MetalsGrove Mining Ltd (ASX:MGA) is ready to set the drill bit spinning in a 2,000-metre reverse circulation (RC) campaign at the Bruce rare earths prospect in the Northern Territory.
The critical minerals explorer and project developer is setting out to test high-priority targets, including a broad conductor and large intrusive system, at the Arunta rare earth element project north of Alice Springs.
MGA has tapped WA contractor Topdrill to complete the RC campaign in Q2, following in the footsteps of a promising aeromagnetic and surface geochemistry program that defined a 1,000-metre by 600-metre system.
It comes soon after the company announced that recent sampling at Bruce revealed high levels of yttrium, neodymium and praseodymium — high-value magnet rare earths that play an important role in the automotive and electric vehicle industries.
This intrusive system will be a key focus in the upcoming drill program, along with several other previously defined high-priority targets.
Priority drill targets at Bruce.
Prospecting in a world-class province
MGA managing director Sean Sivasamy said the team was excited to kick off maiden drilling at the Bruce Prospect later this quarter.
“Pre-drilling exploration work has outlined considerable mineralised potential at Bruce, in particular comparisons of the rare earth distributions with other projects in the Arunta region — namely Brown’s Range and Nolan’s Bore — are very encouraging.
“The Arunta region is a world-class mineralised province and MGA has a clear strategy in place to systematically unlock the true underlying potential of its strategic footprint in the area.
“I look forward to providing the market with regular updates on our progress.”
Bruce prospect takes shape
The Bruce rare earths prospect covers nearly 18,000 hectares in the NT’s Central Desert Region.
Among priority targets in the region, MGA is particularly excited by a broad conductor along strike from the Plenty River mine, where significant rare earth finds were made in the 1950s.
The Northern Territory Geological Survey has completed geological studies in the Arunta region and identified numerous pegmatites hosting rare earth occurrences, including the Plenty River mica mine area.
As such, MetalsGrove is currently exploring pegmatite, breccia, vein and alteration-hosted rare earth mineralisation at Bruce, and the upcoming drill program will provide detailed insight on the prospectivity of these structures.
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