Krakatoa Resources Ltd (ASX:KTA) has started a 3,000-metre resource drilling program at the Tower rare earth elements (REE) prospect of its 100%-owned Mt Clere Project on the north-western margins of the Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia.
The company is focused on high value magnetic REEs at Mt Clere.
Drilling is designed to infill and expand identified areas of extensive laterite regolith development within the Tower prospect where modelling has demonstrated that clay mineralisation is flat lying with thickness averaging 16.7 metres.
Prospect locations with discovery aircore drill holes and area identified as the clay-hosted REE exploration target.
KTA started this fast, cheap, systematic aircore drilling program to help it with future resource estimation work.
Following the current program, and to further assist resource development, KTA will undertake step-out opportunistic drilling over the Tower West prospect as well as additional reconnaissance exploration.
“It’s fantastic we have been able to get back into the next phase of drilling after only recently discovering the clay hosted REE within the thick laterite regolith around the Tower area of the Mt Clere project,” Krakatoa’s CEO Mark Major said.
“This drilling will allow the company to work towards completing a resource estimation over the area. We are looking forward to completing this infill and extensional drilling as we work on completing the initial metallurgical review.”
The drilling program is expected to take three to four weeks to complete.
Additional drilling
KTA has also planned additional reconnaissance drilling of other highly prospective IAC REE targets such as the DEW area, when a more portable drill rig becomes available and regulatory permits and access are granted.
This program will include drilling the downslope areas of the hard capped breakaways (upper erosional areas). It is here that KTA believes the mineralisation may extend below these and have less unmineralised cover, with REE mineralisation being closer to surface.
KTA is still completing the initial metallurgical leach test-work at ANSTO.
About the Mt Clere Project
The Mt Clere REE Project has a conceptual exploration target of 87-519 million tonnes grading 580-1120ppm TREO. KTA holds 2,310 square kilometres of highly prospective exploration licences prospective for rare earth elements, heavy mineral sands hosted zircon-ilmenite-rutile-leucoxene; and gold and intrusion hosted nickel-copper-cobalt-PGEs.
Historical exploration has identified the potential presence of three REE deposit types, namely, ion adsorption clays in extensive laterite areas; monazite sands in vast alluvial terraces; and carbonatite dyke swarms.