Impact Minerals has discovered a significant rare earth soil anomaly in its newly identified Hyperion prospect at the Arkun project in Western Australia.
Recent soil geochemistry surveys at the site found high-tenor rare earth element (REE) results at the Hyperion prospect, with up to 5880 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth element oxides (TREO) and yttrium registered.
Impact said these are some of the highest reported TREO results in WA.
“The discovery of the Hyperion prospect is a significant breakthrough in exploring the Arkun project, which has so far focused on nickel, platinum, and copper,” Impact managing director Mike Jones said.
“Impact’s exploration strategy recognises that the Corrigin tectonic zone has potential for various commodities, including rare earth elements, and the Hyperion prospect could host a large REE deposit in the clays developed in weathered granite.
“However, the key to an economic discovery is to evaluate how easily the REEs can be extracted through simple acid leaching.
For this purpose, initial drill testing and bulk sampling for metallurgical test work will be conducted in the upcoming field season.
“The extraction characteristics will help guide resource definition drilling later in the year.”
These new anomalies add to the previously reported 10km long REE anomaly at the company’s Horseshoe prospect located 25km east of Hyperion.
Impact said this emphasises the significant exploration potential for REE at the Arkun project.