The company says Muckanippie is an early-stage greenfields, titanium-rich heavy mineral sands project with upside potential. Pic: Getty Images.
Petratherm takes aim at titanium-rich targets in phase 2 drilling
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- PTR begins Phase 2 drilling at Muckanippie HMS project in South Australia
- Drilling to focus on extending recent Rosewood titanium discovery
- Company also planning to test other titanium targets
Special Report: Petratherm has begun phase 2 drilling at the Muckanippie Heavy Mineral Sands (HMS) project in South Australia with titanium in its sights.
Recent exploration has uncovered significant concentrations of titanium-rich HMS at the Rosewood discovery, including highly encouraging heavy mineral (HM) drill intercepts over a continuous 15km2 area which remains open in multiple directions.
Initial mineralogy results from the east Rosewood area have indicated HM sands with >95% valuable HM content, composed primarily of high-value titanium minerals – rutile product (high-titanium leucoxene and rutile) and pseudorutile.
And most recently, results from sizing analysis indicate the HM is coarse-grained and highly amenable to produce excellent recoveries using conventional gravity spiral processing techniques.
The phase 2 program comprises ~6,000m of aircore drilling at Rosewood and other titanium prospects after recent exploration uncovered significant concentrations of titanium-rich HMS over large areas.
Petratherm’s (ASX:PTR) aim with the program is to test extensions of HM mineralisation beyond the currently defined outline.
This will also include limited infill drilling at Rosewood to better characterise grade and thickness of mineralisation, as well as undertake collection of bulk samples for metallurgical test work.
The tip of the HMS iceberg
The company says this program heralds the start of a series of drill campaigns to be undertaken over the coming months to define the extent of the Rosewood mineralisation as well as assess other highly promising titanium prospect areas.
“The successful phase 1 drilling last year and associated follow up work has seen the titanium-rich HMS mineralisation at the Muckanippie project quickly progress,” PTR CEO Peter Reid said.
“Following the strong support received for our recent $8.1m placement, PTR is well positioned to ramp up activities and unlock the full potential of the project.
“We look forward to building on our earlier success with the Phase 2 drill program, which is aimed at extending known mineralisation plus providing bulk samples for further metallurgical test work.”
In addition, exploration in greenfield areas, away from the Rosewood HMS discovery, identified a new style of high-grade titanium-rich HM mineralisation hosted in saprolite clay, at the Duke, Nardoo and Claypan prospects.
Follow up exploration drilling will be undertaken at each of these sites to test extensions of mineralisation which remain open along trend.
Listen: Peter Reid chats with Barry FitzGerald
In a previous instalment of the Explorers Podcast, host Barry FitzGerald spoke with PTR CEO Peter Reid about recent drilling results confirming the potential for a world-class titanium project at Muckanippie in South Australia.
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.
