AUS
NZ
UK
CA
USA
IND
Highlights
- Perpetual Resources (ASX:PEC) has completed a drilling campaign at its flagship asset, the Beharra project.
- Moist fine-to-medium-grained yellow quartz silica sand was intersected from the drilling across the northern end of the tenement.
- The company expects results from geochemical analysis in the September quarter.
Perpetual Resources Limited (ASX:PEC), a silica sands explorer, has completed reconnaissance shallow auger drilling at its flagship asset in Western Australia.
The drilling, which occurred from 25th to 27th July, targeted Beharra North, the northern end of the exploration tenement at Beharra.
Perpetual aims to cash in on the strong demand for silica sand in the Asia-Pacific market. Independent market evaluations have estimated an incremental market growth prospect of 40mtpa by 2026 in the region.
A major focus market for Beharra is silica sand having <200ppm or lower content of iron oxide (Fe2O3). Demand for this type of silica sand is increasing due to the substantial worldwide expansion of solar PV cell manufacturing capacity.
Also Read: SYA, CXO, PLS: How did these ASX-listed Lithium shares fare in July?
Drilling intersected yellow quartz silica sand
Moist fine-to-medium-grained yellow quartz silica sand was intersected from the drilling, including 25 auger holes drilled to a total depth of 117.2 metres. The average depth of a hole was 4.7 metres.
Of the total, 16 holes reached the targeted depth and hit yellow quartz silica sand.
According to the company’s managing director, though the drilling did not intersect high-quality white and light grey silica used in glass production, yellow sand is believed to be high quality having the capacity for construction applications.
Sample analysis
The company has submitted 50 samples collected from 10 drill holes for geochemical analysis.
The analysis will evaluate the content of 32 elements, including silica dioxide content. The company expects to provide the results in the September quarter.
Uses of silica sand
Silica sand has a wide variety of uses depending on its purity
- Lower purity or <99.5% SiO2) - foundry and construction sand, and proppant sand used in well fracturing
- Higher purity or >99.5% SiO2) – mainly used in glass making, including ultra-pure glass.
Stock information
At the time of writing this article (05 AUG 11:07 AM AEST), shares of PEC were trading at AU$0.041, down nearly 7% from the last close. The company has a market cap of AU$21.65 million.
