Northern Minerals Ltd (ASX:NTU) (OTCMKTS:NOURF) (FRA:NUN) has started the second phase of drilling at the Browns Range Heavy Rare Earth Project in northern Western Australia.
The campaign will include up to 12,000 metres of reverse circulation (RC) drilling aimed at expanding the inventory of near-surface resources in the Browns Range Dome.
This follows the completion of the first phase campaign at the end of 2020 and is part of the company’s $5 million investment in exploration in 2020-21.
“Excited to have drill rigs arrive”
Northern Minerals CEO Mark Tory said: “The team at Northern Minerals is excited to have the drill rigs arrive on site to start our highly anticipated second phase drilling campaign.
“We saw positive results following the first phase of RC drilling and will seek to convert a number of those targets to mineral resources from this second phase.
“The Browns Range Dome is an amazingly rich and heavily mineralised area, which underpins Northern Minerals’ current and future growth.”
Detailed plan for drilling
While mobilising the drill rig at the project, the company has developed a detailed plan to complete the second phase of RC drilling in a 12-week campaign.
Reinforcing the company’s long-term commitment to exploration, the board recently approved a substantial budget of approximately $10 million for 2021-22.
The second phase will include a combination of follow-up holes at Banshee West and Toad prospects; drill investigation in the vicinity of Gambit and Gambit West deposits and at Rogue prospect; and drill testing greenfield targets including Ripcord, Pulse and Quicksilver prospects.
Dysprosium production
The company is among the few producers of heavy rare earth element dysprosium outside of China via production from the Browns Range Project.
Dysprosium is an essential ingredient in the production of DyNdFeB magnets used in clean energy, military and high technology solutions.
Northern Minerals started the production of heavy rare earth carbonate in late 2018 as part of a three-year pilot assessment of the economic and technical feasibility of a larger scale development at Browns Range.
Through the development of its flagship project, which is 100%-owned, Northern Minerals aims to build the operation into a significant world producer of dysprosium outside of China.
Browns Range has several deposits and prospects containing high-value dysprosium and other HREs, hosted in xenotime mineralisation.