Hastings Technology Metals Limited (ASX: HAS), Australia’s next rare earths producer, today announced further significant results for the Simon’s Find deposit as part of the 2020 exploration drilling program for the Yangibana rare earths project in WA.
HIGHLIGHTS:
-
Results from drilling at Simon’s Find confirm a major 2km long zone of economic mineralisation, significantly expanding the existing resource base across the Yangibana Rare Earths Project.
-
Simon’s Find and the recently announced Fraser’s North and South drill results form a continuous zone of economic mineralisation 4km long.
-
The Fraser’s – Simon’s Find – Bald Hill trend now forms an 8km-long economic mineralised corridor.
-
Simon’s Find results contain world-beating quantities of neodymium (Nd2O3) and praseodymium (Pr6O11) that, when combined, total 52% of the TREO (total rare earth oxides) values. These results are significantly higher than the 40-41% values recorded from the nearby Bald Hill and Frasers deposits.
-
High-grade and shallow intersections from Simon’s Find include:
-
2m @ 2.78% TREO from 46m;
-
6m @ 1.20% TREO from 43m;
-
including 4m @ 1.61% TREO;
-
-
4m @ 1.21% TREO from 46m;
-
15m @ 0.72% TREO from 37m;
-
including 6m @ 1.11% TREO;
-
-
2m @ 1.38% TREO from 67m;
-
7m @ 0.89% TREO from 31m;
-
including 2m @ 1.76% TREO;
-
-
3m @ 1.40% TREO from 11m;
-
6m @ 0.75% TREO from 39m;
-
including 2m @ 1.51% TREO.
-
-
-
83 out of 96 holes (~86%) reported significant intercepts of grades above the lower economic TREO cut-off grade for Simon’s Find.
Simon’s Find – major mineralised trend defined
The Company can now report that it has successfully delineated, as a minimum, approximately 2km of economic mineralisation, forming the Simon’s Find resource area through the completion of close-spaced reverse circulation (RC) drilling.
Recent drilling to target ironstone rocks hosting rare earths has returned consistent grades and widths of mineralisation over a 2km-long zone, which remains open along strike and down dip. Results have also confirmed that Simon’s Find includes exceptionally high quantities of neodymium and praseodymium, widely recognised as the two most important rare earths elements required over the next decades to satisfy global demand for electric vehicles, renewable energy projects and industrial automation.
From the results underlying this announcement for Simon’s Find, neodymium and praseodymium (together, “NdPr”) represent approximately 52% of the total rare earths content. This is at least 25% higher than existing results from the nearby Bald Hill and Frasers deposits, which have a NdPr:TREO ratio of approximately 40-41% of total rare earths.
A 40-41% ratio is widely acknowledged as world leading when compared to other known rare earths deposits, which typically report ratios in the 15-25% range. The 52% recorded at Simon’s Find confirms the special and unique geological properties of Yangibana and further underpins Hastings’ accelerated march to becoming Australia’s next rare earths producer.
These new results are expected to substantially add to the 20.86Mt mineral resource already confirmed at Yangibana, with a new mineral resource and mining reserve estimate expected to be completed over the coming months.
Simon’s Find is located in close proximity to the site of Yangibana’s proposed processing plant. The nature of Simon’s Find’s softer geological host rocks means this deposit is expected to play an important role during the production start-up phase of Yangibana.
Hastings Technology Metals’ Executive Chairman, Charles Lew, commented: “Hastings has delivered and exceeded all of its key objectives for the 2020 exploration drilling program. The results from drilling over the past several months have shown the magnitude of the resource potential that exists at Yangibana.
“Hastings has now defined and delivered a single coherent zone of economic mineralisation trending more than 8km in length from Fraser’s through to Simon’s Find and Bald Hill, with further upside in all areas along this zone to the north, south and at depth.
“Additionally, the ability to replicate the results from the past few months into other areas of the tenement package remains high, with similar known geological structures demanding additional work.
“While the average head grades at Simon’s Find results may be lower than at Yangibana’s other deposits, what is important and makes this deposit such a stand-out – in global terms – are the very high levels of neodymium and praseodymium – at 52% of total rare earths reported.
“Hastings will now start the process of collating the drilling information to define a new mineral resource for Simon’s Find.
“The success at Simon’s Find comes amid a busy period for Hastings as we advance Yangibana’s development by concluding more offtake contracts and settling on a coastal site for our project’s hydrometallurgical plant.”
