Drilling unearths ‘significant zones’ at Malawi rare earths prospect
Canada-listed Mkango Resources says the recently completed first phase of its drilling programme at the Songwe rare earths exploration project, in southern Malawi, confirmed the existence of significant zones of rare earths.
Mkango president Alex Lemon reports that the first phase of the drilling exercise involved the sinking of 13 holes totalling 1 990.9 m.
“Drilling and surface mapping to date have confirmed that the extent of the mineralised carbonatite is much greater than indicated by historical exploration.”
Lemon explains that in one area that is also targeted for the next phase of the exploration programme, drilling, surface mapping and sampling outlined TREO-enriched carbonatite, fenite and breccia lithologies.
The exploration inititive has proved that rare-earth mineralisation, in addition to niobium mineralisation, is pervasive throughout the carbonatite, breccia and fenite lithologies and there appears to be a separate phase of heavy rare-earth- and yttrium-enriched mineralisation which extends well beyond the carbonatite zones.
Lemon says mineralogical analysis of the rare-earth-bearing lithologies is well advanced and representative sections of core are now being selected for scoping metallurgical testwork to start in 2012.
Hereports that systematic channel sampling using rock saws is under way at Songwe with a view to further delineating and extending rare-earth mineralisation at surface.
“Geological mapping and sampling is focused on refining the geological model and delineating additional zones of mineralised carbonatite, breccia and fenite,” says Lemon.
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