White Cliff Minerals has recorded significant extensions to its maiden rare earths discovery at the company’s Hines Hill project near Merredin in Western Australia’s Central Wheatbelt region, in addition to completing a sampling blitz across five other sites.
Follow-up air-core (AC) drilling at Hines Hill shows a 5m hit going 2066 parts per million total rare earth oxides (TREO) from a relatively shallow depth of 16m that included 434ppm magnetic rare earth oxides (MREO). Additional highlights include a 6m intercept at 1040ppm TREO from just 2m and two wider hits of 19m grading 897ppm from 2m and 13m reading 802ppm from 6m.
The latest results come from White Cliff’s second phase of drilling at the operation and it says mineralisation remains open in multiple directions. Earlier this year, roadside geochemical sampling campaign at the 570-square-kilometre operation discovered several high-priority targets. The company is now eyeing 10 key areas with grades above 550ppm for immediate follow-up.
Last year’s maiden 49-hole AC program at the site returned impressive results including 3m at 1602ppm TREO from 6m. The standout discovery was inside a bigger 25m intercept running 837ppm TREO from a shallow depth of 6m.
White Cliff Minerals technical director Ed Mead said: “I’m pleased to report these results continue to demonstrate widespread high grade REE mineralisation at Hines Hill. The mineralisation remains open laterally in multiple directions, is shallow and has now grown to ~300m wide and >600m in strike and is open to the south. The bulk of the drilling was to the north on the stronger magnetic signature and this is now closed off.”
The company has also completed a massive soil and rock-chip sampling program across five of its other projects scattered around WA, with a focus on rare earths and lithium. A total of 271 soil samples and 29 rock-chip samples were collected at its Preston River lithium project that sits 30km north of the world’s biggest hard-rock lithium mine at Greenbushes.
A further 483 soil samples and 20 rock-chip samples were taken at its Diemals project. The operation sits about 185km north of Southern Cross in an area once thought to be solely prospective for nickel, copper and gold mineralisation. However, recent analysis suggests the zone could host lithium and rare earths.
The Barballin project has also been explored, with 187 soil samples and six rock-chip samples. The site covers 130sq km north of Merredin and is close to where White Cliff has its Hines Hill project. It has never been previously explored for rare earths despite nearby pegmatites being mined for feldspar immediately east of the site.
Further north, the company has collected 694 soil samples and nine rock-chip samples at its Munbinia rare earths project. It has also picked up 21 soil samples and 29 rock-chip samples at its Ashton Hills tenements in the Pilbara.
All samples are currently at the laboratory where they will be tested for multiple elements and White Cliff expects the results as soon as next month.
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By Michael Philipps
