Airborne magnetic and radiometric surveying at Venus Metals Corporation's Mangaroon North rare earths project in WA’s Gascoyne region has identified high-priority rare earths carbonatite rock targets.
Eight ironstone-hosted rare earths targets, considered similar to Hastings Technology Metals’ Yangibana and Dreadnought Resources’ Mangaroon projects, were identified over a 10km strike by the survey. Several carbonatite targets with anomalous potassium responses were identified along a crustal structure stretching 6km in length.
Discrete narrow-strike, extensive magnetic highs identified by the survey have been interpreted to represent ironstone units worthy of field inspection and sampling for rare earths mineralisation.
Venus assessed the magnetic data for gold and base-metal mineralisation and identified several target areas for follow-up work. The magnetic survey was undertaken on an exploration licence immediately adjacent to Dreadnaught Mangaroon discovery.
The company will conduct an additional airborne magnetic and radiometric survey in April and May on another exploration licence, which sits about 20km to the north of Hastings’ Yangibana deposit that contains 21.6 million tonnes at 1.17 per cent rare earths.
Venus evaluated gold-prospective structural targets from the airborne magnetic data. It modelled against the historical Star of Mangaroon gold mine where gold mineralisation was hosted in quartz veins.
Management considered gold target zones prospective for Star of Mangaroon-style gold mineralisation when they presented close to the intersection of two faults - in particular, north-south and south-east-north-west-striking faults within the local granite terrane.
Venus completed about 3000-line kilometres of high-resolution magnetic and radiometric survey on a 50m line spacing. Eight magnetic anomalies were identified as potential ironstone-hosted targets considered prospective for rare earths-rich carbonatite rock bodies. The company views the anomalies as a high priority for field checking.
Venus said a 6km-long narrow unit of higher magnetic response appears to suggest a late-stage emplacement of a magnetic source rock along a fracture plane.
Radiometric rare earths targets identified by the airborne survey include a discrete circular thorium high and a narrow strike extensive potassium anomaly, which appears intermittently over 6km.
Venus is starting to lock down some prospective ironstone rare earths targets at Mangaroon North and given the scale of the nearby Yin deposit of 14.36 million tonnes at 1.13 per cent total rare earths and the Yangibana mineralisation, the prize is of substance.
Dreadnaught has an exploration target of 50-100 million tonnes at 0.9 to 1.3 per cent total rare earth oxides for the top 150m of the Yin Ironstone Complex. It might take a while for Venus to field check and sample its targets prior to drilling, but it just might be well worth the wait.
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By Terry Bates
