Torian Resources has bolstered its heavy rare earths portfolio after a new discovery at its Mt Stirling project in Western Australia. The company believes ongoing work at the venture has identified additional yttrium oxide mineralisation and has labelled the new prospect Wishbone.
Interestingly, the finding is within earshot of its recently announced Yttria heavy rare earths prospect.
Torian says Wishbone was discovered through a surface portable X-Ray fluorescence spectroscopy program that identified the prospect a mere 2.5km northwest of Yttria.
Subsequent auger vacuum drilling confirmed a cluster of nine discrete yttrium contour anomalies at the site, ranging from 100 parts per million to 296 ppm ytrium. Intriguingly, the company says the hits could be linked and range in strike from 140m to 350m.
Management says the heavy rare earths mineralisation at Wishbone and Yttria collectively lay claim to a roughly 3.6km strike length.
The company previously suggested the mineralised system at the latter is unique given the high concentrations of heavy rare earths oxides and yttrium oxide in the regolith and indicated the geological setting at Yttria draws comparisons with Lynas Rare Earths’ proximal Mt Weld rare earths deposit.
Torian says it will now continue chipping away on extensional drilling to expand the mineralisation at Wishbone and is also looking to dive into an auger vacuum program across a 1km strike extension zone that sits between its two new prospects.
The explorer is aiming to get its hands on a package of full spectrum rare earth element assays in addition to total rare earths and yttrium oxidation samples in the next few weeks. The dataset could help it determine exactly what sort of deposit it is dealing with.
According to the company, there is a general correlation between elevated copper, cobalt and nickel with yttrium at the project, supporting its interpretation the yttrium is derived from a mafic and ultramafic source.
Torian argues it could explain why uranium and thorium are so scarce in the mineral system and the elevated zinc and yttrium suggest the metals were introduced by an alkaline intrusion.
The theory is thought to be significant given that rare earth elements are known to accumulate in the specific style of intrusions here.
The new rare earths discovery at Mt Stirling cements the project’s status as a stirring multi-commodity production that has seen Torian sweep a clutch of solid results from gold exploration at the operation of late.
Currently in the throes of a 26,000m drilling program at the venture, the company is looking to put together an updated mineral resource estimate once completed.
Mt Stirling currently holds a JORC-compliant total mineral resource estimate of 118,400 ounces of gold.
Torian now finds itself in an enviable position at Mt Stirling with two lucrative commodities to chase and a number of targets still on its radar.
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By Matt Birney
