Brazilian Rare Earths Limited (ASX:BRE) Exercises Option to Acquire Sulista Rare Earth Project
Brazilian Rare Earths Limited (ASX:BRE) is pleased to advise that after completing detailed due diligence it has exercised its option to acquire the advanced Sulista Rare Earth Project in Bahia, Brazil.
- BRE exercises Option Agreement to acquire the Sulista Rare Earth Project and secure over 100km2 of highly prospective exploration licences across the southern extension of the Rocha da Rocha Rare Earth Province
- The Sulista Rare Earth Project is located 80km southwest of the Monte Alto Project and the extensive dataset of historical drill results, surface hard rock outcrops, corestones/boulders and geophysical anomalies signals potential for a major rare earth endowment
- Historical diamond drilling of ~1,000m at the Sulista Project logged significant mineralised intercepts with gamma spectrometry readings in line with the ultra-high grade REE-Nb-Sc mineralisation at the Monte Alto Project
- On-site field reconnaissance by BRE's exploration team discovered a range of surface mineralised hard rock corestones/boulders with comparable gamma readings to the ultra-high grade REE-Nb-Sc mineralisation
- Diamond drilling is now underway at the Sulista Project to twin existing diamond drill holes and target ultrahigh grade REE-Nb-Sc mineralisation along strike from historical intercepts
The Sulista Project is located 80km southwest of the world-class Monte Alto Rare Earth Project and includes an extensive database of historical drill results, hard rock surface outcrops and boulders/corestones. The acquisition secures control of 108km2 of exploration licences in a near continuous block that links the southern extension of the Rocha da Rocha Rare Earth Province.
Historical diamond drilling of ~1,000m at the Sulista Project logged significant mineralised intercepts with gamma spectrometry readings that are in line with the ultra-high grade REE-Nb-Sc mineralisation at the Monte Alto Project - which recorded exceptional grades of up to 34.4% (344,000ppm) of Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO), up to 5.9% (59,100ppm) NdPr, 3,229ppm DyTb , 1.5% niobium and 352ppm scandium.
BRE's on-ground reconnaissance identified surface geological features, such as hard rock outcrops and corestones/boulders, at the Sulista Project that mirror the extensive high-grade surface mineralisation at Monte Alto Project. These outcrops and boulders recorded gamma spectrometry readings in line with the ultra-high grade REE-Nb-Sc mineralisation discovered at the Monte Alto Project.
The ultra-high grade REE-Nb-Sc mineralisation discovered at the Monte Alto, Velinhas and Sulista projects are interpreted to be magmatic cumulates which are coeval with the leucogranites of the Rocha da Rocha Province.
Initial petrographic studies reveal that this high-grade mineralisation is primarily coarse-grained monazite occurring as mega-enclaves within the felsic gneiss host rock. These ultra-high grade concentrations of monazite are considered to be analogous to cumulate deposits of minerals, such as magnetite and apatite, which typically form large, extensive tabular orebodies that can be tens of meters in thickness and kilometres in strike length.
A comprehensive diamond drilling program is now underway at the Sulista Project to twin existing diamond drill holes and target high-grade REE-Nb-Sc mineralisation along strike from these intercepts.
The Sulista Project's ~1,000m of historical diamond drill core and ~5,000m of historical auger drill core will be expedited for re-assay.
Brazilian Rare Earths' CEO and MD, Bernardo da Veiga, commented:
"Our team is pleased to secure the advanced Sulista Rare Earth Project which strengthens our dominant position over the Rocha da Rocha Rare Earth Province.
The discovery of ultra-high grade REE-Nb-Sc mineralisation at the Monte Alto Project demonstrated the value of key exploration pathfinders used to successfully locate these unique high grade rare earth deposits. These key pathfinders include pronounced geophysical anomalies, high-grade monazite-sands (with over 1% TREO) near surface, and specific magnetic and gravity geophysical signatures.
We will leverage these successful exploration pathfinders across the Sulista Project - and we are poised to extend our exploration for new 'Monte Alto' style exploration targets along the geophysical trendline that runs down the extensive spine of this world class province."
Option Terms
On exercise of the option BRE paid the vendors a cash payment of BRL 4,800,000 (A$1,485,835 at a FX rate of 3.23 BRL per A$). BRE is also required to issue the vendors 8,000,000 fully paid ordinary shares in BRE (Shares) within five business days of BRE receiving from the Agencia Nacional de Mineracao (ANM) all relevant information required to enable BRE to complete, to BRE's satisfaction, due diligence related to exploration licences 870.002/2013 and 870.930/2013. The Shares will be subject to the escrow conditions set out in the ASX Announcement dated 22 January 2024.
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Bernardo da Veiga MD and CEO Brazilian Rare Earths bdv@brazilianrareearths.com
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