Venture adds rare earths to Tasmanian tin play

Venture Minerals has spiced up its commodity profile after nailing down a new clay hosted rare earths discovery at its flagship Mount Lindsay tin-tungsten project in Tasmania. The company made the breakthrough after re-assaying shallow samples acquired from a clay zone at the operation’s Reward deposit.

Notable results from the campaign include 16.4 metres at 1028 parts per million total rare earth oxides, or “TREO” from 31.9m and 7.5 m at 1287ppm TREO from a depth of just 2m.

Intriguingly the 16m-plus hit also housed anomalous tin, a feasible inclusion given the sample was acquired at Reward where the company has already outlined a half a million tonne resource going 0.9 per cent tin.

Intercepts from another hole include 2.0 m running 1770ppm TREO from 81 m.

One of the longer results comprised a 19.3m parcel grading 725ppm TREO from 64.2m. The intercept housed a richer 2.8m interval going 2486ppm TREO from 65.7m.

Venture says the operation’s rare earth mineralisation is open across the board and could be mined in conjunction with its tin mineralisation.

The company says it has already commenced a follow-up campaign at Reward, re-routing a rig from the larger Mount Lindsay tin-tungsten project to commence a re-focused rare earths sequel.

Outside of its recent results Venture states the zone’s rare earths allure is backed by historic soil samples which were originally tested for tin but displayed anomalous occurrences of lanthanum and cerium – two types of rare earths.

The legacy program unveiled three anomalous rare earth zones, one hosting grades above 500ppm lanthanum and cerium.

Management states the principal rare earths hotspot is also supported by half a dozen historical gravel samples with peak assays of 4337 ppm praseodymium oxide and 4774 ppm neodymium oxide.

Further sampling is also being lined up to understand the full extent of rare earths mineralisation at Mount Lindsay and establish new targets for drill testing.

Venture Minerals’ Managing Director Andrew Radonjic, said:“The fact the Rare Earths are in shallow clays immediately adjacent to high grade Tin Zone bodes well for the economic potential of the Reward Deposit. With drilling already underway, the Company believes this discovery may have opened up a new corridor of mineralisation that Venture can tap into to further enhance the potential of the Mount Lindsay Project.”

Venture's flagship Mount Lindsay project takes in around 150 square kilometres in Tasmania's north-west and is considered one of the world's most significant undeveloped tin prospects. The asset houses about 81,000 tonnes of contained tin and a tungsten resource of approximately 3.2 million metric tonne units of tungsten trioxide.

The project received a boost after being flagged as a “critical minerals project” by the Australian Government meaning Venture could claim a slice of a $2 billion credit facility to help fund the project’s ongoing development.

Demand for a local source of rare earths has reached fever pitch in recent times with the commodity tipped to play a massive part in decarbonising the world. The material is commonly used to craft permanent magnets that are critical to the production of electric vehicles.

Recent figures suggest the world currently uses about 167,000 tonnes of TREO each year and this figure is projected to reach around 280,000 tonnes in 8 years.

After Venture’s new rare earths discovery at Mount Lindsay the company could be set to transform the tin-tungsten operation into a viable new energy operation and given the area is largely under-explored presents plenty of exploration upside.

One thing is certain, Mount Lindsay already hosts plenty of tin but the narrative could soon shift to just how much clay hosted rare earths lie also within the site’s borders.

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