Sipa Resources Ltd (ASX:SRI) has completed mapping and surface sampling of rare earth element (REE) target areas within its 100%- owned Wolfe Basin Project in advance of a drill campaign later this year.
A number of rock chip and soil samples were collected, including chips from a previously drilled hole CRA026 within the tenement area.
Field examination of the historic drill chips identified syenite as the basement rocks, a type of felsic intrusive rocks that can be enriched in REEs.
Samples have been submitted for assays for the full suite of REEs and should be available in about four weeks, following which target areas will be refined for drilling to begin.
Strong activity pipeline
Wolfe Basin is in a prospective location, within 8 kilometres of the nearby Cummins Range REE and phosphate deposit owned by RareX Ltd in Western Australia's northeast.
“We are pushing ahead quickly with REE’s focused exploration at Wolfe Basin with the goal of generating a clear set of drill targets for testing later this year,” Sipa managing director Pip Darvall said.
“Sipa has a strong pipeline of exploration activity planned over the coming months across its key projects and we look forward to providing regular updates as activity advances.”
Location of the Wolfe Basin Project and targets over a regional magnetic image.
Gold and base metal explorer
The ASX-listed company is focused on the discovery of gold and base metal deposits in Western Australia.
At Wolfe Basin, extensive base metal anomalism and gossans have provided several targets for drill testing along a prospective 40-kilometre-long horizon, with REE potential recently identified.
Its Paterson North Copper-Gold Project is being progressed in partnership with Rio Tinto Exploration, and its Barbwire Terrace Base Metals Project is a joint venture with Buru Energy Ltd (ASX:BRU, OTC:BRNGF).
Elsewhere, at its Warralong Project in the north Pilbara region, the explorer is hunting for gold, lithium-tantalum and nickel-copper and in Skeleton Rocks in WA’s Goldfields region, the project with limited to no historical drilling is prospective for gold, lithium and nickel-copper-platinum group element deposits.
In Uganda, Sipa holds a retention licence over an intrusive-hosted nickel-copper sulphide discovery, which is believed to have a significant scale potential.