Australia heavy rare earths-focused company Northern Minerals (ASX: NTU) has announced completion of drilling of the Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS) diamond program at the high-grade Dazzler heavy rare earths deposit at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Browns Range project, in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia.
The drilling program successfully intersected structures to assist the development of a revised geological model and improve wider targeting outside the existing mineralisation modelled in the Mineral Resource estimate.
Five diamond drill holes, co-funded through the Western Australian Government’s EIS, were completed beneath the Dazzler Mineral Resource. The program enhanced understanding of the deeper litho-structural framework and the controls on hydrothermal fluid pathways. Exploration drilling intersected multiple styles of hydrothermal xenotime-florencite mineralisation.
Drilling identified a new volcanic unit consisting of andesitic flows, tuffs and sub-volcanic sills within the Browns Range Metamorphics (BRM) sequence, defining the BRM as an evolving volcanic arc with implications for petro-tectonic models and mineral prospectivity.
The lithological contact between the andesitic and metasedimentary units represents an extensive new heavy rare earths target, characterised by faulting, intense hematitic and chloritic alteration, and quartz veins and associated heavy rare earths mineralisation. An improved litho-structural model developed from this program provides increased geological confidence expected to support an update to Dazzler’s Inferred Mineral Resource estimate.
Commenting on the Dazzler EIS drilling program, Northern Minerals managing director Shane Hartwig said:
“This program has significantly enhanced our geological understanding of the Dazzler deposit and its potential extensions. The results support our long-term exploration strategy and demonstrate the prospectivity of the Browns Range region for additional heavy rare earth discoveries.”
Northern Minerals is progressing a feasibility study for Browns Range. Browns Range is a globally significant heavy rare earths project containing high grades of dysprosium and terbium, which are essential for high-performance permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and specialist defence applications.
