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Airborne magnetic and radiometric surveying at Venus Metals’ Mangaroon North rare earths project in WA’s Gascoyne region has identified high-priority rare earths carbonatite rock targets.
Eight ironstone-hosted rare earths targets, considered similar to Hastings Technology Metals’ Yangibana and Dreadnought Resources’ Mangaroon projects, were identified over a 10km strike by the survey. Several carbonatite targets with anomalous potassium responses were identified along a crustal structure stretching 6km in length.
Discrete narrow-strike, extensive magnetic highs identified by the survey have been interpreted to represent ironstone units worthy of field inspection and sampling for rare earths mineralisation.
Venus assessed the magnetic data for gold and base-metal mineralisation and identified several target areas for follow-up work. The magnetic survey was undertaken on an exploration licence immediately adjacent to Dreadnaught Mangaroon discovery.
Venus Metals Corporation subsidiary Redscope Enterprises will increase its net smelter royalty from the Youanmi Gold Mining leases to one per cent after signing a deal with St Claire Resources.
Redscope currently holds a 0.7 per cent net smelter royalty for the Youanmi leases that will increase to one per cent following the completion of the deal with St Clair handing over its 0.3 per cent share.
In return, Venus has paid a $50,000 deposit to St Clair and will hand over $450,000 in addition to issuing three million fully paid ordinary shares at a deemed price of 18 cents per share once the agreement is finalised.
Venus Metals Corporation and Rox Resources are headed for a mineral resource upgrade at their Youanmi gold project after impressive results from resource development drilling, including a 4m hit at 14.85 grams per tonne gold from 298m.
The joint venture partners say the high-grade results confirm significant gold endowment at the project that sits about 480km north-east of Perth.
The latest assays are from an ongoing 23,000m campaign at the operation that is now more than 50 per cent complete, with additional results showing 4m going 7.6g/t gold from 311m and 6.53m grading 10.31g/t gold from 339.47m.
Venus Metals Corporation has upgraded the mineral resource estimate for its Bellchambers gold deposit in WA’s Goldfields region with a 35 per cent increase in tonnage and a 40 per cent rise in gold ounces.
The updated JORC-compliant resource now sits at 722,000 tonnes at 1.31 grams per tonne gold for a total of 30,500 ounces at a cut-off grade of 0.5g/t gold. The indicated mineral resource category now holds 22,100 gold ounces.
The deposit forms part of Venus’ 90 per cent-owned Sandstone operation, which sits about 70km north-east of the Youanmi gold project. The company recently completed an RC program at the site that highlighted assays of 34m going 1.25g/t gold from 160m, including 1m grading an impressive 9.47g/t gold from 178m.
Its main game was the advanced Youanmi gold JV with Rox Resources, but this asset is now set to be consolidated into RXL to simplify the ownership structure ahead of development.
This means a solid payday for VMC shareholders.
RXL will shell out 110m shares to VMC for its part in the JV – worth ~$30.8m, equivalent to VMC’s entire market cap — with 55m of those to be distributed to shareholders.
The remaining 55m shares with be retained by VMC, which will own 18% of RXL once the deal completes.
There’s also potential for these shares to be worth a lot more as a development decision approaches, with VMC noting that RXL “currently trades at a resource multiple that is a substantial discount to its peers”.
Managing director Matt Hogan, a veteran dealmaker who once sold an iron ore company to BHP for $204m, will be appointed to the RXL board as non-exec director.
Joint venture partners Venus Metals and Rox Resources have hit bonanza-grade results from an RC hole sunk into their Youanmi South prospect including a 3m intercept at almost five ounces per tonne gold from 218m.
The outstanding 138.7 g/t gold hit was contained in a wider 28m segment grading more than an ounce per tonne at 34.81 g/t gold from 204m and includes an 18m section going 51.96 g/t gold from 207m and 10m at 79.55 g/t gold from 211m.