Coffee with Samso 174 with Venture Minerals Limited (ASX:VMS, OTC:VTMLF) managing director Andrew Radonjic is all about the company building a portfolio of rare earth projects in Western Australia.
It is no surprise that Venture Minerals is now adding rare earths to its portfolio. The creation of a decarbonisation mineral exploration portfolio makes complete sense.
Venture enters into a REE JV in Western Australia.
Get to know Venture Minerals
For those readers who have just come across Venture Minerals Limited, the best way to conceptualise the company is to see it as a Targeted Diversified Mineral Explorer with a very experienced Managing Director. Andrew Radonjic has the silver hair happening coupled with a very smart strategy.
I remind many readers that when I first interviewed Venture, I coined the term Targeted Diversified Mineral Explorer. There are many diversified companies but if you have been in this industry for a long time, you start to learn to identify those that are real and those that are there to fill up space.
A Targeted Diversified Mineral Explorer - Venture Minerals Limited (ASX: VMS) - Episode 49
In that first interview, I realised that the diversified portfolio in its own right has good projects. Over the years and having sat through many conversations, I believe the company is starting to create its own personality. The limiting factor is the fund allocation. In every business, there are always budgets, and Venture is no different.
The building of a Western Australia REE project
In the last Coffee with Samso, Andrew Radonjic, Managing Director of Venture Minerals pointed out that the company has been looking at Rare Earth projects for a while now. The creation of a Western Australian based REE project does not surprise me at all (Figure 1).
Venture Minerals - The Age of Boron.
Venture Minerals - Building a Rare Earth Portfolio in Western Australia.
What makes this portfolio different is the location. The nearest focus on the REE news has been in the wheatbelt which is still a distance away. I cannot think of anyone that is building a project near the Venture ground. The rising trend has been in the wheatbelt region of Western Australia which is about 50km to 100km south of the current project.
Recap:
As we previously mentioned, the first mention was the discovery of REE within the Mount Lindsay project. This was first released on 20th September 2022. All the news releases are listed below.
Venture unearths REE mineralisation immediately adjacent to Tin Zones at Mount Lindsay
Venture discovers 12.5% REE mineralisation at Golden Grove North
Venture commences drilling at new, high priority REE-Tin target at Mount Lindsay
Venture expands REE strategy with new priority targets in Western Australia
Figure 1: Location of the new REE project for Venture Minerals (Source: Venture Minerals ).
Samso's conclusion
It is no big secret that there is a REE bandwagon going around the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) at the moment. I have just been at the RIU Conference in Sydney and had a chance to talk and look at some of these projects. The common theme is that the majority of projects have come about from resampling of previous holes. There has been little understanding of the quality of the projects other than the assays.
As I have mentioned many times, my go to person for REE information has been Brett Hazelden from OD6 Metals Limited (ASX: OD6). In his latest video, he talks about the refractory nature of some deposits. When the company completed their latest metallurgical work, it became apparent that there is a distinction between deposit types. The distinction is based on how easy it is to extract the REE.
In a simplistic explanation, the OD6 commentary is that the deposits which are highly weathered are easier to extract. In the video he talks about how the deposits further away from the granitic source are more weathered.
Hence, when I look at the Venture announcement, what strikes me immediately is that there are two deep holes which ended in mineralisation. Could these drill holes have gone deeper? The grades look interesting as it is nearly 50m. There are resources out there being funded with grades around less than the historical intercepts announced by Venture Minerals.
The next point that strikes my interest is that the project is located in traditionally deeply weathered terrains. Some of the terrains are weathered in excess of 80 to 100m. If that is so, would the mineralisation have gone that deep? Could the troughs that span a distance act as a trap for the REE?
These are hypothetical observations and I am highlighting it because this is where I feel the project may have some good differences to the other REE projects in the market. For this reason, I encourage readers to seek more information and if possible, speak to Andrew to get more information.
Tune in to Andrew's thoughts here.
Chapters:
00:00 Start
00:20 Introduction
01:10 The VMS Rare Earth story.
04:25 The significance of the historical drill holes.
07:33 Venture Projects Potentially in New REE Province?
08:27 What makes the VMS REE story different?
14:41 Is VMS stretching resources to fund all the projects?
19:41 Thoughts on the geopolitical issue surrounding Rare Earths.
22:56 News flow
26:49 Conclusion
PODCAST
About Andrew Radonjic
Qualifications: BAppSc (Mining Geology), MSc (Mineral Economics), MAusIMM
Mr. Radonjic is a geologist and mineral economist with over 35 years of experience in mining and exploration, with an initial focus on gold and nickel in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. Andrew has fulfilled a variety of senior roles which gave rise to three gold discoveries, totaling in excess of 3 million ounces in resources and resulting in 1.5 million ounces being produced. Since 2006 Andrew has been an executive director with Venture Minerals, which he co-led during the discovery of the Mount Lindsay Tin-Tungsten deposit in North-West Tasmania. He is also a founding co-director of Blackstone (NYSE:BX) Minerals and the non-executive Chairman of Codrus Minerals.
About Venture Minerals
Venture Minerals Ltd (ASX: VMS) has refocused its approach to developing the Mount Lindsay Tin-Tungsten Project in northwest Tasmania, already one of the world's largest undeveloped Tin-Tungsten deposits. With the recognition of Tin as a fundamental metal to the battery revolution and Tungsten being a critical mineral, Venture has commenced an Underground Feasibility Study on Mount Lindsay that will leverage off the previously completed open-pit feasibility work. At the neighbouring Riley Iron Ore Mine, the mine is prepared for a quick restart should the market conditions become favourable. In Western Australia, Chalice Mining (ASX: CHN) recently committed to the second stage of the JV which requires a further $2.5 million of expenditure over the next two years to earn a further 19% interest (for a total of 70%) in Venture’s South West Project. At the Company’s Golden Grove North Project, downhole EM has delineated a large conductor under High Grade Zinc-Copper-Gold drill intersections within the 5km long Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Target (NYSE:TGT) Zone, along strike to the world class Golden Grove Zinc-Copper-Gold Mine. Venture has a significant Nickel-Copper-PGE landholding at Kulin with two highly prospective 20-kilometre long Ni-Cu-PGE targets within the Kulin Project.
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About Samso
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Headed by industry veteran Noel Ong and based in Perth, Western Australia, Samso’s Coffee with Samso and Rooster Talk interviews both feature friendly conversations with business figures that give insights into Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) companies, related concepts and industry trends.
Noel Ong is a geologist with nearly 30 years of industry experience and a strong background in capital markets, corporate finance and the mineral resource sector. He was founder and managing director of ASX-listed company Siburan Resources Limited from 2009-2017 and has also been involved in several other ASX listings, providing advice, procuring projects and helping to raise capital.
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Disclaimer
The information contained in this article is the writer’s personal opinion and is provided for information only and is not intended to or nor will it create/induce the creation of any binding legal relations. Read full disclaimer.