Cobra Resources PLC (LSE:COBR) has announced a maiden rare earths resource for the Wudinna project in South Australia.
As it stands, Wudinna is thought to contain 20.9mln tonnes of ore grading 658 parts per million total rare earth oxides or TREO.
The rare earth resource occurs above and proximal to a defined 94,000 ounce gold resource at the Baggy Green prospect and overlies 500 metres of intersected gold mineralisation at the Clarke prospect, making this rare earths resource unique compared to other clay-hosted rare earths projects.
Cobra has also defined a sizeable rare earths exploration target at the Thompson prospect, highlighting the potential for substantial near-term resource growth.
Initial metallurgical testwork has demonstrated magnet rare earth recoveries of up to 34.7%, whilst follow-up mineralogy and lithological testwork has shown the potential for increased recoveries targeting ionic style mineralisation.
The company is funded to complete metallurgical evaluation of a range of samples, to complete a further 5,000 metres-to-10,000 metres of drilling and to update the resource to incorporate Clarke and other drilling.
"Cobra has taken a fundamental step forward in its ambition to develop a globally unique mineral occurrence by defining a maiden rare earth mineral resource estimate that overlies two growing gold prospects and is unconstrained,” said Rupert Verco, chief executive of Cobra.
“Not only have we entered the peer group of Australian rare earth resource holders today, but uniquely we are approaching ours with the economic advantage of spatial proximity between rare earths and gold. Much of the spatial occurrence of the rare earth resource overlies gold mineralisation within the saprolite zone where, should the economics permit open cut mining methods for gold extraction, we would mine through the defined rare earth resource, effectively creating value from overburden.”