Ark Mines has updated the mineral resource estimate (MRE) for its Sandy Mitchell rare earths project in far north Queensland, further supporting its potential of becoming one of the largest “surface-expressed” rare earth projects globally.
Sandy Mitchell’s measured MRE now stands at 71.8 million tonnes (Mt) at 1733 parts per million (ppm) monazite equivalent, using a lower cut-off grade of 700ppm monazite equivalent.
The measured MRE incorporates results from Ark’s initial Stage 1 drilling program completed in 2023 and Stage 2 drilling for an overall 231 per cent – or 50.1Mt – resource increase over the previous MRE and a confidence classification upgrade from the indicated category to the measured category.
It is also set to support a mining licence application, accelerate ongoing strategic partnership and offtake discussions, and underpin a forthcoming scoping study, which is well-advanced and scheduled for release in the coming weeks.
The scoping study’s results will be implemented into a pre-feasibility study, which is expected to be completed in the December 2024 quarter.
Ark Mines executive director Ben Emery said the updated measured MRE will aid the company’s ambitions in getting Sandy Mitchell into production.
“The commercialisation pathway for Sandy Mitchell is now more clearly defined, given the fact it is the simplest REE (rare earth elements) style of deposit to mine and beneficiate,” Emery said.
“Importantly, the MzEq (monazite equivalent) grades of 1733ppm are also indicative of potential commercial scale based on current market prices for monazite concentrate.”
The updated measured MRE was developed from just 4.5 per cent of the available anomaly area at Sandy Mitchell, with 87 square kilometres available based on the exploration target announced in July, which was defined as 1.3–1.5 billion tonnes at 1250 to 1490ppm monazite equivalent.
“We remain of the view that Sandy Mitchell represents a significant commercial development opportunity for the rare earth and heavy minerals industry in Australia, with low-cost processing for a marketable MzEq concentrate which can be sold to processing refineries,” Emery said.
“In addition to the volume and grade of this measured resource, it still represents a small percentage of the broader exploration target at Sandy Mitchell, further highlighting the project’s potential as a major development opportunity.”
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