Prospech Limited: Rare Earth Zones Identified from Historic Drill Core at Korsnäs Project, Finland
Highlights
- Inspection of historic drill core at the Korsnäs Project in Finland has identified zones of potentially Rare Earth Element (‘REE’) mineralised carbonatite.
- Historical drill core from 60 holes stored at GTK government facility are available for inspection and sampling.
- Historical sampling of core focused on only visually ore grade lead mineralisation leaving significant zones of potentially REE mineralised carbonatite unsampled.
- Prospech’s geologists collected 65 ½-core samples from previously unsampled and prospective carbonatite and these samples have been submitted for analysis to ALS Outokumpu Finland. Further sampling is planned.
- During inspection of the core, Prospech’s geologists recognised that the potentially REE mineralised carbonatite host is much broader in extent than the historical sampling which focused on lead shoots.
- Historical data for the full rare earth element suite has been located for only one interval in one hole (KR-289) and this shows encouraging results:
6.2m @ 17,514 ppm (or 1.75%) Total Rare Earth Oxide (‘TREO’) from 64m
- The nearby Korsnäs lead mine (now closed) left behind a tailings storage facility (‘TSF’) which is considered an accessible target for REE exploration.
- Prospech’s estimate from modern LIDAR analysis is that the TSF volume is approximate 0.57 million cubic metres which includes the TSF wall material of unknown volume.
- 81% of the TSF area falls within the Korsnäs Project current tenure.
11 May 2023 - Prospech Limited (‘Prospech’ or ‘the Company’) is pleased to report the completion of inspection and sampling of historic drill core from the Korsnäs Project in Finland, which has identified zones of potential REE mineralisation.
As detailed in the ASX announcement of 15 March 2023 the Company has reached an agreement for the earn-in acquisition of 100% of Bambra Oy (‘Bambra’), a Finnish company with lithium and rare earth element exploration projects in Finland. These projects are the Jokikangas REE project, the Korsnäs REE project and Saarenkylä lithium project in Finland (‘Finland Projects’).
Prospech Managing Director Jason Beckton commented: “As historical data is combined with new information from the recent site visit, the possibility of a substantial REE occurrence at Korsnäs is becoming increasingly evident. The previous Korsnäs mine, which the Korsnäs Project tenure surrounds, primarily produced lead, with only a small amount of rare earth concentrate extracted in its final years.
Now, the focus is on exploring for REE, and observations from the recent core logging and sampling have revealed that potential zones of REE mineralisation were not sampled if there was no obvious association with visual lead (galena). The rocks that contain REE are more widely represented in the drilling than the lead-bearing ores and both drilling and geophysics suggest that multiple parallel stacked zones of REE mineralisation should be targeted.
The old mine TSF provides a readily accessible REE target that can be relatively quickly explored.”.
The Korsnäs REE project consists of exploration licence applications and reservations surrounding the now closed Korsnäs lead mine, which operated between 1959 and 1972 (Figure 1). Total mine production was reported as 0.87 Mt of ore averaging 3.6% Pb. At the time it was recognised that the mineralisation contained allanite and several other REE-containing minerals.
Within the Korsnäs Project tenure, core from 60 historic drillholes is stored in the Finnish government GTK core storage facility at Loppi. Prospech's geologists have examined the core and record data from several holes. During the examination, it was noted that the past core sampling activities had only targeted visibly high-grade lead mineralisation, overlooking larger and potentially significant areas of REE-mineralised carbonatite. The Company’s geologists have gathered 65 ½-core samples from untested and promising carbonatite sections, which have now been sent to ALS Outokumpu Finland for analysis. Further sampling is planned.
Figure 1. Location map of the Korsnäs Project tenure (Yellow lines). Strongly anomalous (up to 7.3% La+Ce) La (lanthanum) and Ce (cerium) rock geochemistry are from glacial till. These samples are from transported material with a probable origin of nearby rare earth-hosting carbonatite structures. Importantly, these structures are highlighted by gravity lows (elongated red shapes) and represent targets for exploration.
Link to English original news:
About Finland and the Finland Projects
Finland has established itself as a desirable mining location within the European Union and has earned the 29th spot globally in the 2022 Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies' Policy Perception Index, as well as the 13th position in the Investment Attractiveness Index, surpassing regions like Queensland, NSW, and Victoria.
The Korsnäs project’s tenure is secured by Exploration Permit Application Number ML2021:0019 Hägg and Reservation Notification VA2023:0040 Hägg 2. Exploration permit application secures priority during its handling time and reservation notification priority for two years from its lodging date whilst applying for an exploration permit. Once an exploration permit is granted, it may be extended up to a maximum of 3 years at a time so that the permit is valid for a maximum of 15 years.
Figure 8. Location map of the Korsnäs tenure
Figure 9. Location map of the Korsnäs, Jokikangas REE and Saarenkylä lithium projects
For further information, please contact.
Jason Beckton
Managing Director
Prospech Limited
+61 (0)438 888 612
This announcement has been authorised for release to the market by the Board of Prospech Limited.
Competent Person’s Statement
The information in this Report that relates to Exploration Results is based on information compiled by Mr Jason Beckton, who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr Beckton, who is Managing Director of the Company, has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 edition of the ‘Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves’. Mr Beckton consents to the inclusion in this Report of the matters based on the information in the form and context in which it appears.
Link to English original news: