Venture Minerals (ASX: VMS) is launching a new infill air-core (AC) drilling program to zoom in on the ultra-high-grade rare earths zones it defined a year ago at its burgeoning Jupiter project in WA’s Mid West region.
The initial work in the new campaign has been designed to target the central and northern parts of Jupiter, where the company’s recently-completed drilling produced many rare earths intercepts exceeding 5000 parts per million total rare earth oxides (TREO) and occasionally rose to more than 6000ppm. One hole in the far northern part of Jupiter intersected 9m at 5020ppm TREO from 22m including 4m going 9550ppm from 24m.
Venture says zones carrying rare earths responses of more than 5000ppm TREO will be targeted as a priority in the new program.
The company’s proposed follow-up infill program will comprise between 10,000m and 15,000m of AC drilling at hole spacings planned to be closed down to a minimum density of 250m by 250m. However, possible further spacing reduction may be required to assist in the definition of particularly high-grade zones.
Venture also intends to undertake regional drilling further afield, with a program of 70 reconnaissance AC holes designed to test priority geophysical and geological targets within its broader Brothers rare earths project tenure that surrounds the Jupiter ground.
Previous drilling in the Brothers area was focused on satellite rare earths clay targets near Jupiter that returned decent results from previous drilling of up to 45m going 1455ppm TREO including 15m at 2105ppm and another hole intersecting 19m running 1931ppm including 5m at 3380ppm.
Following a plethora of impressive drill results throughout the entire 40sq-km Jupiter project, we are excited to focus our attention on further defining the substantial high-grade zones identified within the system. The completed resource drilling has provided us with valuable data for our maiden resource estimate and highlighted sizeable zones of high-grade mineralisation.
Venture Minerals Managing Director Philippa Leggat
The Jupiter project came to prominence shortly after Venture’s agreement in early May last year to grab up to an initial 51 per cent of what was then known as Sentinel Exploration’s Iron Duke project in an earn-in and joint venture (JV) deal where it would spend $250,000 in two years. The company almost immediately kicked off its first drilling at Iron Duke – before it became Jupiter – to follow up on two historic drill holes, both of which intersected broad, high-grade zones of rare earths.
The holes nailed primary rare earths intercepts of 49m at 1313ppm TREO from 12m to end-of-hole (EOH) and 49m going 953ppm from 12m to EOH, respectively. Both intercepts contained rare earths runs of between 4m and 20m going between 1118ppm and 2011ppm TREO at depths shallower than 40m.
Even back then, Venture was likely to have believed that its new project appeared to have the legs to turn into something special.
The company’s first reconnaissance drilling at Iron Duke confirmed the presence of high-grade rare earths, including one hole intercepting 30m at 1982ppm TREO from 35m to EOH with 15m going 2672ppm from 40m.
Another hole gave up 40m at 1832ppm TREO from 25m to EOH including 10m running 2725ppm from 30m, while a third hole intersected 42m going 1619ppm from 5m to EOH and included 10m at 2595ppm from 30m.
After that showing, Venture was off to the races and the rest – just a year later – is now a legacy of one drilling success after another, with a maiden resource now imminent.
Just last month, Venture took full control of the project by paying a further $1.5 million to Sentinel, just as the company revealed a record new drill hit of 57m at 3430ppm TREO. That result was from a hole in the north-west part of the Jupiter target during the closing stages of Venture’s phase-one AC testing, which by then had covered the entire prospect area.
In addition to the upcoming infill high-grade resolution drilling at Jupiter and regional reconnaissance drilling in the greater Brothers area, Venture will continue working towards a maiden resource estimate for its main prospect and then press on to complete extensive metallurgical evaluation of its mineralisation.
Management says it is looking to soon engage independent consultants to assist with advancing the project.
Rare earths may have been sitting in the doldrums for a while now, from a price perspective, but there is a wave of critical thought that suggests it will soon pick up again under the irrepressible momentum of the global electrification imperative.
Venture’s unique Jupiter alkaline intrusive project – and whatever else may come from its other known, but untested rare earths potential in adjacent ground – could place the company in the vanguard of potential suppliers when the sun begins to shine again on this commodity sector.
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