Rhodium and iridium are very high value metals, so Podium Minerals (ASX:POD) is understandably pleased that its drilling hit high grades of both.
Re-assaying of high grade platinum group metal (PGM) samples selected from five holes from the western and eastern sectors of Parks Reef project near Cue, Western Australia, for the full suite of PGMs returned up to 1.35 grams per tonne (g/t) rhodium and 0.7g/t iridium.
Just as importantly, the re-assayed results are materially higher than previously reported and there’s a strong correlation between rhodium and iridium with the high-grade platinum, palladium and gold (PGE).
Rhodium is considered to be the best catalyst for the after-treatment of gasoline nitrogen oxides emissions, while iridium is the most corrosion-resistant metal known and commonly used as a hardening agent.
“We are delighted with these initial results for rhodium and iridium and when combined with the results from the platinum, palladium and gold assays from the same drill holes, unquestionably they represent the most significant results to date from Parks Reef,” executive chairman Clayton Dodd said.
“With current rhodium prices some 20 times and iridium five times that of the current platinum price, it doesn’t take a lot of grade of either to have a significant impact on the estimated weighted average price per Podium PGM ounce.
“These results have given us great confidence to include further assays for the full suite of PGMs for inclusion in future mineral resources estimates.”
Highlighting the value of these PGMs against gold and platinum, which had a base price of US$1,779/oz and US$1,240/oz respectively, iridium commands a price of US$6,300/oz while rhodium is worth an eye-watering US$29,500/oz.
Upcoming work
While the results cannot be used to update the current resources of 1.39Moz of combined platinum, palladium and gold plus base metal credits, the company has stored samples from all completed drilling campaigns to allow future testing to be completed.
It intends to do so when it proceeds with in-fill drilling to upgrade the resource confidence to the indicated category, which has sufficient information on geology and grade continuity to support mine planning.
Drilling is underway to define the continuity of the high grade mineralisation.
This article was developed in collaboration with Podium 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.