East Star Resources PLC (LSE:EST) said it received all necessary approvals to start fieldwork at the Talairyk heavy rare earths (HREE) project in Kazakhstan and that drilling will begin imminently, several months ahead of schedule.
"We are extremely happy to be able to drill the Talairyk licence this month so that assay and leach test work can commence over the winter period,” said chief executive Alex Walker.
“This means that with positive results we can hit the ground running next year, in the spring, to implement a more significant drill programme designed to convert the historical resource to JORC and test the huge strike potential of this deposit.”
It plans to carry out 1,000 metres of reverse circulation drilling to confirm historical grades of the Ionic Adsorption Clay (IAC) hosted deposit.
Potentially economically extractible IACs are rarely found outside of South China and IAC deposits have several advantages over the more commonly occurring hard rock REE deposits, the company explained. These advantages include lower capital and operating expenditure, negligible radioactivity, and a higher average basket price.
The faster-than-expected approvals from government authorities demonstrated regional support for new projects, while shareholders have also been supportive, said East Star.
“Stakeholders have pulled out all the stops to get this project drill-ready so quickly and have confirmed they will provide further such support as the project progresses," said Walker.
The project, which covers 144.7 sq km, is located in the East Kostanay region.