Junior explorer Meeka Gold Limited has unveiled some strong rare earths numbers grading up to 2,563 parts per million total rare earth oxides or “TREO” after re-assaying historical drilling that had tested for just three of the 15 elements at its Cascade rare earth project in WA. 4,426 metres of reconnaissance drilling completed between 2012-2015 that had targeted the final metre of each drill hole received a fresh eye review.
Given the limited scope the rare earth results have the potential for significant grading up from the current levels when the company embarks on testing for the entire suite.
Of the 147 re-assayed drill holes 65 returned showed rare earth oxide mineralisation in excess of 200 ppm from analysis of only lanthanum, cerium and yttrium.
Meeka says analysis of reported results from other explorers in the province show the three elements used to calculate the rare earth oxide grade for Cascade make up between 50-60 percent of the total rare earth oxide grade.
Importantly results from existing explorers in the province have shown higher rare earths enrichment in the saprolite horizon. Meeka believes that the end of hole location the samples were derived from were outside of that zone and therefore the company has high hopes of increased TREO values once reanalysis is complete.
Meeka entered the rare earths game following the acquisition of the Cascade project that boasts a huge 2,068 square kilometre landholding in the emerging province along the Albany-Fraser mobile belt in southwest Western Australia.
Neighbouring explorers have recently had a spate of successes in the region with the most notable being Mount Ridley Mines who sit just to the west of the Cascade project. Mount Ridley recently intersected peak grades up to 10,461 parts per million TREO with anomalous mineralisation identified over a strike length in-excess of 25 kilometres.
Meeka Gold Limited’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Davidson said: “As we systematically review all available data for the Cascade REE Project our view that we are in the early stages of identifying a province scale exploration opportunity is strengthening.”
“Reviewing the existing REE assay data from explorers in the province also highlights the fact that Lanthanum is a good indicator of total REE enrichment. This is an indication of the potential scale of the Cascade REE Project as drilling demonstrates highly elevated levels of Lanthanum along the full 100km southern corridor of the Project.”
Whilst the company is keeping its primary focus on gold - the red-hot rare earths market is a well-timed addition to the company’s burgeoning WA portfolio with the recent purchase appearing shrewd on the numbers within recent review.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
