Ionic Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:IXR, OTC:IXRRF) welcomes Uganda’s Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines’ (DGSM) decision to renew the retention licence of tenement 00007 at its Makuutu Rare Earths Project for a further two years.
Makuutu is 100% owned and being developed by Rwenzori Rare Metals Ltd (RRM), a Ugandan private company in which IonicRE is a 51% owner.
Tenement 00007 covers the Makuutu Western Zone (MWZ) and contains an inferred resource of 39 million tonnes at 470 parts per million (ppm) TREO.
Makuutu resource map showing resources and exploration target areas within the renewed RL 00007.
Material development
The renewal is significant as tenement 00007 is immediately west of tenement 1693, where a Mining Licence Application (MLA) has been submitted.
It is also immediately south of EL00257, a prospective exploration target, where drilling to further define the scale of mineralisation to the west is expected to commence as soon as applications are approved this year.
These drilling campaigns are intended to move Makuutu's resource to the indicated classification.
“Strong support”
“The rapid approval of the renewal of RL 00007, which occurred within two weeks of finalising the submission documentation, is another positive reflection of the strong support IonicRE and the project has within Uganda,” IonicRE’s managing director Tim Harrison said.
“As the company, via RRM, finalises the MLA at Makuutu for RL 1693, we remain confident that Makuutu will continue to grow and support a much larger project.”
The flagship Makuutu Project is well-supported by existing tier-one infrastructure and is on track to become a long-life, low-capex, scalable and sustainable supplier of high-value magnet and heavy rare earths oxides (REO).
The company intends to develop its own magnet and heavy rare earth refinery to separate magnet and heavy rare earths into the full spectrum of REOs plus scandium in order to create downstream supply chain value.
A refinery scoping study is on target to be completed this quarter, targeting the US as the preferred location, and supply chain engagements in the US, EU and UK.