Boland Project
At Boland, Cobra has been unlocking investment value by testing three deliverables:
High Grade
Refined sampling strategy to reflect chemistry boundaries should result in considerable increases of recoverable TREO grades
Scale
Low-cost approach – over 2,000 km2 of palaeochannel
ISR
Drill plan – fast and cost-effective approach to unlocking long-term value
Highlights
- Unique geological occurrence that lends itself to ISR – a low-cost, low-disturbance mining process that could be integrated into existing land practices
- Opportunity to demonstrate Boland as the world’s only ionic clay rare earth project amenable to controlled ISR in a region which already utilises the ISR extraction method at a number of operating uranium mines
- Confirmed ionic rare earth mineralisation where ANSTO metallurgical testing has confirmed MREO recoveries up to 58% and HREO recoveries up to 65% via a simple AMSUL wash at pH3 (equivalent acidity to red wine)
- Regionally scalable – nearly 495 km2 of prospective palaeochannel across the land tenure
Next Steps
- Capitalise on the significance of confirmed ionic rare earth discovery and progress scope of work that includes:
- Mineralogical and in situ leach studies – drilling of 3-5 core holes to determine distribution of rare earths within clay bands, identify parameters for future in situ leach testing, define appropriate future composite sample lengths, and enable advancement of metallurgical testing to ultimately produce a rare earth carbonate for commercial marketing
- Monitoring well installation – to enable baseline monitoring and analysis of aquifers
- Resource drilling – Aircore (AC) drilling aimed at expanding footprint of ionic rare earth mineralisation
- Regional palaeochannel testing – AC drilling testing the concept within the Corrobinnie palaeochannel and on other Cobra tenements
- Further metallurgical testing to optimise recoveries and test further zones of mineralisation
- Maiden Boland Mineral Resource Estimate
- Bench scale ISR trials to inform pilot study
- Development of a pilot study to test REE extraction and remediation via ISR
Exploration Licence:
Minnipa
Licence Area:
184 km2
Target:
Ionic Rare Earths amenable to in situ recovery
