NTU Discovers High-Grade First Ever Mineral Resource

Northern Minerals Limited (ASX:NTU) has recently stated about a maiden mineral resource estimate for the Dazzler deposit at the Browns Range Heavy Rare Earth Project (the Project) in northern Western Australia.

The maiden Inferred Mineral Resource for the Dazzler deposit has been estimated at 144,000 tonnes at 2.23% TREO comprising 3,200,000 kg TREO using a cut-off grade of 0.15% TREO.

The Dazzler deposit is located less than 15km from the Browns Range Pilot Plant on the edge of a small scarp slope. The prospect was first drilled in 2013 that only intersected patchy mineralisation within the Browns Range Metamorphics.

In 2018, an alternate geological hypothesis led Northern Minerals to drill the geochemical anomaly from the top of the escarpment. This intersected extremely encouraging mineralisation within the Gardiner Sandstone, which had previously been considered as non-prospective. Results of this drill program were reported on 11 September 2018.

The deposit is located close to the unconformable contact between the Mesoproterozoic Gardiner Sandstone and the Archean-Palaeoproterozoic Browns Range Metamorphics, a sedimentary package of meta-arkoses and arenites. The high-grade mineralisation occurs entirely within the Gardiner Sandstone, dipping moderately (30-40 degrees) towards the southwest.

The mineralisation has been modelled based on rare earth element geochemistry and logged geology. Mineralisation is related to the presence of hydrothermal xenotime, which has been identified by the petrographic analysis. Xenotime is the dominant rare earth mineral at the other Browns Range deposits.

RC samples were subsampled by riffle splitting. Both rig-mounted and standalone splitters have been used. Most samples were collected dry with a minor number being moist due to ground conditions or excessive dust suppression. RC drill holes were sampled at one-metre intervals exclusively and split to achieve a target 2-5-kilogram sample weight.

Samples were screened in the field using a handheld pXRF and those above an applied threshold value, or at the geologist’s discretion, were selected for analysis using ICP-MS. Samples assayed for rare earth elements were fused with sodium peroxide within a nickel crucible and dissolved with hydrochloric acid for analysis. This fusion digestion ensures complete dissolution of the refractory minerals such as xenotime and is considered a total analysis. The digestion solution, suitably diluted, is analysed by ICP Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS) for the determination of the rare earth elements (REE) (La – Lu) plus Y, Th, and Intertek Genalysis Laboratories in Perth performed U. Sample analysis. Samples below the threshold are low grade and not material to the estimate, were assigned a value based upon correlation studies and regression analysis of the pXRF values.

Now, let’s have a look at Northern Minerals Limited’s stock performance and the return it has posted over the past few months. The stock is currently trading at a price of $0.047, up 11.905% during the day’s trade with a market capitalisation of ~$ 56.1 Mn. The counter opened the day at $ 0.043 reached the day’s high of $ 0.049 and touched a day’s low of $ 0.043 with a daily volume of ~ 6,210,944. The stock has provided a YTD return of -23.64% & also posted returns of -50.59%, -34.38% & -6.67% over the past six months, three & one-months period respectively. It had a 52-week high price of $ 0.120 and touched 52 weeks low of $ 0.040, with an average volume of ~ 1,385,466.

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