Bayan Mining and Minerals Launches Desktop Study of Desert Star Rare Earth Targets

Bayan Mining and Minerals (ASX: BMM) has launched a desktop study of high-impact geophysical and geological targets at its new Desert Star project in California’s eastern Mojave rare earths district.

The project comprises the Desert Star and Desert Star North blocks over 9.75 square kilometres within a structurally-complex corridor prospective for REE, gold and antimony mineralisation.

It is nearby to the Colosseum gold mine (owned by Dateline Resources, ASX: DTR) and the world-class Mountain Pass rare earth project (operated by US producer MP Materials), which is currently the only rare earth elements (REE) mining and processing facility in the US.

Historic Datasets

Desert Star’s claim blocks are fully covered by historic high-resolution airborne magnetic, gravity and radiometric datasets acquired by the US Geological Survey.

Regional gravity data and magnetotelluric profiles in the broader Mountain Pass-Colosseum corridor provide the company with valuable subsurface context for integrated interpretation and exploration planning.

Advanced analysis is now underway combining aeromagnetic, gravity, radiometric, regional rock physical properties as well as Sentinel 2 satellite imagery to refine Bayan’s geological understanding of the area.

Bayan will integrate its initial results with ongoing geochemical reconnaissance to define and prioritise drill-ready targets for the next phase of exploration at Desert Star.

Key Step Forward

Executive director Fadi Diab said the desktop study would be a key step forward in Desert Star’s development.

“Leveraging high-quality geophysical data alongside our ongoing geochemical work will allow us to refine target areas quickly and cost-effectively,” he said.

“With the project’s proximity to major deposits such as Mountain Pass and Colosseum, we believe we are well-positioned to identify new high-priority targets and advance to the next phase of exploration.”

Mr Diab said the US government’s new rare earth policy underscored the strategic importance of Desert Star and followed a $500 million partnership between MP Materials, the US Department of Defence and Apple into the establishment of a domestic supply chain for rare earth magnets.

“This further reinforces the national priority placed on securing domestic rare earth supply chains and the relevance of our assets which are proximal to MP Materials’ project,” he said.

Bayan Springs Field Work

Bayan has completed initial field work across the north and south tenement areas of the Bayan Springs project in Nevada to validate and expand upon targets generated through previous desktop studies highlighting the region’s for gold, silver and antimony potential.

Field teams collected 107 samples from high-priority areas across interpreted structural corridors, focusing on zones with favourable lithologies and structural complexities, with reconnaissance prospecting and geochemical sampling then confirming the presence of multiple gold-arsenic-antimony anomalous zones consistent with Carlin-style mineralisation.

A second phase of geochemical work at Bayan Springs in June paid particular attention to zones with high historic values of anomalous gold (up to 4.56 grams per tonne), arsenic (up to 2,640 parts per million) and antimony (up to 863ppm).

Bayan collected a total of 200 soil, stream and rock chip samples that it will now analyse for gold and a full suite of pathfinder and base metals to identify follow-up targets.

Pepita Sampling

Bayan has concluded a preliminary surface sampling campaign at the Pepita gold project in southern Brazil to validate historical soil geochemistry data collected by the Brazilian Geological Survey.

The campaign focused on key structural corridors within the Santo Afonso Granite Suite, a favourable geological setting for gold and includes major fault systems and hydrothermal alteration zones.

The company collected rock chip and soil samples to test the corridors and geochemical responses, however it observed no anomalous zone.

Lithium Exploration

Bayan also carried out a small field work program in June across three priority pegmatite targets at its Arrel lithium project in Canada.

Mapping confirmed multiple pegmatite occurrences hosted in high-grade metamorphic rocks intruded by granitic bodies.

Notably, several dykes exceeded widths of 2m, with one traced over approximately 25m before tapering under shallow overburden.