PERTH (miningweeklycom) – Junior Oro Verde has reported a maiden mineral resource estimate for Makuutu rare earths project, in Uganda, of 47.3-million tonnes grading at 910 parts per million total rare earth oxide (TREO).
The maiden resource estimate is based on only 681.5 m of core drilling undertaken in late 2019 within the project’s central zone, covering only a portion of the larger Makuutu prospective area.
“This initial mineral resource estimate covers only a very small portion of the Makuutu project prospective area and there is strong potential to significantly growth future resources,” said Oro Verde technical director Mark Steffens.
“Encouragingly, the resource grade is at the upper end of expectations, which is very promising for overall project potential. Additionally, Makuutu already demonstrates a significantly longer mineral endowment than some peer projects.”
Steffens said that considering that the initial resource was based on less than 700 m of drilling, the company expected to substantially expand the maiden resource with its next phase of drilling, which is scheduled to start shortly.
The exploration target for the Makuuto project remains at between 270-million and 530-million tonnes, grading at 0.04% and 0.1% TREO.