- Lanthanein Resources (ASX:LNR) reports fresh rare earth drill hits at its Lyons project in Western Australia
- The company has detected high-value metal niobium however core lengths were brief and do not substantiate evidence of a significant commercial-scale deposit
- Thorium anomalies were detected underground coincident with the mineralisation implying assays will be handled by the Australian nuclear safety bureau
- Shares last traded at 0.8 cents
Microcap explorer Lanthanein Resources (ASX:LNR) has reported fresh rare earth element (REE) drill results from its West Australian Lyons project.
The mineralisation was found within ironstone and carbonatite targets, both commonly associated with REE presence.
The efficiency of extracting these minerals in later-stage metallurgical refining remains to be determined.
The company encountered a 1-metre thick section with 1.12 per cent total rare earth oxides (TREO) at a depth of 29 metres, including niobium, a valuable alloy material with aerospace applications involving steelmaking.
Another significant find was an 11-metre section at a lower grade of 0.38 per cent TREO from a depth of 41 metres. Within this section, there was a 4-metre portion with 0.65 per cent TREO and a 1-metre section with 0.81 per cent TREO.
In a third drill hole, a 1-metre section with a low-grade TREO of 0.36 per cent was discovered (drillhole LYRC110). However, this extended the Lyons 11 ironstone outcrop target to a strike length exceeding one kilometre.
“Infill drilling along the Lyons 11 ironstone has extended the known mineralisation to over 1km strike length. This extension complements the infill and extensions previously reported at Lyons 12 & 13,” LNR Technical Director Brian Thomas said.
“There are numerous additional outcropping ironstone targets delineated from satellite imagery and geophysical targets undercover that are still to be drill tested.”
Drillers placed rigs where magnetic and thorium anomalies have previously been detected. Thorium is a double-edged sword for REE explorers.
It’s quite usual in Australian contexts, at least, for REEs to coincide near thorium deposits, which typically also include a mineral called monazite. So detecting thorium can be a promising sign.
The downside is that thorium is radioactive, and makes shipping and assaying a more difficult process. Australia’s nuclear safety organisation ANSTO is actually tasked with running assays on REE samples, due to the nature of the material.
Shares last traded at 0.8 cents.