Ionic Rare Earths Limited (“IonicRE” or “the Company”) (ASX: IXR) is pleased to advise that after recent significant milestones, the Company has increased its ownership interest in the Makuutu Rare Earths Project to 46% as it moves towards an agreed minimum potential ownership of 60%.
The project & executive teams continue to deliver above expectations, inclusive of the following;
- Upgrading the Inferred and Indicated Mineral Resource to 78.6 Mt @ 840 ppm TREO, at a cut-off grade of 300 ppm TREO-Ce2O3 (ASX:23 June 2020); while maintaining its Exploration Target (ASX: 4 September 2019) at:270 – 530 million tonnes grading 0.04 – 0.1% (400 – 1,000 ppm) TREO*
*This Exploration Target is conceptual in nature but is based on reasonable grounds and assumptions. There has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource.
- Metallurgical optimisation testwork demonstrated a several fold increase in REE extractions using simple extraction techniques (ASX: 26 May 2020) and validated on samples tested from the Makuutu Eastern Zone (EL 1766) (ASX: 4 August 2020);
- Resumption of field activities (ASX: 11 June 2020) including restart of the 4,000 metre core drill program to test the 26-kilometre long mineralisation corridor on an area more than three (3) times larger than the existing Mineral Resource area (ASX: 15 July 2020) ; and
- Recently closing both an oversubscribed A$2.5 million placement (before costs) to sophisticated investors at A$0.008 (ASX: 26 June 2020) and a A$1.0 million Share Purchase Plan to existing shareholders at A$0.008 (ASX: 27 July 2020), both oversubscribed and scaled back.