Resource Base completes initial aircore program at Mitre Hill
Resource Base believes the licences could be prospective for ionic clay-hosted REE.
Junior explorer Resource Base (ASX: RBX) has closed out an initial drilling program at its Mitre Hill rare earth elements project in Victoria.
The aircore program saw the completion of 34 holes for a total 465 metres across the first tenement to be granted at the project.
The tenement sits within the southern margin of the Murray Basin in western Victoria, approximately 12 kilometres east of the Koppamurra project owned by Australian Rare Earths (ASX: AR3).
Koppamurra’s primary Red Tail and Yellow Tail deposits have a combined inferred mineral resource of 39.9 million tonnes at 725 parts per million total rare earth oxides (TREO).
Samples from the Mitre Hill program are currently being prepared for transport to the Bureau Veritas laboratory in South Australia, with assay results expected next month.
Emerging precinct
With continued exploration success being experienced by neighbouring tenement holders such as Australian Rare Earths, Resource Base believes the ionic clay rare earth mineralisation identified at Mitre Hill is potentially indicative of an emerging precinct of significant regional scale.
Resource Base has 15 applications and one granted tenement along the southern margin of the Murray Basin and one application in a portion of the basin which extends into south-eastern South Australia.
The company said it is “very well positioned” to play a key role in a new precint of global significance.
Regional exploration
In February, Resource Base noted that Australian Rare Earths had completed regional exploration and confirmed ionic clay rare earth elements extend at least 40km north of Red Tail and Yellow Tail.
Earlier this month, it announced moves to expand the footprint of the Mitre Hill project by submitting exploration licence applications for 12 more ionic clay rare earth element tenements totalling 1,140 square kilometres.
If all applications are granted, Resource Base project acreage will jump to 2,649 sq km and the company will have the second largest land position in the region.