Resource Base gears up to drill Mitre Hill in emerging ionic clay rare earth precinct

Resource Base (ASX: RBX) is gearing up to drill its wholly-owned Mitre Hill rare earth element (REE) project as planned next month.

The company’s Mitre Hill project is strategically positioned within an emerging ionic clay REE precinct that spans Victoria and South Australia in the southern margin of the Murray Basin.

Australian Rare Earths (ASX: AR3) holds neighbouring ground that is only 12km from one of the Mitre Hill licences.

With Australian Rare Earths’ ongoing discoveries of ionic clay-hosted REE at its nearby tenements, Resource Base believes this style of mineralisation could be potentially present at a “significant regional scale”.

Resource Base has one granted tenement and three under application in western Victoria and one application in south-eastern South Australia.

Emerging ionic clay REE precinct

These tenements all lie within the southern margin of the Murray Basin where Resource Base expects there to be “significant potential” for hosting ionic clay REE.

All up, the tenements making up the Mitre Hill project encompass 1,509 square kilometres of ground in the region.

The one granted tenement is 12km from Australian Rare Earths’ Red Tail and Yellow Tail deposits which host combined JORC resources of 39.9 million tonnes grading 725 parts per million total rare earth oxide (TREO).

Resource Base noted that Australian Rare Earths has undertaken regional exploration and confirmed ionic clay REE extends at least 40km north of the Red Tail and Yellow Tail mineral resources.

Additionally, Lions Bay Capital’s (TSXV: LBI) exploration on Savic Minerals’ nearby tenements has identified the same mineralisation.

Lions Bay is farming into Savic’s tenements, and, last month, revealed a highlight assay of 1m at 2,140ppm TREO. This was unearthed directly along strike of Australian Rare Earths’ Red Tail deposit.

As a result, Resource Base believes it is “very well-positioned” to play a key role in the emerging ionic clay REE precinct that is “potentially of global significance”.

REE are critical minerals

Governments across the world have deemed REE as critical due to their necessity in the future of clean energy and electric vehicles.

China currently hosts the most significant ionic clay REE resources and is the world’s main source of these minerals.

With mounting geopolitical tensions and the minerals’ necessity in new technologies, governments worldwide are increasing looking to develop domestic sources of REE.

Analysts believe demand for REE will only increase as the world transitions to net zero.