Aclara Resources Inc (TSX:ARA, OTC:ARAAF) announced that the initial auger drilling campaign at its Carina Module project in the State of Goiás, Brazil, has resulted in the discovery of a new heavy rare earth element (HREE) deposit hosted in ionic clays.
The 236-hole, 1,693-meter drill program has revealed the potential for expansion of the 1,400-hectare mineralization zone, both laterally and at depth.
Additionally, the company said drill results showed the potential for high total rare earth oxides with average grades at 1,229 parts per million (ppm).
From an average drilling depth of 7.2 metres, 71.2% of the drillholes include 5.7 meters with total rare earth oxides average grades of 1,367 ppm and desorbable rare earth oxides at 449 ppm, which the company said demonstrated an “outstanding” distribution of HREE and light rare earth elements.
Additionally, the metallurgy of the company’s Penco Module project, which uses an ammonium sulphate leaching solution, is well-suited for the Carina Module’s ionic clays, the company noted.
“The Carina Module’s initial exploration results mark an important milestone in our journey to establish Aclara as a leading multi-country and multi-modular HREE company,” Aclara CEO Ramon Barua said in a statement.
“The results validate our growth strategy and provide the company with geopolitical diversification whilst we continue to advance the permitting on our Penco Module in Chile. Like the Penco Module, the Carina Module deposit shows potential to contain significant amounts of dysprosium and terbium, which are scarce and critical to establishing a Western-based, high-performance magnet supply chain necessary for elective vehicles and wind turbines.”
Barua said these results are expected to validate the effectiveness of the company’s in-house-developed exploration model in finding HREE-enriched ionic clay deposits.
“Although the initial auger drilling campaign was relatively shallow, the results are expected to support a solid maiden mineral resource,” he said.
“Our forward-looking plan includes conducting deeper drilling campaigns to fully assess the asset’s potential. Concurrently, we will diligently work on estimating our maiden resource statement and conducting a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) to expedite engineering processes, with the ultimate goal of achieving production in the earliest possible timeframe.”
The company said it expects to release a maiden mineral resource estimate during the fourth quarter of 2023, issue a NI 43-101 PEA during the first quarter of 2024, commence a 1,500-meter reverse circulation drill campaign to confirm the mineralized potential at depth expected at the end of October 2023 and carry out a pilot test campaign during the first quarter of 2024 at the company’s fully-owned pilot plant in Chile.
Aclara is a development-stage company that focuses on heavy rare earth mineral resources hosted in ion-adsorption clay deposits.
Its primary project is known as the Penco Module and is located in the BioBio Region of southern Chile. It is also evaluating a second module, the Carina Module, located in the State of Goiás in central Brazil.
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