Aldoro Resources posts maiden JORC resource for rubidium-lithum play at WA Niobe project

Aldoro Resources (ASX:ARN) is up 10% in early afternoon trade as the company posts its maiden JORC resource at the Niobe rubidium-lithium project in the Murchison region of WA. 

Niobe is located some 70km from Mt. Magnet, a well established mining province. Aldoro’s Niobe now boasts a resource of over 8,000 tonnes of rubidium and over 3,000 tonnes of lithium. 

A tonne of rubidium currently fetches over US$1m, and the price is expected to rise further as the rubidium market grows at 4% between 2022 and 2027, according to Mordor Intelligence. 

Rubidium, like lithium, is a component of EV batteries. However, rubidium is also used in the manufacturing of solar panels, it is an important element of batteries outside of lithium-ion batteries (like those containing cadmium,) and is also used in the manufacture of medical tech and telecoms equipment. 

Feasibility study launched; phase 3 drilling on the way 

Aldoro believes that its rubidium deposit, in particular, is one of the highest grade deposits in the world, and is now moving ahead with a development feasibility study launched today. 

In the background, phase 3 diamond drilling has been planned to commence on-site to further grow the resource size and upgrade classification from ‘inferred’ to a higher level of confidence. 

The company’s geotechs believe broad mineralisation is still present under the surface, meaning the JORC could very well be upgraded on the horizon; Ashmore Advisory completed the inferred resource. 

No shortage of pegmatites; testwork underway

Back in early August, the company hit over 250m worth of pegmatite intersections in its phase 2 RC drill run. 

The resource published today is based on the results of 115 RC drill holes (phase 1 and phase 2) totalling 7,318m of core equivalent. 

A historical tranche of drillholes, totalling 40 in number, was also used. 

From those drillholes, samples are currently being advanced for metallurgical testwork by Dr. He at a university in Changsha, China. Dr. He has recently completed projects for five other rubidium-lithium mines in China. 

Aldoro's six month charts show a gradual recovery of sentiment since June-July