Aldoro Resources Ltd (ASX:ARN) could be sitting on a world-class rubidium resource after identifying an initial exploration target within the Niobe prospect at Windimurra Project in Western Australia.
The company has a conceptual exploration target of 33,000-150,000 tonnes of resource, grading at between 696 and 1,457 parts per million rubidium oxide over an area bound an 80-metre by 65-metre region of detailed historical drilling.
Interestingly, this target represents less than half of the Niobe Pegmatite 1, while further exploration is required to establish a potential rubidium mineral resource.
Looking ahead, drilling at the Niobe Project is set to commence in late September and will also target the lithium potential of the mapped pegmatites.
Company shares have soared to be as much as 31.8% higher to 56 cents intraday.
Rubidium potential
Aldoro chairman Joshua Letcher noted the commercial potential of the historical grades and quoted internationally renowned geologist Dr Minlu Fu in today’s ASX announcement.
”Based on the news of the Mining Association of Guangdong Province of China, a major rubidium deposit called the Tiantangshan rubidium deposit, was discovered in Guangdong province in 2019.
“It was reported that the Tiantangshan rubidium deposit with resources of Rb2O over 100,000 tonnes at the average grade 0.109% Rb2O, is the biggest rubidium deposit in the world.
“On May 8, 2019, the Guangdong Provincial Government made an announcement saying that, as the project will be very profitable, the Provincial Government will invest multi-billion RMB to exploit this rubidium project in the next five years.
“It seems that the potential resources of the Niobe rubidium project of Aldoro Resources may be in the same order with the Tiantongshan rubidium deposit with analyses of greater than 1.5% rubidium oxide and is associated with other valuable elements, such as lithium, caesium and tantalum.”
Map shows the rubidium exploration target, mapped pegmatites and proposed areas for drilling.
Historical drilling informs rubidium potential
Aldoro has re-evaluated the Niobe tantalum prospect’s potential for rubidium based on historical drilling conducted by Pancontinental Mining Limited between 1984 and 1986.
All up, 31 close interval holes were drilled, while downhole sampling was conducted at 1-metre intervals, creating 809 samples and returning up to 1.09% rubidium oxide.
Historical drilling indicated a shallow dipping pegmatite, northerly dipping sheet that plunges to the northwest, flares at the surface and gently tapers with depth and in drill profile ranges from 25 to 35 metres in true thickness but tapers off to the northeast.
Apart from the Niobe pit area, where trial mining of tantalum was conducted, and nine reconnaissance holes drilled into Pegmatite 2, the pegmatite field with tenement P59/2173 has not been tested for rubidium, lithium and caesium.
Tantalum was mined in 1996, with 20 tonnes of tantalum heavy mineral concentrate produced onsite from a small shallow pit with the tailings left on-site.
The drill geochemical assays show there is no association between tantalum and rubidium, lithium and caesium, so it is implied that the majority of the exploration target remains on-site.