Krakatoa Resources identifies rare earths target at WA’s Mt Clere

Krakatoa Resources (ASX:KTA) has uncovered substantial evidence of commercial quantities of rare earths onsite its WA-based Mt Clere project, after reporting earlier this week it had launched rare earth element (REE) drilling at its separate acreage near Mt Magnet. 

Included among intersections driving the company’s optimism are 15m @ 729 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO) and another 24m @ 526ppm TREO. Both cores were retrieved from 4m depth, interpreted as evidence supporting shallow mineralisation. 

Key magnetic rare earth oxides Neodymium, Praseodymium, Dysprosium, and Terbium (Nd-Pr-Dy-Tb) are up to 759ppm and average 179ppm, which the company calculates as an average TREO count over 500ppm in the retrieved intersections. 

In ongoing metallurgical leach studies, the company will prioritise high-value magnetic REEs.

(Source: Krakatoa Resources) A map of the Tower target area

Tower just one prospect of many 

The findings, retrieved from cores drilled in the boundaries of the Tower area of interest (prospect), represents just one accumulation of prospective ionic clay REE targets at Mt Clere, which falls in the north-western region of the Yilgarn Craton. 

The company approximates its exploration target at 87 to 519 million tonnes grading between 580-1120ppm TREO, though readers should note an exploration target is not the same as an estimated resource. 

The exploration target for the Tower prospect has been estimated on the back of models formed by way of assay results from a 39 ‘vertical reconnaissance’ air core drill program. 

Drillholes were finalised in December 2021 testing an area some 6km2. Samples were completed each metre. 

Zirconium oxide on site 

The company also identified elevated levels of zirconium oxide within several zones of the testing area with low thorium and uranium levels, expected from ionic clay REE deposits. 

The main mineralisation envelopes are inteprereted by the company’s geologists to lie within a horizontal clay saprolite formation open to the north, east and west. Additional areas within the target zone have also shown evidence of REE mineralisation, the company believes. 

ANSTO testing samples 

The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) are currently undertaking tests on Krakatoa’s samples on the east coast, ANSTO must test those samples due to safety licencing surrounding radioactivity of the samples. 

Krakatoa is to expand drilling over the exploration target area in order to compile a JORC compliant mineral resource estimate. 

Further reconnaissance drilling of nearby target areas will also be carried out in the coming months. 

Krakatoa's three month charts versus the materials index (XMJ)

The fall in Krakatoa's share price today, down -2.44% at noon, exceeded the -1.6% drop experienced by the broader market.