Latin Resources continues to release exceptional results from its maiden air-core drilling program at its 100 per cent owned Noombenberry Halloysite-Kaolin Project in WA.
Latin Resources confirmed high grade and ultra-bright halloysite, and has moved swiftly to formally engage an independent consulting group to undertake a maiden mineral resource estimate. The company is hoping this estimate can match and potentially surpass the $656M capped Andromeda Metals results.
Andromeda has delivered investors a more than 500 per cent return in recent months on the back of its halloysite exploration in Australia. In September last year, Andromeda reported an inaugural JORC mineral resource estimate at deposit of 51.5 million tonnes.
Assuming Latin Resources can deliver on a JORC resource, it could deliver similar on-market performance, especially as its exploration drilling covers an area of 18 square kilometres, as opposed to Andromeda’s 1.2 square kilometres.
Halloysite is a hard mineral to find, and is valued highly by downstream buyers. The price of pure halloysite now sells for up to US$4,000 per tonne. The initial batch of 100 samples submitted for detailed test work confirmed very high-grade halloysite, with grades of up to 37 per cent Halloysite, and multiple intersections of over 20 per cent Halloysite. Over the last two weeks, Latin Resources has continued to deliver strong results.
Results from four float samples collected from dam walls at two separate locations within Latin Resources’ new tenement applications have confirmed bright white (>74 ISO-B) and ultra-bright white (>84 ISO-B) kaolin up to 15 kilometres along strike to the north-east of the company’s main drilling area.
“Exceptional results had been received from four grab/float samples collected as a part of a reconnaissance exercise in consultation with the landholder at the company’s 100 per cent owned Noombenberry Halloysite Project in Western Australia,” Latin Resources CEO Chris Gale said at the time.
This week, Latin Resources released a second batch of results that has continued to show bright to ultra-bright kaolinite and high-grade halloysite with individual composite sample grades of up to 23 per cent halloysite/87 ISO-B Brightness.
These latest results serve as further confirmation that the group could be in a position to significantly expand what is now shaping up as a highly promising resource.
Gale said, “We are extremely pleased to see our initial results mirrored in this next batch of results from our test work.
“We now have results for over 50 of our 197 holes drilled at Noombenberry, and we are seeing continuity and consistency of the high-grade halloysite and bright to ultra-bright white kaolinite.
“This is shaping up to be a very large and more importantly, a high-quality deposit that we expect will command strong attention from potential end-users.
“Work is well underway on building our geological wireframes, so that we can be ready to commence the resource estimate as soon as all of our test work results have been received.
“The team is focused on fast-tracking this process, as well as looking toward the next phase of drilling to extend our coverage to the north, where our initial results show the mineralisation remains open.”
While there are still more results to come, the company has flagged its intention to re-commence drilling once all statutory approvals have been received to extend the current drill coverage into its adjacent 100 per cent owned tenement E77/2624.
The company is already receiving enquiries from potential offtake partners and will continue to progress these discussions as it gains a better appreciation of the scale and characteristics of the Halloysite project.
Shares in Latin Resources have surged in the last 12 months at one stage even doubling its share price.