Begins Exploration of New East Pilbara Manganese Assets
Accelerate Resources Limited (ASX:AX8) has entered into a binding Option Agreement with Pardoo Resources Pty Ltd and Great Sandy Pty to acquire the Manganese and Iron Ore rights on Ripon Hills and Braeside West projects in the East Pilbara Manganese Field in Western Australia.
The Projects are situated 120km east of Marble Bar within 70km of the Woodie Woodie Manganese Mine and only 250km from the port of Port Hedland.
Managing Director, Yaxi Zhan, said manganese is a critical element used in steel production. The steel industry is poised to continue growing, providing a steady source of demand for manganese. New demand is arising from clean-energy applications. High purity manganese (HPM) is used as a cheaper substitute for cobalt in nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) battery cathodes.
He said manganese is increasingly a critical link in the lithium-ion battery supply chain and has been added to the Strategic Minerals stockpile along with cobalt, chrome and molybdenum. There is a high probability of supply disruption from South African production and the wind down of dominant Northern Territory Groote Eyland Manganese Operations. High grade deposits capable of producing lump or fines product with grades in excess of 40% Mn are critical in steel and battery market supply chains.
“We are excited by the opportunity to explore within a world class region for high grade manganese, a critical mineral for battery and steel production with forecast demand shortfalls. This timely, high value strategy is in a proven yet underexplored area with excellent infrastructure and we believe there is significant opportunity for new discoveries,” Mr Zhan said.
“The company intends to commence prospect definition and field work immediately to define initial drill targets for evaluation.”
The Braeside West Prospect (E45/5854) covers 139 sq. km and also offers the opportunity to identify manganese mineralisation of similar nature to the deposits of the nearby (~80km) Woodie Woodie Mine that mined 41 manganese deposits since 1950 with an average deposit size of 500,000t grading 40% Mn.
The Prospect is also located directly south and along strike of the Baramine (high-grade) manganese mineral occurrences, identified by Shaw River Manganese Limited from 2010- 2014. Shaw River successfully identified both replacement style manganese mineralisation as well as Woodie Woodie “style“ high grade mineralisation with drilling activity close to the northern boundaries of the Project area. This data will be interrogated to seek extensions within the Project area.
The tenement has undergone several exploration phases. Work consisting of Geological mapping, rock chip sampling, VTEM geophysics and drilling has been completed. Jupiter Mines Limited (WAMEX: A090762_E45_2639_2011A_11693517) 1 were the last to work the area with the completion of a VTEM geophysical survey, collection of eight rock chip and geological mapping. The VTEM Survey partially covered the Application area with over 20 untested anomalies found to occur within the Project.
Pilbara Manganese Pty Ltd (WAMEX: A097228_C62_2005_2012A_16004449) also completed a Gravity geophysical survey and a limited five-hole RC drilling program in the application area Consolidated Minerals Limited (WAMEX: A057720) was also active in the area drilling eight Aircore holes. In all cases, manganese mineralisation was identified and Accelerate will look to reprocess that data, ground truth geological finding and validate all data once the Application is granted.
For further information please visit: https://www.ax8.com.au
