Mining

Red Mountain Mining firms up HPA strategy after identifying high-grade kaolin at Mt Kokeby

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By Lorna Nicholas - 
Red Mountain Mining ASX RMX kaolin Mt Kokeby Murray project

Red Mountain Mining will now carry out due diligence at Mt Kokeby which will comprise metallurgical test work and a small drilling program.

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Red Mountain Mining (ASX: RMX) has identified high-grade kaolin at its Mt Kokeby project in Western Australia’s southern wheatbelt, which the company anticipates could underpin a direct shipping ore operation and high purity alumina production in the longer-term.

The company collected nine samples from five locations within the project’s Murray pit.

Seven of the nine samples graded above 35% aluminium oxide in-situ, with the average grade exceeding 34% aluminium oxide.

Red Mountain director Jeremy King said the company was “pleased” with the “exceptional” results from the pit sampling program.

“Such high-grade kaolin in raw form is an excellent start to the due diligence work program and gives grounds for the establishment of a DSO operation at Mt Kokeby.”

“We will now look to strengthen our understanding of the deposit and build support for the historical data, which initially attracted us to this project,” Mr King added.

Metallurgical test work will be carried out on the ore to evaluate its amenability to beneficiation to pure alumina products including high purity alumina.

This will be part of the due diligence process, which will also involve XRD and size by size assay analysis.

Once permits have been received, Red Mountain also plans to undertake a small drilling program.

The company hopes to kick this off next month, but has cautioned this plan remains subject to rig availability and the timing of requisite approvals.

Red Mountain’s drilling strategy is to twin historic holes at the project.

Mt Kokeby

According to Red Mountain, Mt Kokeby has been explored for kaolin since the 1940s, with the Mt Kokeby deposit mined from 1941.

King Mountain Mining discovered the Murray deposit in 1971.

The project encompasses 84 square kilometres and is located 99km south-east of Perth.

It is close to infrastructure including rail and all-weather roads that provide access to Fremantle port and bulk handing at Kwinana, which is an emerging battery mineral processing hub.

Red Mountain anticipates the project’s high-grade kaolin and proximity to infrastructure make it a viable DSO operation and in the longer-term a potential HPA producer.

Investors welcomed the news – spurring Red Mountain’s share price up more than 16% to $0.007 by early afternoon.