MRG Metals’ forward looking strategy progresses with new exploration licence applications

Highlights

• MRG Metals Limited (ASX:MRQ) has made three new exploration licence applications (ELAs) in Zambezia Province of Mozambique for Rare Earth Elements (REEs) and Uranium (U).
• New REE and U ELAs are Patricio (10999 L; 19,763.06 Ha), Fotinho (11000 L; 19,865.18 Ha) and Adriano (11002 L; 19,777.14 Ha).
• The Company will be ready to commence an exploration program on new licenses when they are granted, believes Chairman Andrew Van Der Zwan.

MRG Metals Limited (ASX:MRQ) has taken an important step in its forward looking strategy. The Heavy Mineral Sands (HMS) explorer plans to diversify its portfolio for exposure to the growing Rare Earth and Uranium markets.

The Company has successfully submitted three Exploration Licence Applications (ELA’s) over a high potential Rare Earth Element (REE) and Uranium (U) project in Mozambique.

The update seemed to have propelled a positive sentiment in the market. MRQ traded up by over 20% in the early hours of 11 May 2022, at AU$0.009. Mid-day on 12 May 2022, MRQ quoted AU$0.008.

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Introducing MRG Metals’ new ELAs

New ELAs have been made in the Zambezia Province of Mozambique for REEs and U. These ELAs are-

• Patricio (10999 L; 19,763.06 Ha)
• Fotinho (11000 L; 19,865.18 Ha)
• Adriano (11002 L; 19,777.14 Ha)

They are located 780 km North-East of MRG’s Corridor Central (6620L) and Corridor South (6621L) HMS licences and 230 km NorthNortheast of the port city of Beira.

Map of MRG’s new Rare Earth & Uranium (10999 L, 11000 L & 11002 L) ELA’s in relation to other exploration licences & port city of Beira

Source- Company announcement, May 2022

Why are MRG’s new ELAs highly prospective?

The licence applications significantly expand on MRG’s exploration licence portfolio, while also diversifying its portfolio from HMS projects to include REE and U. The Company considers the REE and U ELA’s as highly prospective for four key reasons-

• Highly anomalous radiometric areas-

Airborne radiometric spectrometer data of a regional national airborne geophysical survey displayed some very highly anomalous radiometric areas over both hard-rock and recent sedimentary areas. The Company was able to apply for three ELA’s on some of the highest anomalies covering 59,405.38 Ha of prospecting area in total.

• Exposure to high-grade metamorphic gneisses, undifferentiated granites, granitoid rocks, hard-rock lithologies-

The ELA’s include hard-rock as well as recent sediments, covering areas of high-grade metamorphic gneisses, undifferentiated granites and granitoid rocks within the Mozambique Metamorphic Province and sediments from the Mozambique Basin sediments. Exploration will focus on enriched REE’s in the sediments sourced from the high-grade metamorphic gneisses, undifferentiated granites and granitoid rocks; and exploring within the hard-rock lithologies.

• Highly anomalous results-

A Report by Dr Luc Antoine on historic reconnaissance exploration that took place in 2014 shows highly anomalous results. The analytical results are from SGS South Africa, from grab rock, soil and panned Heavy Mineral Concentrate (HMC) samples, with only results from within the ELAs shown. Thorium (Th) grades as high as >1,000 ppm Th in a soil and HMC sample and 559 ppm in a rock sample from within the applied for licences were reported from X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, while X-ray diffraction (XRD) results showed the clear presence of Monazite in the samples from the REE area.

• Comparable values-

Plotting all the XRF results for REE from panned HMC samples and comparing these results to known data from USA based REE projects, shows the REE content within the Monazite have comparable values.

Important step for MRG’s forward looking strategy

MRG has remained committed to moving its HMS projects to the development phase. It has already achieved success at its ever-evolving HMS portfolio with three significant Mineral Resource Estimates (MREs) released to date.

The new ELA’s diversify the Company’s portfolio, providing exposure to the growing Rare Earth and Uranium markets in the highly prospective areas in Mozambique.

What next?

Mozambique as an investment destination is a fantastic country and MRG continues activities at its HMS projects, paving its way from discovery to development. Drilling programs and various studies are ongoing at the Company’s HMS tenements.

Besides, the new ELA’s are currently under review by the relevant government departments. With success in the recent Rare Earth and Uranium ELAs, the Company will be ready to commence an exploration program on the new licenses when they are granted. Upon grant, these REE and U projects will both grow and diversify the commodity spread of MRG’s exploration portfolio in Mozambique.