Pensana plc (LON:PRE) has reported the analytical results for the three trenches and nine pits sampled at Sulima West laterite during late 2023.
The Sulima West laterite is located 75 kilometres north of the Longonjo Rare Earths Project and test work programmes are designed to test for the amenability of this mineralisation to be processed at Longonjo.
The Coola Exploration Project of which the company has a 90% interest is located approximately 160 kilometres east of the Port of Lobito, originally covering an area of 7,456 square kilometres.
The Company has completed multiple field programmes in 2020, 2021 and 2022 confirming carbonatite/alkaline rare earth mineralisation on two highly prospective targets, the Coola carbonatite and Sulima West laterite.
Highlights
· Trench and pit sampling results confirm a six hectare, enriched laterite at Sulima West grading 2 – 3% TREO.
· Sampling of three additional historic trenches totalling 206 metres averaged 1.8% TREO (La2O3 + CeO2 + Nd2O5 + Pr6O11).
· Higher grade zones intersected in these trenches include:
▪ Trench 2:2.3% TREO over 32 metres (0-32 m)
▪ Trench 3: 2.3% TREO over 28 metres (24-52 m)
▪ Trench 4: 2.2% TREO over 54 metres (0-54 m)
· All the pits within the six hectare >3% soil anomaly are mineralised with an average grade of 2.1% TREO and with all pits ending in mineralization.
- Notable pit intersections include:
▪ Pit 14: 3.0 % TREO over 4 metres
▪ Pit 15: 2.8% TREO over 4 metres
Exploration Manager, Grant Hayward, commented:
“The trench sampling confirms the current understanding of the grade and lateral extent of the Sulima West laterite and the pitting shows mineralisation to depths greater than 5 metres. All pits ended in mineralisation.
Should the current metallurgical testwork campaign on the Sulima West laterite show promising beneficiation results, then the full grade and depth extent of the laterite will be tested by drilling.
The deployment of a portable XRF is a game changer with no more lengthy delays waiting for analytical results before being able to progress activities which will greatly enhance our understanding and shorten the discovery time for these new deposits.”
Three historic trenches totalling 206 metres and nine historic pits ranging in depth from 4 to 5 metres were cleaned, logged and sampled during Q3 2023 (Figure 1). Samples were dried and riffle split, and a 0.5 kg aliquot removed for crushing/pulverising to 100% passing 500 microns.
This sample is then placed in a zip lock plastic bag and analysed with the recently acquired SciAps X-555 REE Analyzer. This pXRF device has a 55kV x-ray tube for superior limit of detection and has been optimized for rare earth element analysis.
The average TREO grade for the 3 recent trenches is 1.8 % over the 206 metres sampled. Higher grade zones occur within the trenches returning 4REO values (La2O3 + CeO2 + Nd2O5 + Pr6O11) averaging 2.3% over widths between 28 to 54 metres.
All pits within the six hectare >3% in soil anomaly are between 4 – 5 metres deep and averaged 2.1% TREO with Pit 14 and Pit 15 reporting 3.0% and 2.8% TREO over 4 metres respectively.
Figures 1: Sulima West trench and pit pXRF sampling results.
For further details please go to https://pensana.co.uk/coola-exploration-project/ on the Pensana website.
