Petratherm drilling hits impressive HM mineralisation at Rosewood

• The new intersections confirm continuity, grade and thickness
• HM mineralisation now extends over an area exceeding 20km2 and remains open to the north
• Further drilling is expected to commence later this week

Special Report: Drilling results from the remaining 63 aircore holes at Petratherm’s Rosewood heavy mineral prospect in South Australia’s northern Gawler Craton have expanded the mineralised zone, reinforcing consistency in grade and thickness.

Heavy mineralisation across the Rosewood prospect now extends over an area exceeding 20km2 and remains open to the north.

New intersections include:

• 9m at 15.1% heavy minerals (HM) from 10m, including 26.4% HM from 12m;
• 12m at 12.7% HM from 4m, including 7m at 17.1% HM from 5m; and
• 11m at 16.4% HM from 6m, including 7m at 23.8% HM from 6m and 1m at 55.7% HM from 11m.

Drilling ended in high-grade mineralisation, indicating the prospect continues to expand to the north with stand-out northernmost intersections including:

• 8m at 13.1% HM from 6m, including 4m at 20.5% HM from 7m;
• 11m at 12.3% HM from 4m, including 5m at 21.4% HM from 7m; and
• 9m at 15.1% HM from 5m, including 6m at 20.3% HM from 8m.

Within the broader mineralised envelope two high-grade, north-south trending mineralised zones have been identified at Rosewood East and Rosewood West.

Metallurgical studies underway

Petratherm (ASX:PTR) CEO Peter Reid said the phase 2 drill results have returned some of the company’s best drill intercepts to date.

“These results have extended the high-grade mineralisation up to 1.6km further north with the mineralised envelope now exceeding 20km2,” he said.

“Two distinct zones of continuous mineralisation are now evident from the drilling, they are strongly mineralised and remain open to the north.

“Step-out extensional drilling will commence later this week which is expected to further extend the Rosewood strandline systems,” he added.

“In addition, bulk sample metallurgical studies are now getting underway which will provide an initial assessment of key elements of the project including mineral recovery processing and potential product mix.

“This will provide further insight into the quality of the Rosewood prospect.”

More from Petratherm: Best drilling results to date at Rosewood

Background on Rosewood

Petratherm has been adding weight to the Rosewood heavy mineral discovery since figuring the prospect held potential to host the stuff in September 2024, when outcropping sampling returned between 10-50% titanium dioxide.

Follow-up drilling delivered encouraging HM intersections across a continuous 15km2 area, with the mineralisation amenable to free-dig mining and conventional wet concentration processing, typical of standard heavy mineral sands operations.

These developments see Rosewood as of the most promising titanium finds in Australia in recent years.

Titanium is used in a wide range of applications such as aerospace, chemical processing, medical and sporting equipment due to its high strength to weight ratio, corrosion resistance and biocompatibility.

Rosewood sits within the wider Muckanippie asset area, southwest of Coober Pedy in South Australia.

What else is happening?

Further drilling is expected to begin later this week seeking more extensions to the high-grade mineralisation, particularly to the north where some of the strongest mineralisation has been encountered.

This article was developed in collaboration with Petratherm, 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.