iTech Minerals confirms ‘expansive’ clay-hosted REE at Caralue Bluff
Caralue Bluff prospect has now been confirmed to have the most significant occurrence of clay-hosted REE within iTech’s Eyre Peninsula tenement package.
In April iTech Minerals (ASX: ITM) first reported Caralue Bluff kaolin target on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia contained clay-hosted rare earth elements (REE) after assays were returned from a drilling program at the prospect.
That made four prospects across iTech’s Eyre Peninsula tenements with REE success, with the elements also detected at the Ethiopia, Bartels and Burtons prospects.
Now, four months in, iTech has received assays from the remaining 109 drill holes completed at Caralue Bluff.
The final assays reveal an expansive area — 10km by 9.5km — has now been defined with “consistent” clay-hosted REE mineralisation, which remains open in all directions.
High grades
The company says these latest results confirm the high-grade nature of the REE mineralisation.
Notable intersections include 14m at 1,148 parts per million total rare earth oxides (TREO), 9m at 1,286ppm TREO, 8m at 1,437ppm TREO, and 10m at 1,157ppm TREO.
As is typical with clay hosted rare earths, the deposit is shallow with intersections hitting mineralisation at depths as little as 10m down hole.
iTech managing director Mike Schwartz says the Caralue Bluff prospect has now been defined as iTech’s most significant occurrence of clay hosted REE within the Eyre Peninsula tenement package.
“With consistent, shallow and high grade REE mineralisation over an area of 10km by 9.5km, it forms a solid foundation to investigate the potential,” he added.
Test work beginning on REE samples
Some 50 samples from Caralue Bluff are now undergoing metallurgical test work.
The company says these samples are being evaluated for their easy leachable REE component.
Caralue Bluff was initially established as a high purity kaolin prospect after the identification of thick intervals of bright white kaolin, close to surface in several historical drill holes.
However, during the maiden drilling program iTech geologists noted that the weathering profile was similar to that the Ethiopia, Bartels and Burtons prospects, where elevated REE were known to occur.
The company is exploring for kaolinite-halloysite, ion adsorption clay rare earth element mineralisation and developing the Campoona Graphite Deposit in South Australia.
iTech also has extensive exploration tenure prospective for copper-gold porphyry mineralisation, iron oxide-copper-gold mineralisation and gold mineralisation in South Australia and tin, tungsten, and polymetallic Cobar style mineralisation in New South Wales.