Peak rockets on maiden resource

Peak Resources shares jumped by nearly 20 per cent after the company unveiled a maiden JORC-compliant resource at its Ngualla rare earths project in Tanzania that it says rivals the largest deposits in the world outside of China.

Perth-based Peak announced today it had identified 170 million tonnes at 2.24 per cent rare earths ore, for 3.8 million tonnes of contained rare earths at the southern and south west alluvial zones at Ngualla, using a 1 per cent lower grade cut off.

Using a 3 per cent lower grade cut, the total resources includes 40 million tonnes at 4.07 per cent REO for 1.6 million tonnes of contained REO, Peak said.

“What makes this discovery very attractive is the significant grades that make Ngualla stand apart from most rare earth deposits,” managing director Richard Beazley said.

“Having these high tonnages and grades places Ngualla amongst the top rare earths resources outside of China.”

Peak will undertake a scoping study to integrate the defined resource  and metallurgical understanding with other key aspects of the development, such as marketing, logistics, supply and mining.

At close of trade today, Peak stocks were up 19.05 per cent, at 62.5 cents.