@Sally_Will Koppamurra is unique.
I’m no geologist. My interpretation of the latest understanding of the Koppamurra resource is that it’s smectite-hosted. Worldwide any promising iconic-clays are predominately thought to be kaolin-hosted, especially the resources of China and Myanmar. On the other hand, Narraburra seems to be a weathered saprolite layer overlying the fresh granite bedrock which is different yet again.
Therefore, we can say that every geological setting is unique. It also requires different metallurgical ‘test work’ and other challenges to prove that you have an economic resource or not. As
@ArgylePink rightly points out that, the chances of finding a geological setting that has all the right conditions to easily separate out all the right kinds of rare earths is still very low.
Again, I’m no geologist but my interpretation of AR3's resource is that the key clay ingredient at Koppamurra, smectite which is naturally highly acidic has reacted with the high alkaline limestone basement to create a unique weathering system that has separated out both the heavy and light rare earths elements from the soils into a readily available form – so AR3 is starting to mount clear evidence that nature has done a lot of the work for it.
Therefore, it may be that the smectite clay that is an unique feature and a fundamental reason for the accumulation of iconic mineralisation at Koppamurra that will not be repeated again. This is not to say that there can’t be other kinds of geological settings that will naturally separate out all of the goodies including the more valuable heavies (Dysprosium, Terbium, Yttrium, etc) but in the case of Koppamurra, this natural process seems to have been for our benefit.
Rare earths is a low-parts per million numbers game which makes it extremely difficult for anyone who may be hinting at success. It will be fantastic if the lab tests can make most geological settings work, especially in Australia because the more iconic-clay discoveries made in tier1 jurisdictions the better it is for the stability of global supply chains that are dependent on a fast shift to a decarbonised world, not to mention the local environment that hard rock can't sufficiently achieve.
I trust that makes some kind of sense. If not, call AR3. I’m sure the company can give you a better understanding of the resource then I have.
AIMO, DYOR, GLTA(patient)H
