Ann: High-Grade Rare Earth & Niobium Zones at C3 & C5 - Mangaroon, page-109

@salpetie
“Sorry to "cut you off". Not intended that way, just an acknowledgement of the repeated discussion on grades in C3 infill”…. no worries, glad you didn't take my rudeness too badly (I hope), but sometimes the bull-only echo chamber, character assassination thing gets to me. You are one of the few contributing industry level interp, I hoped you understood much valuable insight can be gained examining the economic variables and hurdles of individual deposits, as there is speculating about exploration potential. You're a finder, I'm a grinder, so I get we have different interests and strengths... both worthy of analysis and speculation.

“The DRE crew have some (Heaps) of experience and I can't imagine they would proceed with an expensive grid drill program at C5 extension if there wasn't some potential for C3 and possible discovery(ies) along the long axis of the interpreted carbonatites.”… thought it clear my economic opinion/analysis was on reported results only, we all have a view on exploration prospectivity but only once grade and tonnes comes into focus can a deposit be judged. The DRE crew are explorers, so they drill exploration programmes and reveal what's there, which they did. Last results was the first C3 infill programme, only way to find out what's there. Then they have to drill C5, regardless of C3 economic potential, because C5 might be 10 times better?

Exploration geos are optimists and won't walk away because first pass it looks too low-grade low on detailed spreadsheet analysis. Infill drilling could have been treble the grade if there was a high-grade structure/lode like Sulphide Queen and the equation changes. "Having said that DRE have prioritised the drilling in ways which have surprised me."... me to, @Polonium210 also judging by today's post. Sulphide Queen is fresh rock, so the mineralised footprint if it existed at C1-C5 would be a blob much large than 800m x 80m and larger projected to surface. Weathering, as seen at C3 and typical everywhere else, creates a supergene footprint much larger and usually better grade than the primary deposit.


Polonium210 has the right of it, economic size carb-hosted deposits are large and with supergene spreading are difficult to miss with anything but extremely wide spaced drilling. DRE's rooky mistake if I'm critical (just for a change lol), was flagging a 160m grid pattern over C1-C5 when such a tight first-pass pattern wasn't required and certainly wasn't worth the song and dance making a rod for their back. The market loved C1-C5 upside, just should have left the programme details out of it and released results as they rolled in at whatever spacing they decided along the journey. WA1 started with 400m centres, then down to 200m, 100m etc and because the supergene effect increases target size. I note in your last satellite update that DRE have prepared drill pads at 320m x 160m centres to test the remainder of C5 south.


It's also worth noting Sulphide Queen is a very rare high-grade primary-carb hosted deposit. Despite metallurgy issues, supergene enrichment is a much more likely economic carb discovery. If money was an issue, which it wasn;t post $20M CR, once early drilling indicated that supergene clays sat over the transitional weathered carb, maybe a quick, shallow and cheap drill programme through the clay zone would be best first pass like they did in the Kimberley and explorers have been doing in WA laterite terrain for years. Then test what sits under the high-grade supergene targets.

I'm about rigour and adding value to the discussion above all else, so despite the welcome support of varied analysis and debate shown by @Polonium210 I have to disagree with their observations about TREO% vs NdPr:TREO ratio... it's all about the 'big-4' magnetic RE elements, which in DRE's case NdPr %. Outside the mag-4 RE's there will likely be little to no value payable. This is both why Gifford Creek ironstones stand any chance of development around 1% TREO, and why 1% TREO in heavily weathered supergene carbs @ 22% NdPr ratio does not. NdPr 90%+ of payables and so it's best to ignore the TREO% and just focus on the NdPr %.

Below is the NdPr % of Yangi deposits from 2019 MRE, before they went all-in with dilution and ore-sorter tech. Bald Hill has lower but similar ironstone 'oxide-only' grade/tonnage to Yin on a NdPr% grade, despite only having a 1% TREO grade. Yin has a higher TREO % grade but at 30% NdPr ratio, that revenue/tonne advantage slips back towards evens with Yangi (keep in mind this is a diluted Mining Reserve, not MRE). NdPr% is the birdy to watch at Gifford Ck where DyTb is low to very low, and at ~22% NdPr any ~1% TREO carb deposit was always going to struggle compared to Yangi ironstone's 'world class' NdPr ratio and very good recoveries to a concentrate...


Thank you both, GLTAH