The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - July 23, 2024
The Thor Lake camp during exploration of the Tardiff rare earths deposit at Nechalacho in 2010.
A mineralized sample collected from Nechalacho.
Lisa Riley
Vital Metals Ltd. July 23 reported that final results from its 2023 drill program continue to demonstrate the world-class rare earths potential of the Tardiff deposit on the company's Nechalacho project about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.
According to a calculation completed in April, 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 calculation, however, does not include results from the 74 holes focused primarily on upgrading resources in preparation for a scoping-level study for a mine at Tardiff.
Highlights from previously reported assays from the 2023 drill program at Tardiff include:
• 50.4 meters averaging 1.8% TREO from a depth of 15.6 meters.
• 81.9 meters averaging 1.6% TREO from a depth of 8.2 meters.
• 37.6 meters averaging 1.8% TREO from a depth of 8.5 meters.
• 85.4 meters averaging 1.6% TREO from a depth of 47 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 Nechalacho.
Vital says results from the final 24 holes of the 2023 program have identified shallow, higher-grade mineralization at the western side of the Tardiff deposit that remains open to expansion.
Highlights from the final batch of assays from 2023 Tardiff drilling include:
• 47.1 meters averaging 2% TREO from a depth of 28 meters in hole L23-633, including 1.9 meters averaging 3% TREO.
• 12.5 meters averaging 2.3% TREO from a depth of 22.5 meters in hole L23-638, including 1.7 meters averaging 5.3% TREO.
• 53.5 meters averaging 1.5% TREO from a depth of 6.7 meters in hole L23-639, including 1.8 meters averaging 8% TREO.
• 24.7 meters averaging 1.5% TREO from a depth of 20.3 meters in hole L23-643, including 1.4 meters averaging 4.9% TREO.
• 24.2 meters averaging 1.6% TREO from a depth of 18.9 meters in hole L23-644, including two meters averaging 3.7% TREO.
• 27.5 meters averaging 1.5% TREO from a depth of 4.6 meters in hole L23-652, including two meters averaging 6.3% TREO.
• 47.1 meters averaging 2.1% TREO from a depth of 9.1 meters in hole L23-660, including 8.8 meters averaging 3% TREO.
• 55 meters averaging 1.6% TREO from a depth of 20.5 meters in hole L23-664, including 1.4 meters averaging 4.6% TREO.
"We are thrilled with these very encouraging assays which round out our results from 2023," said Vital Metals Vice President of Exploration Natalie Pietrzak-Renaud. "Across the board, our results point to areas within Tardiff of more continuous higher-grade mineralisation that we can target in future expansion drilling."
The results from the 2023 program are being incorporated into an updated mineral resource that is expected to serve as the foundation for a scoping study that provides a first glimpse at the economic and engineering parameters for a future mine at Tardiff.
"We anticipate busy months ahead as we commence new metallurgical testwork shortly, and bring together the geological data; working toward completing our scoping study," Pietrzak-Renaud said.
Lisa Riley
The busy months ahead will be carried out under the leadership of Lisa Riley, who was appointed as the newest managing director and CEO of Vital following the termination of Geordie Mark earlier this month.
Mark, who assumed the top executive position at Vital in October, is the latest CEO with a short tenure since the company's original managing director Geoff Atkins tendered his resignation in 2022.
Russell Bradford, a partner at Lionhead Resources Fund, which anchored a $45 million (US$31.6 million) Vital financing prior to Atkins' departure, filled the company's top executive position on an interim basis.
John Dorward, a mining executive who previously served as president and CEO of Canada-based Roxgold Inc., served as managing director and CEO of Vital for four months beginning in November 2022. He was followed by Mark, who served as CEO for about nine months.
Riley, who has served on the Vital Metals board since December 2022, brings 30 years of experience in global capital markets, finance, mining advisory and government relations to the company's executive office.
"We are extremely happy to announce Lisa's appointment to CEO and MD and we expect a smooth transition, given her longstanding involvement with the company," said Vital Chairman Richard Crookes. "We look forward to a reinvigoration of our market-facing activities as we continue to complete scoping study work on our Nechalacho rare earths project."
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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