Rainbow Rare Earths Ltd (LON:RBW) has released results from a historic drilling programme at Kiyenzi in Burundi.
Two boreholes were analysed and among the highlights were 13.87 metres grading at an average of 4.85% total rare earth oxides and 11.64 metres at an average of 3.86% TREO.
A further 1,000 metres of drill core has been sent for analysis to enable rapid evaluation and formulation of comprehensive resource statement.
Rainbow has historically focused on the areas of Gasagwe and Murambi for its production of rare earth elements from Burundi, but undertook drilling at Kiyenzi in 2018.
This campaign followed on from an exploration programme comprising a ground gravity survey and trenching. In total 30 core holes were drilled, for a total of 1,428 metres. Drilling was relatively shallow, with the exception of one hole which was drilled to a depth of 150 metres. All the other holes averaged a depth of just 44 metres.
In October 2019, Rainbow commenced with the shipment and evaluation of the remaining Kiyenzi cores in order to generate a comprehensive dataset which would enable Rainbow to produce an updated, robust and code-compliant resource estimate.
"With the historical data we have and these encouraging results, I am optimistic that the remaining drill core will yield equally good results, ensuring we have multiple future mining areas giving us mining flexibility while maintaining our record of one of the highest grading REE mines on the continent," said Rainbow chief executive George Bennett.