A portfolio review has prompted EV Resources (ASX: EVR) to reboot germanium and gallium exploration at its Khartoum project prospective for critical minerals in Queensland.
The review of the company’s rock sample and drill database since last year included analysing 357 surface rock samples for the two elements, which revealed some of them are carrying anomalous gallium grades up to 71.4 parts per million.
While the company’s principal exploration thrust had previously been directed towards tin and tungsten, its work in the past two years also identified rare earths and other critical minerals.
Gallium anomalism, notably above the typical crustal abundance of 19ppm, was found to occur in five distinct areas within the company’s Khartoum project, exhibiting values in the anomalous range of 40ppm to 60ppm gallium, while three areas highlight the element at levels between 60ppm and 70ppm gallium. Each of the five areas also contain lower, but supportive values in the 20ppm to 40ppm range for gallium, suggesting the higher values are not just random or isolated spikes.
EV says the same areas are also characterised by elevated rare earths signatures, with rock samples assaying as high as 6993ppm and 5782ppm total rare earth oxides (TREO) and drill chips revealing 8m at 2096ppm and 2m at 5782ppm. Relatively high proportions of the economically-significant light and heavy rare earth oxides have also been identified at four key locations.
They include a top TREO run in a rock sample from Geebung of 6993ppm comprising 1230ppm neodymium oxide, 377ppm praseodymium oxide, 99ppm dysprosium oxide and 20ppm terbium oxide. A second rock sample yielded 3920ppm TREO including 1680ppm yttrium oxide, 323ppm neodymium oxide, 305ppm dysprosium oxide and 47ppm terbium oxide.
A third sample shows 4678ppm TREO with 2310ppm yttrium oxide, 151ppm neodymium oxide, 456ppm dysprosium oxide and 54ppm terbium oxide. Notably, no specifically rare earths work had been undertaken previously at the site and the samples had originally been collected in the context of tin-tungsten exploration.
Additionally, previously drilled areas typically carried low rare earths signatures, which might indicate near-surface depletion or some other factor.
Among the company’s database of 5000 rock chips, fewer than 500 samples have been analysed for a full suite of rare earths, while only EV drill samples from its Boulder area have been analysed.
Management says it has been buoyed by the results of recent studies by the Queensland Department of Resources, the University of Queensland and James Cook University as part of the State’s New Economy Minerals Initiative. The studies highlight the company’s Khartoum project as sitting in the centre of a significant area several times the size of the project itself, containing mineralisation styles with the potential to host critical minerals listed by the Australian Government.
Our geological assessment of the Mossman Orogen, in which our Khartoum Project occurs, is endorsed by the New Economy Minerals Initiative study. EVR is in an excellent position to capitalise on the findings of the study. Prospective targets are being defined for Gallium, Germanium, and Rare Earth Elements, all critical minerals being sought by industry.
EV Resources Executive Director Adrian Paul
The styles of mineralisation at Khartoum include volcanic-hosted massive sulphide deposits (VHMS), epithermal deposit potential throughout the entire project area and granite-related deposits hosted by big batholiths in both tenement areas. The company says it is planning a staged approach to exploring for gallium and germanium and is contemplating following up the original reconnaissance work with geochemical surface sampling, then collating geochemical results against geology, geophysics and mapping observations.
It says it might then employ a bit of wildcat drilling where appropriate to test initial geochemical, geological and geophysical targets as they present. The third-dimensional perspective will assist with coming to grips with the regolith, the near-surface oxidation environment and element migration patterns.
EV sees the fortunes of gallium metal and germanium semi-metal, which sit like twins side-by-side in the Periodic Table of the elements, as being strongly tied to current market forces related to the global electrification imperative and it expects to see exponential growth in their respective markets.
The demand for gallium is predicted to be six times its current production volume next year. The United States and European Union both list gallium as a critical resource, which means it is of immense economic importance, but of finite availability.
The current global gallium production capacity is said to be exhausted, but demand is surging, while the Fraunhofer Institute predicts demand is about six times higher than world production.
Germanium is among the rarest metals on Earth. While it is considered a semiconductor, its properties continue to amaze scientists.
Traditionally – and for a long time – germanium was the leading raw material in electronics. It is now indispensable in fibre optics and is a critical and fundamental component of modern technology.
In the territory of fibre optic cables, it is predicted that demand for germanium will increase eight-fold through the next six years, which will mean a serious price increase is due sooner rather than later.
It is early days for EV in this space, but it looks well-dressed and ready to go and already has the ground and the encouragement from analyses and other high-powered research to give it a good head-start in its new quest for some unique critical metals.
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