Dalaroo Metals Ltd (ASX: DAL) has obtained promising new results from its systematic first pass orientation soil geochemical sampling relating to Rare Earth Elements (REE) prospectivity at the View Hill area in the Lyons River Project in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia.
Sampling has only been completed on three lines with a total of 207 samples collected at 100m intervals.
“We are excited to have delineated a soil geochemical anomaly with good results for the heavy end of the rare earths spectrum, for example up to 1,043 ppm Total Rare Earths Oxides (TREO), on the first ever sampling programme on the eastern side of our Lyons River Project. This was coincident with a 2km strike length Thorium anomaly,” Managing Director, Harjinder Kehal, said.
“Results from the follow-up systematic soil geochemical and rock chip sampling at View Hill will dictate the next phase of exploration activities including drill testing.
“Heavy rare earths are important because they play a key role in emerging technology including electric vehicles, smart phones and solar panels. To have significant levels of TREO in first ever soil sampling program at View Hill area is a compelling reason to conduct more exploration,” Mr Kehal said.
Technical Commentary
A strong REE soil anomaly which coincides with a large 2km strike length north-west striking high thorium anomaly observed in radiometrics imagery data now highlights a third REE target at the Lyons River Project, in addition to the Marloo River and Gamma areas delineated during the 2022 field season.
Next Steps
With the conclusion of the wet season in the Gascoyne region, preparations are well underway for Dalaroo to commence field operations during April 2023 with the mobilization of its field camp and personnel to the Lyons River Project in Western Australia.
REE Potential
Exploration programmes planned for the 2023 field season include completion of its systematic soil geochemical programmes at View Hill and extension soil geochemical programmes at Marloo River prospect where a REE soil/rock target has been delineated with peak value of 0.89% TREO.
First pass drilling programmes are proposed to test targets at Marloo River during 2023. Results from the systematic soil geochemical and rock chip sampling at View Hill will guide the next phase of exploration activities including drill testing.
Lithium Potential
At Marloo River, soil geochemical sampling campaigns (100m x 250m sample spacing) during 2022 revealed zones of elevated REEs (up to 1278ppm TREO) and Li (up to 93.5ppm. Within the vicinity of soil samples containing >1000ppm TREO and >90ppm Li, an outcropping feldspar-biotite-rich pegmatite body was rock chip sampled and returned assay values of 0.89% TREO and 215ppm Li.
In addition, at Marloo River, detailed mapping and representative rock chip sampling of pegmatites will be completed across the prospect area. Whole rock geochemistry of the various pegmatite bodies and any significant internal zonation may then be assessed for a potentially large-scale rare metal mineralization system at Marloo River.
In the View Hill pegmatite zone, regional scale north-south oriented 100m-spaced soil sampling transects will assess geochemical zonation and, therefore, trends in fertility and rare metal/Li prospectivity across the large 9km x 6km area. It is expected that definition of such geochemical trends will aid in vectoring towards high-grade rare metal mineralization at the deposit scale.
Pegmatites in the adjacent Yinnetharra district form part of the intrusive Thirty Three Supersuite (TTS), which comprises granite, granitic pegmatites (microcline-muscovite-tourmaline) and rare-metal pegmatites.
Dalaroo’s lithium anomalous rock chip results targets are located approximately 22km south-west of the Yinnetharra Lithium Project. The Yinnetharra Lithium Project was recently acquired by Red Dirt for an initial purchase price consideration of A$15M, following significant drill intersections that included 23m @1.02% Li2O
For further information please visit: https://www.dalaroometals.com.au/
