Trying to get an answer as to what expectations are, seems next to impossible here. No-one wants to answer what they expect when drilling happens, why not?
I'm not asking anyone to "do research for me", just asking what people's thinking is towards a viable deposit. You must have some preconceived notion of what type of grades would make a viable mining operation.
I know for a fact that Pilbara's tantalum mine with a small deposit and a grade of 0.124% Ta in the reserve (1,244ppm) was not good enough or they would have persisted. The Niobium was only 292ppm.
Assuming people are expecting 'higher' than the Tabba Tabba pegmatite in the Pilbara, what type of grades are you hoping for and/or expecting in the drilling?
I have to admit I have red warning bells going off from a lack of realistic exploration activities. For example from latest presentation....
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Exceptional grades in Niobium Pentoxide (Nb2O5) and partial rare earth oxide (PREO) were produced in panned concentrates from pegmatite and sediment samples at Equador and Juazeirinho."
Panned???
This is not an acceptable method to take samples... It's like panning for gold, collecting all the tiny gold samples and putting them together, then getting the gold assayed, and claiming "look we have high grade gold!!"
You want to take a sample of sediments, then do it properly, there should be huge alarm bells going off for anyone that knows anything about proper process...
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Soil sampling is a low-tech, inexpensive and relatively quick method of sampling at regular intervals along predetermined lines or grids. The spacing of the sample intervals will depend on the scale of the survey and on small programmes may be one sample per 50-100m, whereas large surveys e.g. the nation-wide Tellus programme the spacing may be 1-2km per sample.
The sample is recovered by making a small penetration into the ground by manually twisting a hand-held auger through the topsoil, and so does not involve the use of electrical equipment of machinery. Surveys are usually conducted by a team of two geologists who will then pack the sample there and then, to be taken to the laboratory. After recovering the sample, the geologists will then place the displaced topsoil back into the auger-hole to fill the cavity to ensure the stability and aesthetic of the ground is not disturbed. The auger itself is composed of steel, and there are no uses of chemicals, therefore making this sampling method – like mapping – what is termed non-intrusive."
https://www.gsi.ie/en-ie/programmes.../mineral-exploration/Pages/Soil-Sampling.aspxFrom JORC code guidelines....
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Measures taken to ensure that the sampling is representative of the in situ material collected, including for instance results for field duplicate/second-half sampling."Having proved that Niobium and Tantalum exist, it's then a matter of proving up the grade, so sampling should be done in a way that represents the material in the area. Panning for samples is nonsense!!
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PREO ??? Wtf?? "Partial Rare Earth Oxide" what part?? If you are going to make up a term, at least give a definition of what it means. Making up your own terminology should also set off alarm bells with anyone that knows err anything...
BTW for everyone...
Definition of costeani. A trench cut across the conjectured line of outcrop of a seam or orebody to expose the full width.
It's not a costine, and costine has no meaning!!
pronounced....
(20min delay)