Norwest Minerals gets niobium drilling back on track after heavy rain

Norwest Minerals to commence drilling after heavy rains impeded West Arunta access
Drilling to test niobium, IOCG, and carbonatite targets at Tamba, Duck and Malibu prospects
Neighbour Rincon Resources has found wide copper intersection nearby

Special Report: Norwest Minerals says its West Arunta copper-gold-niobium drilling program is back on track to commence this weekend after heavy rains temporarily closed the access road in Western Australia.

The company is one of a handful of explorers hunting for niobium, a critical mineral used in a wide range of industrial and green energy applications, in WA’s West Arunta region.

Drilling was scheduled to commence early last week, however, heavy rains in the region forced road closures between the drilling sites and Alice Springs where the heavy equipment is based.

Norwest Minerals (ASX:NWM) plans to kick off drilling to test large copper-gold and iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) soil anomalies at the Tamba prospect.

Drilling will then continue to on to test the Malibu and Duck large IOCG and carbonatite critical mineral (lithium, rare earths, niobium) targets – all of which now have heritage approval.

Arunta West project tenement map. Pic: NWM

Keen to get boots on the ground

Notably, neighbouring explorer Rincon Resources (ASX:RCR) just announced it has intersected significant copper and rare earths in recent drilling at its Pokali East prospect, which is just 10km northeast of the company’s Duck and Malibu prospects.

Malibu is of particular interest to the company, with many similarities to WA1 Resources’ (ASX:WA1) mammoth Luni discovery, now a 200Mt deposit – the most significant niobium resource to be found in more than 70 years.

Malibu prospect map showing planned critical mineral drill test locations. Pic: NWM

“With clear weather ahead and roads now open, Norwest expects to be drilling at Tamba by the weekend,” NWM CEO Charles Schaus said.

“Once these copper-gold and IOCG targets are drilled, the rig can move directly onto the Duck and Malibu targets as all holes have been cleared by recent heritage work.

“Of interest is yesterday’s announcement by our neighbours, Rincon Resources, who have reported a wide drill intersection of variable copper tenor along with several other drill holes intersecting significant rare earth elements.

“Norwest is keen to start drill testing its targets at Tamba, Duck & Malibu, which were identified from recent geophysical data interpretation by Southern Geoscience Consultants and underpinned by priority-one soil geochemistry anomalies.”

This article was developed in collaboration with Norwest 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.