American Rare Earths Ltd (ASX:ARR, OTCQB:ARRNF) has identified a new significant rare earth element (REE) deposit in Wyoming, US (Beaver Creek REE project) containing grades between 1.7% and 9.1% of rare earths lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, praseodymium, and yttrium (La + Ce +Nd + Pr + Y).
The company has staked 37 federal unpatented lode claims covering about 303 hectares (749 acres) at the Beaver Creek REE Project.
ARR has also lodged applications for mineral leases for a further 259 hectares (640 acres) close to Beaver Creek.
The new area is north of ARR’s flagship Halleck Creek Project and has very similar geological characteristics.
Location of the Beaver Creek REE project.
ARR CEO and managing director Chris Gibbs said: "These are outstanding results from the initial field work and the exploration team we have on the ground in the United States.
The XRF samples show grades up to 91,438 ppm for 5 rare earth elements which includes the highly valuable neodymium, praseodymium and yttrium.
“The newly staked claims are within the same state as our flagship Halleck Creek project, which already has a JORC Resource of 1.43 billion tonnes.
“Given the proximity of these new claims to Halleck Creek, we’re very excited about the future synergies and opportunities between both projects and we look forward to conducting further exploration activities to unlock the potential of this new high-grade discovery.”
Large reddish-brown allanite crystals in a chlorite, calcite, feldspar, and quartz hydrothermal breccia outcrop.
ARR geologists observed that the rare earth elements are concentrated in veins enriched with allanite, a group of minerals that is a valuable source of rare earths.
In-situ portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) analyses of large allanite crystals demonstrated grades of 7.4% to 23.2% La + Ce + Nd + Pr + Y.
Powdered grab samples from an exposed allanite-enriched vein were analysed and showed grades of 1.7% to 9.1% La + Ce + Nd + Pr + Y.
Large black and reddish-brown allanite crystals in outcrop. In this location, the allanite appears to be hosted in a matrix of fine-grained calcite. Some green chlorite alteration is visible above the large pen. Some of the other darker minerals are likely hornblende and diopside.
The allanite-enriched vein is exposed in a historic prospect pit.
The large, 2 to 4 centimetre allanite crystals observed in this study are hosted in a quartz, chlorite and calcite-rich vein which shows brecciation, or a process of the rock breaking into fragments.
This may indicate that the allanite formed from hydrothermal fluids.
The grab samples have been sent to ALS Global for assay. A detailed mapping and sampling program will be fast tracked to add to ARR’s understanding of the deposit and to advance the project.
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