Australian heavy rare earths producer Northern Minerals (ASX: NTU) has announced that final assays from reverse circulation drilling at Dazzler have confirmed the high-grade nature of the deposit. A program of RC drilling was completed in May, with 17 holes for 1143m completed at Dazzler and 5 holes for 300m at Iceman.
HIGHLIGHTS
· Final assays from RC infill drilling at Dazzler prospect in May have returned high-grade results.
· Results from Dazzler include:
· 52m @ 4.15% TREO from 20m including 18m @ 11.48% TREO from 22m.
· 20m @ 0.62% TREO from 16m including 4m @ 1.91% TREO from 22m.
· Also encouraging results from a new discovery southeast of Dazzler
· Further drilling set to commence in early September comprising:
· 3,000m infill and exploration RC drilling in Dazzler-Iceman area
· 1,500m exploration RC drilling at four other prospects
Drilling at Dazzler was mostly exploration and extension drilling to the southeast of the deposit, with a further two infill drill holes successfully completed. The infill drilling at Dazzler returned high-grade results with one hole, BRDR0035, returning the best drilling intersection ever recorded at the Browns Range Project.
Table 1 in the full announcement summarises all the significant drilling results from Dazzler, including results from a newly discovered mineralised zone located 250m southeast of Dazzler.
Northern Minerals’ Managing Director, George Bauk, commented, “We are extremely excited by these wide, high-grade results from Dazzler. The grades in some holes are up to ten times the average at Browns Range.
“With Dazzler representing the first unconformity-hosted target that we tested, we have high hopes for the many prospects that are yet to be assessed.
“High-grade ore feed to the plant has the potential to materially impact the economics of a full-scale development, with higher production rates and lower unit costs.
“We look forward to the next round of drilling at Dazzler and the new targets.”