As it looks to table an updated mineral resource, Australian explorer Godolphin Resources has confirmed rare earths mineralisation in a four-hole diamond drill program completed in July at the company’s Narraburra rare earths project in NSW. All holes in the 285.6m-long campaign intercepted rare earths across the project in both weathered surficial material and in underlying fresh rock with a peak grade of 1027 parts per million total rare earth oxides, or “TREO”.
A single standout drill hole within the explorer’s extent of previously identified mineralisation delivered 72.3m at 687 parts per million total rare earth oxides, or “TREO” from 27m including a 10m interval going 1027ppm TREO from 46m. Another hole about 1km to the north – and also within the mineralised envelope – delivered 14m at 648ppm TREO.
With another pair of drill holes at a similar spacing – about 700m to the east and outside the mineralised envelope – Godolphin scored 17m at 508 ppm TREO from 34m and 14m at 525ppm TREO from 35m.
Godolphin Resources Managing Director, Jeneta Owens said: “The results from the initial 4-hole diamond drill program at Narraburra are highly encouraging. The drill results confirm the presence of the mineralisation as defined by previous explorers, which was the first step for Godolphin.”
“Following a comprehensive review of the assay results, the Company has gained a much better understanding of Narraburra’s geology. Sufficient samples have been obtained to commence early-stage mineralogical and metallurgical testing.”
The company says the results from its recent diamond drilling work suggests the presence of a large rare earths system in both the weathered and fresh rock zones. Godolphin also believes the higher levels of TREO encountered in shallow weathered rock zones provide potential for cost effective near-term extraction opportunities. Test work is the next activity in Godolphin’s pipeline to determine the optimum extraction pathways for both the weathered and fresh rock material.
The company is awaiting results from another 27-hole diamond drilling program completed in October to provide additional insight and data to feed into the company’s upcoming resource update. The project has a previously reported JORC 2004 compliant inferred resource by previous owner Capital Mining of 73.2 million tonnes at 1250 grams per tonne zirconium oxide, 327g/t rare earths oxide, 146g/t yttrium oxide, 126g/t niobium oxide and 118 g/t lithium oxide.
Godolphin picked up Narraburra, comprising a pair of tenements totalling about 350 square kilometres, when it inked a two-tranche farm-in and joint venture agreement earlier this year with private explorer EX9. That deal allows Godolphin to earn up to 75 per cent of the operation with $3 million worth of exploration.
Rare earths are a class of 17 elements that are readily used in the green energy space to produce industrial scale magnets for wind turbines and electric vehicles amongst other things. With economies worldwide rapidly transitioning to low-carbon energy sources, a host of new players, including Godolphin, have dived into the lucrative industry.
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By Matt Birney
