Gold Mountain has etched out a second intriguing rare earths patch at its Down Under project in Brazil. with a further 85 assays returned from a scout stream sediment survey showing values going up to 4582 parts per million total rare earth oxides (TREO).
In a four-month-long boots-on-ground reconnaissance program, the company has so far collected 800 stream sediment samples, in addition to 85 line kilometres of radiometric surveying.
Management says its tenure is highly-prospective for multiple compelling styles of rare earths mineralisation. It includes shallow, “free-digging” ionic-adsorption clay (IAC) rare earths mineralisation that forms in the top 30m to 40m, underlain by high-grade rare earths-niobium-scandium hard rock mineralisation.
With a plethora of samples still at the lab, Gold Mountain has already lined up a clutch of high-priority targets ready to feel the bite of the drill bit. A second auger drill rig is set to be mobilised to assist with a shallow first-pass program designed to test the bedrock source of a cluster of strong rare earths geochemical results, along with probing a series of radiometric anomalies.
Drill samples will be sent off for multi-element analysis and preliminary metallurgical testwork to establish whether the rare earths anomalism is related to the IAC-style, or to monazite-hosted mineralisation.
Further drill planning is slated, in addition to extensive radiometric traversing along a series of highly-anomalous catchments in the company’s quest to uncover ultra-high-grade hard rock mineralisation.
The ASX-listed junior explorer has amassed an impressive 970-square-kilometre package at its Down Under project in the prospective Jequie province in Brazil. Management has pegged its ground largely based on areas of anomalous thorium and uranium geochemistry known to be associated with rare earths mineralisation in the province.
Down Under shares the fence with fellow ASX-listed Brazilian Rare Earths’ extensive real estate where that company has to date notched up a JORC-compliant resource of 510 million tonnes averaging 1513ppm TREO. Interestingly, on BRE’s list of top 10 shareholders is Australia’s own critical minerals queen – Gina Rinehart.
BRE’s exploration efforts have kicked up a swag of eye-catching results from rock chip sampling returning up to 40.5 per cent TREO that consists of 7.1 per cent neodymium-praseodymium, 0.34 per cent dysprosium-terbium, 1.5 per cent niobium, 269ppm scandium and 5250ppm uranium.
According to the latest figures from the US Geological Survey, Brazil has the world’s third-biggest reserves of rare earths at 21 million tonnes, sitting behind China at 44 million tonnes and Vietnam at 22 million tonnes.
With its fully-integrated supply chain for rare earths magnets, China has a vice-like grip on the industry, processing about 90 per cent of the world’s rare earths supply into permanent magnets destined to meet growing demand from the renewable energy sector.
Escalation of geopolitical tensions between the East and West has culminated in a tussle for rare earths highlighted by the introduction of Chinese export controls on gallium, germanium and graphite in retaliation to US efforts to curb AI chip technology exports to China.
Brazil is working hard to clutch back a portion of the rare earths sector and break China’s dominance of the supply chain with its government launching a 1 billion reais (AU$271 million) critical minerals fund in February to finance strategic minerals projects.
So, with the rig of truth set to spin the rods, it is now a matter of time to see if Gold Mountain's Brazilian ambitions come up trumps in a country vying for a piece of the rare earths pie.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Helen Barling
