McLaren hits heavy mineral sands paydirt in Eucla | Australian Markets

The latest drilling blitz at McLaren Minerals’ titanium project in Western Australia’s Eucla Basin has revealed thick new intercepts of heavy mineral-rich sands coupled with an surprising groundwater discovery and affirmation of an in-ground gypsum source.

The 40 per cent full marketing campaign is targeted on infill drilling within a beforehand recognized mineral sands strandline that’s about 40 kilometres west of Balladonia. McLaren expects to wrap up the 6000-metre air core drill program by mid-April.

Drill samples have picked up a regular string of heavy mineral-bearing sediments that sit in paleo-marine sediments beneath the floor and observe a constant pattern that rises progressively to the east. The multi-layered zones are predominantly made up of ilmenite and rutile, with solely small ranges of “trash” minerals in the combination.

Recent holes in the project’s northern finish have punched by means of an further 10m of mineralised materials beforehand not mapped, which the company says factors to a bigger-than-expected useful resource envelope.

McLaren Minerals managing director Simon Finnis mentioned: “It is very good to see an increase in the mineral sediment profile noted in the northern area. Finding water was unexpected but a real bonus. Gypsum was always likely to play a role in our slimes management strategy, so having a potential source within our tenement package could offer meaningful benefits from an operating cost perspective.”

Six tonnes of mineralised materials taken from 69 holes throughout a part of the useful resource are meant to symbolize the mine’s first 5 years of materials and have now been despatched for testing at IHC Mining’s Queensland laboratory.

The take a look at work will refine McLaren’s mine schedule and fine-tune the management of residual clay impurities, often known as slimes.

Earlier lab work discovered that slimes might be lowered to much less than 200 grams per tonne when a 3 per cent gypsum settling agent was added.

The latest drilling has additionally found gypsum in the north-west nook of McLaren’s tenement, which may considerably cut back the project’s operational prices. Grab samples have been taken for testing with additional drilling deliberate to outline a significant provide.

McLaren wants to verify the standard and extent of the gypsum prevalence however says it’s buoyed by its presence.

The examine additionally confirmed ilmenite in the ultimate product produced was of a high enough grade to be sulphate ilmenite and the rutile was sometimes 95.7 per cent titanium dioxide with solely a 1.5 per cent iron impurity. The zircon had much less than 265 elements per million uranium and thorium, which is taken into account low by industry requirements.

In a shock win for McLaren, three of the drill holes additionally struck an all-important source of pressurised saline groundwater at a depth of solely 20 metres. The water sits on prime of a clay base and flowed freely during drilling.

The company will run additional checks however says the water discovery, if discovered to be appropriate, may tick a vital project infrastructure box.

Although poor climate stalled the rigs for a short time, McLaren has resumed its drilling program on the project and is monitoring in direction of a mid-April wrap-up.

Punters will possible keep a close eye out for the outcomes of McLaren’s assay checks underway in Perth and due in a few weeks, which is able to help transfer the company a step nearer to finishing its feasibility research.

Is your ASX-listed company doing one thing attention-grabbing? Contact: [email protected]