African-focused resource company Globe Metals & Mining (ASX: GBE) has announced the initial soil sampling results from the Machinga Rare Earth Project in southern Malawi.
In November 2009, the Company entered into a joint venture agreement to acquire an 80% interest in the Machinga Rare Earth Project from Resource Star (ASX: RSL), an Australian company.
This orientation soil sampling program appears to indicate that almost the entire 7km+ strike length of the radiometric anomaly is highly anomalous in REE-Nb-Ta. The majority of the highly anomalous results occur on and just outboard of, the mapped eastern contact of the Malosa Pluton.
The results demonstrate the potential for a much larger mineralised system than originally envisioned by the Company.
Globe Executive Chairman Mark Sumich said the Machinga Rare Earth Project continued to impress with these early exploration results.
"The REE-Nb-Ta soil sampling results indicate that this could be a much more extensive mineralised system than originally thought," Mr Sumich said.
Previous rock-chip sampling programs conducted by Resource Star over the northern part of the Machinga Main Anomaly include peak result of 2.64% TREO (total rare earth oxides), peak of 29,900ppm Nb2O5 and 1,673ppm Ta2O5, very high ratio of heavy rare earth elements - averaging 25-28% HREO:TREO, very high ratio of the high value rare earth element dysprosium avg. 2.5-2.7% Dy2O3:TREO and an average of top 25% of 126 rock chip samples - 1.1% TREO, 8,400ppm Nb2O5 & 472ppm Ta2O5.
The Machinga REE mineralisation has a higher heavy rare earth ratio at 25-28% than most of the major operating mines and deposits worldwide. For example, Avalon Rare Metals Nechalacho Deposit in Canada has a HREO ratio of 20%, Kvanefjeld in Greenland 14%, Mt Weld 3% and Bayan Obo 2%.
Machinga also has a very high ratio of the high value rare earth element dysprosium, at 2.5-2.7% Dy2O3:TREO. Most deposits worldwide have dysprosium oxide ratios between 0.1 and 0.5%.
A trenching program is progressing wellm with ~500m completed so far and the first results due in 4-6 weeks, while an initial ~1,500m RC drill program is planned for Q2 2010.
Globe's main focus is the multicommodity niobium, uranium, tantalum and zircon Kanyika Niobium Project in central Malawi.
A Bankable Feasibility Study was commissioned in August 2009 and production is planned to commence in 2012 at a rate of 3,000tpa niobium metal, principally in the form of ferro-niobium. Mine life will be in excess of 20 years.
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