Barkly
Transition Minerals has assessed an initial rare earths Inferred Mineral Resource of 40 Mt @ 2,100 ppm Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO) for its 100%-owned Barkly Project in the Northern Territory. The rare earths Mineral Resource comprises an exceptional 33% NdPr ratio and lies metres below a vanadium + gallium resource (200 Mt @ 0.12% V2O5 and 30 ppm Ga) that commences from surface. The mineral resources have been estimated in accordance with JORC, 2012.
Barkly Rare Earth Inferred Mineral Resources.
| Prospect | Tonnage (Mt) | TREO (ppm) | NdPr (ppm) | MREO (ppm) | HREO (ppm) | U (ppm) | Th (ppm) |
| Vanadis | 25 | 1,700 | 600 | 620 | 130 | 3 | 6 |
| Benmara North | 15 | 2,700 | 820 | 840 | 140 | 3 | 9 |
| Total | 40 | 2,100 | 690 | 700 | 130 | 3 | 7 |
Notes:
- TREO = La2O3 + CeO2 + Pr6O11 + Nd2O3 + Sm2O3 + Eu2O3 + Gd2O3 + Tb4O7 + Dy2O3 + Ho2O3 + Er2O3 + Tm2O3 + Yb2O3 + Lu2O3 + Y2O3
Individual REO grades are reported in Table 2.
NdPr = Nd2O3 + Pr6O11
HREO = Gd2O3 + Tb4O7 + Dy2O3 + Ho2O3 + Er2O3 + Tm2O3 + Yb2O3 + Lu2O3 + Y2O3
MREO = Pr6O11 + Nd2O3 + Tb4O7 + Dy2O3
- Reported above a 430-ppm NdPr cut-off and within a preliminary optimised pit shell.
- Mineral Resources are classified and reported in accordance with the JORC Code (2012).
- Estimates are rounded to reflect the level of confidence in the Inferred Mineral Resources at the time of reporting. Differences may occur in totals due to rounding.
Rare earths mineralisation is stratbound within weathered, lateritised Cretaceous marine sandstones and siltstones at depths of ~3-30 m below surface. Vanadium mineralisation is present at surface and in sub-horizontal weathered sedimentary strata which lie above the ~2 m thick sub-horizontal rare earths deposit.
Generalised lithostratigraphic column of representative geological units and corresponding assay results.
Critically, very low concentrations of penalty elements uranium (U) and thorium (Th) have been observed.
Rare Earth Element deposits and reported concentrations of radionuclides U and Th grade (data sources).
Exploration Targets (JORC, 2012) for rare earths and vanadium have also been determined and represent potential mineralisation extensions, based on the mapped geological continuity of the host material. The potential quantity and grade of the Exploration Targets are conceptual in nature; there has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource.
Barkly Exploration Targets.
| Category | Million Tonnes | Grade |
| Rare Earth Target | 200–1,000 | 1,600–1,900 ppm TREO incl. 500–700 ppm NdPr |
| Vanadium Target | 300–1,000 | 0.12–0.14% V2O5 |
Transition Minerals plans to test the validity of the Exploration Targets through further drilling at the earliest possible opportunity.
A comparison of the Barkly rare earths Inferred Mineral Resource with other regolith-hosted rare earth mineral resources illustrates the remarkably high NdPr concentration at Barkly, with the Exploration Target envelope demonstrates the potential for future growth of the NdPr endowment of the Barkly rare earths deposit.
Regolith-hosted REE mineral resources, their published size, and NdPr grade (data sources).
DevEx Earn-In
Transition Minerals has executed an earn-in agreement with DevEx Resources Limited (ASX:DEV) for the exploration for uranium minerals on its Barkly tenements.
The earn-in agreement allows DevEx to earn 75% of the uranium rights.
Subject to DevEx earning a 75% interest, Transition Minerals will be free carried to the conclusion of a feasibility study.
Transition Minerals retains 100% of the rights to all non-uranium minerals, including vanadium and rare earths, and will benefit from the data acquired by DevEx during the earn-in.
Further details are available here.
