Maiden auger drill campaign completed at Alvo Minerals’ Ipora REE project in Brazil
125 auger holes completed for >1000m will determine follow-up exploration
Ipora is adjacent to the Appia IAC project, recently releasing a maiden 52.8Mt @ 2841ppm TREO resource
Exploration continues across Alvo’s Bluebush and Palma projects
Special Report: Alvo Minerals has completed a maiden auger drill program at the highly prospective Ipora project in Brazil, one of the hottest destinations for ionic adsorption clay-hosted (IAC) rare earths projects.
Ipora is just 5km from Appia Rare Earth and Uranium Corp’s PCH ionic adsorption clay (IAC) project in Goiás State, which recently released a maiden resource for the NI 43-101 deposit of 52.8Mt @ 2,841ppm total rare earths oxides (TREO).
Alvo Minerals (ASX:ALV) is no stranger to exploring for IAC rare earths, having proved its Bluebush ionic project’s credentials last year.
IAC deposits are known for their predominantly near-surface (usually to depths of just 10m) and can be extracted quite simply using pH levels of ~4 (that’s the same pH as wine!) in cheaper, more environmentally-friendly leach methods – meaning potentially lower capex and higher returns.
They also often contain concentrations of high-value magnetic REEs such as neodymium and praseodymium.
Auger drilling work
A total of 125 holes for >1000m have been completed across prospects at ALV’s highly prospective Ipora REE project.
The auger drill reached a maximum depth of 20m and averaged 8m per hole, intersecting regolith varying from soils to saprolite clay and saprock.
ALV screened the samples using a portable xray-fluorescent (pXRF) scanner – used to gauge a relative measure of the elemental content – before having sent them off to the lab for assaying, with results anticipated to return in the next couple of months that will determine follow-up work.
A portion of these samples will also be assessed for preliminary metallurgical testing for IAC recoveries.
The Ipora REE project in relation to Appia’s neighbouring PCH project. Pic supplied: (ALV)
Elsewhere and next steps
“The team is excited to have completed maiden auger drill program at the Ipora REE project, with initial pXRF readings warranting further assay analysis,” ALV MD Rob Smakman says.
The company expects a flow of assay results from Bluebush over the coming weeks and more auger drilling is planned; while IP surveys, geochemical sampling and maiden diamond drilling is ongoing across its Palma VMS copper project nearby.
“We expect to recommence auger drilling at Bluebush REE project while we wait for the assays from Ipora and complete our interpretation of the results,” Smakman says.
“We’re also committing to our parallel copper-zinc and rare earth work programs with diamond drilling ongoing at the untested regional targets at the Palma VMS Project including Urubu, Anta and C4-NE.
“This is a great time for our exploration campaigns in Brazil where we are aiming to make a major greenfields discovery.”
This article was developed in collaboration with Alvo Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
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