VR Resources Ltd (TSX-V:VRR, OTCQB:VRRCF) announced that its Spring 2023 drill program intercepted rare earth element critical minerals at its Hecla-Kilmer project in Northern Ontario.
A total of 24 drill holes have been completed at the property to date, with three carried out in the Spring. Two of the three new drill holes returned broad intersections with carbonatite dykes and vein breccia, VR said.
Hole 24 at the Pike Zone intersected a series of six vein and vein breccia zones with greater than 1% total rare earth oxides, the company highlighted.
“The new intersections are simply reinforcing the breadth of the polymetallic rare earth elements mineralization including P205 and Nb2O5 at Hecla-Kilmer,” VR CEO Dr. Michael Gunning said in a statement.
“While we are only seeing glimpses of 1% to 3% total rare earth oxides vein mineralization away from the 461 metres continuous intersection starting from surface in hole 13, the data from the new drill holes once again confirm the unusually high, 20% proportion of total rare earth oxides as the high-value PMREO (permanent magnet) REO at Hecla-Kilmer, a proportion that is maintained both across the hydrothermal system from South Rim to Pike Zone some 2.5 kilometres to the north, and vertically, from surface to greater than 450 m depth at Pike Zone.”
Additionally, the company noted that drill core from the entire intersection in hole 13 was submitted in May to SGS Lakefield Laboratory in Ontario as a bulk sample for a mineralogical, beneficiation, and metallurgical study.
The initial results indicate that 80% of the rare earth elements are contained within the phosphate mineral apatite, with the remainder hosted in monazite, a phosphate, and parisite-synchysite, fluorocarbonates, which themselves occur most commonly as fine-grained inclusions in apatite.
VR said initial results were consistent with previous data and underscored the volume potential for rare earth elements at Hecla-Kilmer based on the sheer breadth of phosphate intersections containing rare earth elements.
CEO Gunning commented: “Canada is plagued with rare earth elements discoveries made during the past 60 years that have never been developed because of the difficulty in extracting and recovering rare earth elements contained in silicate and/or refractory minerals; the rare earth elements mineralogy at Hecla-Kilmer is a clear distinction.”
Finally, the company announced that, for the third consecutive year, its application to the Ontario Junior Exploration Program for critical metals has been successful, with it receiving a grant that covers 50% of its exploration costs up to a maximum of $200,000.
Vancouver-based VR evaluates, explores, and advances opportunities in copper, gold, and critical metals in Nevada, the United States, and Ontario, Canada.
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