RARE EARTH MINERALISED CARBONATITES
Be nice to see preliminarily drill program to confirm rare earth mineralisation same as LongonjoThe Coola and Monte Verde carbonatites, like Longonjo, are intrusive or volcanic ring structures containing carbonatite rock and are known to be enriched in elements and minerals associated with rare earth mineralisation such as fluorite, strontium, barite, phosphorous and niobium. They are also the same Cretaceous age (135 million years) age as Longonjo and part of the same regional geological event.
Previous academic work on the three carbonatites identified rare earth enrichment from limited rock samples with the maximum values of 3.64% REO from Coola and 0.93% REO from Monte Verde, comparing well with the 1.41% REO returned from Longonjo in the same study (Alberti et al., 1999).
The Coola and Monte Verde carbonatites have not been commercially explored and, like Longonjo, much of the area is covered by a veneer of ferruginous soil. The Company plans to complete initial soil, rock and geological mapping, which if successful may rapidly define drill targets.
Alberti A. et al., 1999: Geochemical characteristics of Cretaceous carbonatites from Angola, Journal of Earth Sciences.
Additional prospective targets
The Company has also identified five alkaline complexes (geological systems prospective for heavy and other rare earths) and five strong geophysical anomalies that have a signature similar to known carbonatites within the new licence area. These represent ten additional defined exploration targets that the Company looks forward to rapidly and efficiently evaluating for their rare earth potential through surface sampling alongside the Coola and Monte Verde carbonatite systems.
The Coola first confirmation
