Power One Resources (TSX-V:PWRO) gave an update on its Wicheeda North rare earth element (REE) project in British Columbia within the province’s fast-developing Rocky Mountain rare metal belt.
The company said its earlier soil sampling and reinterpreted airborne geophysics suggest that the mineralized system from Defense Metals’ deposit may extend northwest onto Power One’s property.
The potential continuity is supported by regional structural and magnetic trends, bolstering confidence in the area’s prospectivity for carbonatite-hosted rare earth mineralization, according to Power One.
The Wicheeda North project sits within a broader district that includes several active exploration efforts. Defense Metals’ Wicheeda deposit currently hosts a resource estimate of 5 million tonnes indicated at 2.95% total rare earth oxides (TREO) and 29.5 million tonnes inferred at 1.83% TREO, including high-value light REEs such as neodymium and praseodymium, used in EVs and wind turbines.
Located approximately 10 kilometres northwest of Defense Metals’s advanced-stage Wicheeda REE deposit, the early-stage Wicheeda North project is close to existing infrastructure, including road access, hydroelectric power, and proximity to rail and highways.
Power One said its 2,138-hectare Wicheeda North property shares geological characteristics with the Wicheeda deposit, including Kechika Group host rocks.
Past work at the site includes airborne surveys and geochemical sampling in 2010 and 2019. Highlights from the 2019 program include several high-potential soil anomalies, particularly in the A-South and D-South grids.
The company’s 2025 exploration plans include expanding soil grids, conducting a new airborne electromagnetic survey, and targeting trenching and drilling where geophysical and geochemical anomalies coincide. The first phase of the program carries a proposed budget of C$120,500.