Esperance assays highlight rare earths potential for Meeka

Meeka Gold Limited continues to record high-grade assays at its Circle Valley  project near Esperance in WA’s south, including results up to 1748 parts per million total rare earth oxides, or “TREO”.

The assays also show values of up to 132 grams per tonne scandium — a valuable alloying metal used with aluminium the company says could provide a meaningful by-product for its operation.

Significant intersections include 15m going 1054ppm TREO with 37 per cent magnet rare earth oxides and 14 g/t scandium from 40m including 4m going 1748ppm from 40m and 3m recording 1431ppm TREO from 52m.

A second hole recorded 4m grading 1465ppm TREO and 37 g/t scandium from 56m.

The highest scandium results came from an 8m intersection going 909ppm TREO and 110 g/t scandium including 4m at 132 g/t from 36m.

The company says the recently identified high-grade zones hold high proportions of valuable magnet rare earths — more than 45 per cent of the total grade in some areas.

Meeka Gold Limited Managing Director, Tim Davidson said: “These assays continue to strengthen the view that there is a high value deposit of rare earth metals at our 100 per cent owned Circle Valley project. While we still have a large number of assays pending, we can already identify zones that host consistent thick, shallow, high-grades and these will be targeted by resource definition drilling later this year.”

The Circle Valley mineralisation is found within saprolite clay that varies between 2m and more than 50m in thickness across the project.

Clay-hosted rare earth projects are generally considered to be a cheaper bulk mining proposition with a relatively simple-process flow sheet.

Meeka says it is expecting the results of a further 14,957m of drill samples within the next two months.

The traditional gold explorer hasn’t given up on finding the precious yellow metal at Circle Valley either, with RC drilling this month revealing a 32m strike at 1.39 g/t gold from 4m with an 8m inclusion running 4.96 g/t gold from 28m. Another notable 40m intersection went 0.70 g/t gold from 48m.

Resource definition drilling at Circle Valley is planned to begin later in the year after drilling at the company’s nearby Cascade rare earths project is completed.

In April Meeka discovered TREO up to 633 parts per million in leached and oxidised surface horizon auger samples collected between 2010 and 2012 during gold exploration at Cascade.

Cascade covers more than 2000 square kilometres west of Esperance, with drilling planned this year as the company expands its position in the rare earths game.

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