Victory Metals has announced the commencement of a 13,300m drill program at its North Stanmore Rare Earth Element Project (REE), which is expected to contribute substantially to both the confidence and scale of the mineral resource estimate.
The North Stanmore REE project currently incorporates an Inferred Mineral Resource of 250Mt at 520ppm total rare earth and yttrium oxide (TREYO), containing a high average HREO/TREO ratio of 33 per cent, and significant percentages of combined Dysprosium and Terbium (DyTb), and Neodymium and Praseodymium (NdPr) totalling 3.6 per cent and 21.5 per cent TREYO respectively.
The major drilling program is made up of an 11,500m aircore infill drilling program in conjunction with a 700m diamond drilling program at the North Stanmore REE, and a 1,100m aircore drilling program 7km north of the existing JORC mineral resource estimate targeting extensions of REE mineralisation.
The drilling programs aim to elevate the mineral resource estimate from the ‘inferred’ to an ‘indicated’ category, potentially increasing the REE grade due to resource modelling more aligned with eventual mining selectivity using close spaced drilling patterns.
The results will contribute to a North Stanmore REE Project scoping study planned for early 2024.
Victory’s CEO and Executive Director, Brendan Clark, said that Victory is becoming an industry leader in clay-hosted rare earth mineral exploration and is pleased to announce the commencement of this substantial drilling program.
“The program is aimed at significantly advancing Victory’s Western Australian project which remains a cornerstone in Australia’s rare earth landscape, home to Australia’s largest ionic/regolith clay-hosted Rare Earth Element discovery confirmed by our recently announced Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE),” Mr Clark said.
“This drilling program marks the company’s most advanced exploration stage since its incorporation and is an exciting milestone as the drilling program is expected to contribute substantively to both the confidence and scale of our MRE, while also facilitating a scoping study.
“We are at a critical stage where the growing demand for heavy rare earth elements is driven by global initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This places Victory in a strategic position to contribute to a greener future.
“In parallel, our metallurgical consultant, Core, is making excellent progress in the production of a mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) product which supports the flow sheet design to process North Stanmore mineral resources into a saleable product.”
Featured image: Orland Drilling Aircore Rig at North Stanmore. Image credit: Victory Metals.
