St George Mining (ASX: SGQ) has provided an update on work programs at the wholly owned Destiny project in the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia.
Drilling is underway to further define the near-surface high-grade zones of total rare earth oxides (TREO) discovered by St George in December 2023. The REE mineralisation – up to 42m thick with grades up to 5,125ppm TREO – was intersected in near-surface clay-hosted zones. The mineralisation has a 7km-long strike and is open in all directions.
St George has also completed geochemical work including an auger soil survey, which was carried out over a 50 sq km area targeting REE and lithium. Assay results are pending.
The company believes there is potential to significantly expand the mineralised envelope at Destiny. Potential carbonatite targets have been identified following a recently flown aero-magnetic survey, which highlighted several prominent circular magnetic features with a diameter of up to 2.5km. The signature of these large-scale features is consistent with a late-stage intrusion, potentially a carbonatite or mafic-ultramafic intrusion. The circular features are along strike from the REE-rich clay zone, warranting investigation of whether the features represent mineralised carbonatites that could be the source of the REE mineralisation.
St George has also increased the Destiny project area. Exploration Licence E63/2350 was granted on 23 February 2024, increasing the granted tenure at Destiny by a further 200 sq km. E63/2350 covers about 20km of the Ida Fault, a major crustal-bounding structure considered highly prospective for a range of mineralisation including lithium and REE.
“We are excited to be drilling again at the Destiny project with a clear target to further scope out the extent of the high-grade REE mineralisation we discovered just a few months ago,” executive chairman John Prineas said.
“The potential scale of Destiny is impressive with mineralisation already confirmed along a 7km stretch of the Ida Fault zone, with a further 70km of prospective geology exposure within the project yet to be drill-tested.
“The mineralisation contains a high proportion of magnetic rare earths – which are highly sought after for application in clean energy solutions – to add to the attractiveness of the project.
“Work is also underway to investigate newly identified large, circular magnetic features at Destiny. These are located proximal to the Ida Fault, a regional-scale crustal shear zone that could have acted as the conduit for late-stage intrusions like carbonatites.
“We look forward to reporting exploration results, including from this follow-up drill program and assays from the just-completed augur campaign, in due course.”
