Anson has discovered high values of critical minerals including gallium, indium, germanium and barium at the Ajana project
Some of these minerals can be enriched 5 to 10-fold during zinc ore processing
Anson believes the results from the recent drilling program presents an exciting prospect for the company
Special report: High grades of critical minerals such as gallium, indium, germanium and barium have been discovered via drilling programs at the Ajana project in WA, providing an additional avenue for economic value to the current zinc resource.
Anson Resources’ (ASX:ASN) Ajana project near Northampton, WA, is within an established mining province which contains several historical copper, lead and silver producing mines dating back to 1850.
Previous drilling at the site comprised a 30-hole for 1,105m reverse circulation drilling program targeting highly prospective lead-zinc-copper-silver mineralised areas at the priority Surprise and Ethel Maude prospects.
These drill targets were identified via previous VTEM geophysical survey works and interpreted anomalies from historical soil sampling programs and previous geological mapping programs.
The program has successfully intersected multiple high-grade zones at both targets, which have validated Anson’s exploration approach at Ajana.
Discovery of critical minerals
ASN has now discovered extensive high-grade mineralisation of critical minerals such as gallium, indium, germanium and barium at Ajana that are associated with the zinc values from the drilling programs at both the Ethel Maude and Surprise prospects.
Results were obtained by resampling the high-grade pulps still stored at the laboratory from the previous two drilling programs.
Cross-section showing the continuous down-hole zinc, lead, silver, gallium, indium and germanium mineralisation at Ethel Maude. Pic: Anson Resources
The average gallium grade was 20g/t with a maximum value of 67g/t Ga.
The company believes the discovery of these minerals will add significant economic value to the zinc resource being estimated by a third-party metallurgical consultant.
Government support
In a further boost, both the federal and WA governments have recently pledged significant funding and support packages to incentivise development of WA’s critical minerals industry.
The WA Government, as set out in the WA Strategy, is hoping to establish an internationally competitive critical mineral industry, which includes both upstream production and midstream processing.
A “Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive” was announced as part of the broader “Future Made in Australia” agenda in the recent Federal budget.
The incentive, which is slated to have an effective date of the 1st of July 2027, will come in the form of a production tax credit valued at 10% of relevant processing and refining costs for critical minerals for up to 10 years per project between 2027-28 and 2039-40.
Zinc, the Ajana project’s primary product, is in Australia’s critical minerals list and is also one of six “Strategic Materials” identified by the Federal Government.
Re-assay of critical mineralisation on all zones
Based on these successful assay results, it has been determined to re-assay for critical minerals through all the mineralised zones intersected in the drilling programs at both the Ethel Maude and Surprise prospects.
The zinc-lead-silver mineralized zones intersected are large, and contain the critical minerals gallium, indium, and germanium over the entire mineralized section.
Predicted mineralisation zones at the Ethel Maude prospect have been identified for a further drilling program to be carried out to increase the potential resource estimates.
‘Exciting prospect’
“Although the company remains laser focused on expediting the development of its environmentally friendly lithium projects in Utah, the results from the recent drilling program at the Ajana Project presents an exciting prospect for the company to further increase and diversify its critical minerals portfolio,” Anson executive chairman and CEO Bruce Richardson says.
“The encouraging high grades of gallium, indium, and germanium along with the rapid rise in value combined with governments’ policies designed to onshore critical mineral supply provides an opportunity that the company will continue to pursue.”
This article was developed in collaboration with Anson Resources, 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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