The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - April 5, 2024
The aurora borealis reflects off Thor Lake at Vital Metals' Nechalacho rare earths project.
Vital Metals Ltd. April 4 announced a significant increase to the resources within the Tardiff deposit on the company's Nechalacho rare earths project about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. This includes a 49% increase in the tonnage of neodymium and praseodymium, a pair of rare earths that are the main ingredients in the rare earth magnets for electric vehicle motors and a wide range of other applications.
According to the new calculation, the Tardiff Upper Zone hosts 31.1 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources averaging 1.15% (358,000 metric tons) total rare earth oxides (TREO); plus 181.6 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 1.17% (2.13 million metric tons) TREO.
This marks a 79% increase in the total tonnage contained in all three resource categories.
A map of the measured (red), indicated (green), and inferred (blue) resources, as well as drill holes (black dots) within the Tardiff rare earths deposit.
What is particularly encouraging for Vital is that the neodymium and praseodymium – magnet rare earths that are in high demand – account for roughly 25% of the total rare earths outlined so far in Tardiff Upper Zone.
"Deposit size and grade matters and Nechalacho's world-class character is reinforced with our latest MRE (mineral resource estimate) for the Tardiff deposit, which shows its sector impact potential, particularly within a North American perspective, and is highlighted by the substantial increase in contained neodymium-praseodymium oxide, or NdPr, to more than 623,000 tonnes (metric tons)," said Vital Metals CEO Geordie Mark.
The new resource estimate, however, does not include results from the 74 resource upgrade and expansion holes at Tardiff in 2023. Instead, the new resource incorporates new economic and recovery factors that align more closely with those that will be included in scoping-level studies for a mine at Tardiff.
Highlights from the 2023 drilling include:
• 81.9 meters averaging 1.6% TREO from a depth of 8.2 meters.
• 33.5 meters averaging 2.2% TREO from a depth of 47 meters.
• 31.8 meters averaging 2.1% TREO from a depth of 34.2 meters.
• 23.9 meters averaging 2% TREO from a depth of 9.2 meters.
• 18.9 meters averaging 2.4% TREO from a depth of 12.1 meters.
• 46.3 meters averaging 1.7% TREO from a depth of 24 meters.
• 43.5 meters averaging 1.8% TREO from a depth of 38.5 meters.
A mineralized sample collected from the Nechalacho project in Northwest Territories.
Vital says the results from the 2023 program will be incorporated into another resource calculation once all assays and outstanding drill collar location surveys have been completed.
In addition to another expansion to the Tardiff resource, Vital anticipates hitting several important exploration and mine design milestones at Nechalacho in 2024.
"We will continue to deliver a range of catalysts over the course of the year, with more Tardiff drill results expected over the next few months, where high-grade mineralization remains open in several directions out from the 2023 drill grid perimeter," said Mark. "These data and updated geological interpretations will form the basis of targeted metallurgical work to inform a scoping study to be completed in late 2024."
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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