Krakatoa Resources Ltd (ASX:KTA) will focus on systemic exploration of the Mt Clere Rare Earth Element (REE) Project in Western Australia this year, specifically increasing the resource estimate at the Tower deposit and advancing regional exploration across the project tenure.
KTA has already produced a mineral resource estimate of 101 million tonnes at 840 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO) for the Tower deposit, generated through exploration of just 20% of the project so far.
Recent reconnaissance auger drilling of electromagnetic (EM) conductors south of the Tower returned positive REE grades from surface, offering the potential to expand the boundary of the deposit’s mineral estimate and increase its endowment.
WA's largest clay-hosted REE resource
“We look forward to commencing the initial field exploration program of 2023 at Mt Clere in the coming weeks,” Krakatoa Resources CEO Mark Major said.
“Last year’s field program resulted in the discovery of the Tower Project and since then we have been able to quickly define a sizeable resource, which positions Mt Clere as the biggest clay-hosted REE resource in Western Australia.
“We are excited to get on the ground as we focus on replicating previous success.
"Size matters"
“Size matters when it comes to developing clay-hosted REE projects and importantly, we are only starting to scratch the surface on the possible size and scale at Mt Clere, with 80% of our landholding remaining underexplored.
“The future for Krakatoa is very exciting as we continue to focus on the rapid development of our unique and high-value critical metals portfolio, to supply into a growing market and play a role in global decarbonisation efforts.”
KTA will also target an area west of the Tower, revealed to be a drill target in a gamma-ray survey undertaken as part of the company’s effort to understand the relationship between thorium mineralisation and the concentration of REEs.
Additionally, recent exploration work combined with historical data has identified large-scale potential for carbonatite hard rock REE bodies across the 2,400 square kilometre Mt Clere landholding.
The company intends to investigate these regional opportunities with a combination of geochemical sampling, geological mapping, targeted fieldwork, petrological surveys and geophysical and reconnaissance drill programs.