New Frontier Minerals Limited (LSE/ASX: NFM) is pleased to announce the maiden reverse circulation (‘RC’) drill program comprising up to 46 holes to test near surface mineralistion at the Harts Range Heavy Rare Earths Project, located 140km north-east of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, Australia has been finalised.
Highlights
Maiden RC drill program comprising up to 46 holes to test surface mineralistion at the Harts Range Heavy Rare Earth and Niobium Project, NT, has now been finalised
Recent correspondence from the mining regulator indicates that approvals to commence the drilling campaign is imminent, and NFM’s geological team is now back at site this week
Logistics planning is progressing well, with significant preparatory work already completed on site to reduce mobilisation lead time, with site works to commence following receipt of regulatory approvals
The campaign’s focus is to understand the extent of heavy rare earth mineralisation, especially dysprosium and terbium, which are in strong demand for their key role in high-performance magnets
The Board believes insights from the drilling campaign has the potential to create significant value for shareholders
Chairman Gerrard Hall commented: ‘Finalising the drill targets for the upcoming campaign at the Harts Range Project marks another important milestone for NFM. Since acquiring the project in the last 12 months, the NFM geological team has completed systematic exploration activities and successfully identified numerous high-priority targets, which are now set to be drill-tested. The Board considers the delineation of these targets within only 12 months to be a significant achievement within what it believes is a highly compelling heavy rare earth system.
‘Moreover, with near-surface mineralisation and a dominant proportion of high-value heavy rare earth lanthanides such as dysprosium and terbium, the Harts Range Project is uniquely positioned to potentially play a significant role in future global supply chains for critical minerals.
‘The Board looks forward to the drilling campaign commencing and insights coming to hand, as they could potentially generate significant value for shareholders.’
IMPENDING RC DRILLING CAMPAIGN
NFM’s geological team is preparing logistics and readying to mobilise to site, as the Northern Territory’s Department of Mines has indicated that final regulatory approvals to commence the drilling campaign is imminent.
The proposed reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign will comprise up to 46 drill-holes for circa 2,500m to test the numerous prospects that have been identified from the exploration activities undertaken at Harts Range over the past 12 months (Figure 1). The program has been designed to test depth extensions to the near-surface zones of high-grade heavy rare earth and niobium mineralisation, identified from field campaigns.
Figure 1: Prospects and planned RC drill-hole locations at Harts Range Project
The Harts Range Project continues to demonstrate its status as a unique heavy rare earths project, exhibiting high-grade mineralisation at surface and a consistently high proportion of critical magnet rare earth elements[1].
Notably, recent metallurgical test-work on a 25kg bulk sample returned a very high HREO/TREO ratio of 94.8%, confirming the dominance of key magnet rare earth elements dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb) -both essential for high-performance permanent magnets, electric vehicles, and defence applications[2].
NFM is concurrently advancing studies into conventional and novel processing pathways for heavy rare earth-enriched material, with the objective of accelerating commercialisation and supporting future offtake discussions with global magnet supply-chain participants.
For further information please contact
New Frontier Minerals Limited
+61 8 6558 0886
Gerrard Hall (UK), Chairman
S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP
(Corporate Broker)
+44 (0)1483 413500
Ewan Leggat
+44 (0) 20 7409 3494
St Brides Partners Ltd
(Financial PR)
+44 (0)20 7236 1177
Ana Ribeiro and Charlotte Page
About New Frontier Minerals
New Frontier Minerals Limited is an Australian-based focussed explorer, with a strategy to develop multi-commodity assets that demonstrate future potential as an economic mining operation. Through the application of disciplined and structured exploration, New Frontier has identified assets deemed core and is actively progressing these interests up the value curve. Current focus will be on advancing exploration activity at the Harts Range Niobium, Uranium and Heavy Rare Earths Project which is circa 140km north-east from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Other interests include the NWQ Copper Project, situated in the copper-belt district circa 150km north of Mt Isa in Queensland. New Frontier Minerals is listed on the LSE and ASX under the ticker ‘NFM’.
Competent Persons Statement
The scientific and technical information in this announcement, which relates to exploration results and the geology of the deposits described, is based on information compiled and approved for release by Mark Biggs. Mark Biggs is a Member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM Member # 107188) and meets the requirements of a Competent Person as defined by the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code 2012 Edition). Mark Biggs has 35 years of experience relevant to Rare Earth Elements (REE), industrial mineral copper mineralisation types, as well as expertise in the quality and potential mining methods of the deposits under consideration. Additionally, he has 25 years of experience in the estimation, assessment, and evaluation of exploration results and mineral resource estimates, which are the activities for which he accepts responsibility. He also successfully completed an AusIMM Online Course Certificate in 2012 JORC Code Reporting. Mark Biggs is a consultant with ROM Resources and was engaged by New Frontier Minerals Limited to prepare the documentation for several prospects, specifically those within the Harts Range Prospects upon which the Report is based. Mr Biggs consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on his information and supporting documents in the form and context in which it appears.
Furthermore, the full nature of the relationship between himself and New Frontier Minerals Limited has been disclosed, including any potential conflicts of interest. Mark Biggs is a director of ROM Resources, a company that is a shareholder of New Frontier Minerals Limited, and ROM Resources provides occasional geological consultancy services to New Frontier Minerals Limited.
The Report or excerpts referenced in this statement have been reviewed, ensuring that they are based on and accurately reflect, in both form and context, the supporting documentation relating to exploration results and any mineral resource estimates. The release of the Report and this statement has been consented to by the Directors of New Frontier Minerals Limited.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain information in this document refers to the intentions of New Frontier Minerals Ltd, but these are not intended to be forecasts, forward-looking statements, or statements about future matters for the purposes of the Corporations Act or any other applicable law. The occurrence of events in the future is subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause New Frontier Minerals Ltd’s actual results, performance, or achievements to differ from those referred to in this announcement. Accordingly, New Frontier Minerals Ltd, its directors, officers, employees, and agents, do not give any assurance or guarantee that the occurrence of the events referred to in this announcement will occur as contemplated. The interpretations and conclusions reached in this announcement are based on current geological theory and the best evidence available to the authors at the time of writing. It is the nature of all scientific conclusions that they are founded on an assessment of probabilities and, however high these probabilities might be, they make no claim for complete certainty. Any economic decisions that might be taken based on interpretations or conclusions contained in this announcement will therefore carry an element of risk. The announcement may contain forward-looking statements that involve several risks and uncertainties. These risks include but are not limited to, economic conditions, stock market fluctuations, commodity demand and price movements, access to infrastructure, timing of approvals, regulatory risks, operational risks, reliance on key personnel, Ore Reserve and Mineral Resource estimates, native title, foreign currency fluctuations, exploration risks, mining development, construction, and commissioning risk. These forward-looking statements are expressed in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. These statements reflect current expectations, intentions or strategies regarding the future and assumptions based on currently available information. Should one or more of the risks or uncertainties materialise, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary from the expectations, intentions and strategies described in this announcement. No obligation is assumed to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, opinions, and estimates should change or to reflect other future developments.
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