place to go looking for a REE placer deposit is directly downstream from the most prospective rare earth province in Australia.”
New licences
While previous heavy mineral sands exploration at the new licence applications have identified REE-bearing heavy minerals such as monazite and xenotime, no systemic REE-focused work has ever been completed.
As such, the company plans to carry out systematic surface sampling and shallow auger and/or aircore drilling to test for accumulations of heavy mineral sands, including REE-bearing heavy minerals once the licences are granted.
This article was developed in collaboration with Miramar 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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