Havilah Resources further enhances rare earth potential of Kalkaroo copper-gold bounty

Havilah Resources Ltd (ASX:HAV) (FRA:FWL) hosts a large copper and gold bounty at the large Kalkaroo Project in South Australia and is confident it can further enhance value by economically recovering rare earths as a by-product. Copper and gold are performing strongly with highly positive future market fundamentals while rare earth is another strong market sector and projects around the world are attracting considerable interest. REE discovery potential Havilah has previously identified strong rare earth element (REE) discovery potential on its extensive Curnamona Craton exploration tenements in northeastern South Australia, including the flagship Kalkaroo project. This was confirmed by independent international REE expert Emeritus Professor Ken Collerson who drew analogies to the large Bayan Obo REE deposit in China. Research studies Over the past five months Havilah, in collaboration with the University of South Australia’s Future Industries Institute, has been conducting research studies into the nature of the Kalkaroo REE mineralisation. Samples were collected from West Kalkaroo drill holes, drilled especially for this purpose, including hole KKAC0491 which showed highly elevated levels of REE including 20 metres of 4,152 ppm total rare earth oxides (TREO), 1.57 g/t gold and 0.58% copper from 62 metres. The research has provided further encouragement for Havilah about the rare earth potential at Kalkaroo, and especially at West Kalkaroo which is planned as a low-capital gold starter open pit project. Bastnasite identified It has identified bastnasite, a carbonate-fluoride mineral, as the primary REE host in the West Kalkaroo oxidised copper-gold ore samples being studied via the research collaboration. The bastnasite mineralisation is high in the more valuable REE (eg neodymium) and contains no measurable radioactive uranium or thorium and hence should present no handling or waste issues. “Positive outcome” Havilah’s technical director Dr Chris Giles said: “We are very pleased to have undertaken this collaborative research with the University of South Australia, which has allowed us to tap into the Future Industries Institute's highly specialised REE recovery expertise at its well-equipped metallurgical research laboratory in South Australia. “Identification of bastnasite as the primary REE mineral is an extremely positive outcome of our joint research. “The West Kalkaroo bastnasite mineralisation is high in the more valuable REE and is unusual in being intimately associated with stratabound copper and gold mineralisation.” Shares higher Shares are up more than 2.5% to 19.5 cents, approaching the new two-year high of 21.5 cents of July 31. Bastnasite is the chief valuable REE mineral in two of the world’s largest REE deposits and its metallurgy is therefore well studied. Research work has shown that at West Kalkaroo this mineral is mostly in the 10-50 micron size fraction and is well suited to concentration by flotation and other methods specific to REE. Giles said: “We have demonstrated in the laboratory that we can significantly concentrate the bastnasite due to the fact that most of it is at an optimum mineral size range for various concentration methods.” Ongoing research Ongoing research work aims to integrate bastnasite recovery in a gold-copper processing circuit and to produce sufficient bastnasite (and REE) concentrate for preliminary marketing studies. “Havilah’s main focus is getting the Kalkaroo copper-gold project underway,” Giles said, “but if we can produce a valuable REE by-product for little additional cost and effort it could provide an economic advantage for the Kalkaroo project compared to those projects that are solely reliant on REE. “Subject to research work in progress, early REE production may be achieved from the conceptual gold-only starter open pit at West Kalkaroo because of the comparatively shallow depths of the combined REE mineralisation in the extremely fine, clayey and oxidised Kalkaroo saprolite gold ore material. “The value upside for Havilah is that if REE can be economically recovered in a bastnasite concentrate as a by-product of the standard copper and gold recovery processes it potentially provides a further revenue stream for the Kalkaroo Copper-Gold-Cobalt Project, which enhances its development prospects.” About rare earth elements REE are a related group of 16 elements (lanthanides plus yttrium) that are not particularly rare and are typically widely dispersed in the earth’s crust. However, there are limited minerals containing appreciable levels of REE and they tend to only form economic concentrations under rather uncommon geological conditions. For this reason, REE are currently strategic and critical minerals for industry. Some of the many uses of REE. Diagram from: China Water Risk report 'Rare Earths: Shades of Grey-Can China continue to fuel our clean and smart future?' (June 2016). The lanthanide series of elements can be further subdivided into light-REE and heavy-REE with the former generally more abundant and less valuable than the latter. REE have a wide variety of important and often energy saving modern age uses because of their spectrum of slightly varying chemical behaviours. For example, modern brushless electric motors as used in power tools and many electric vehicles rely on powerful new generation magnets that use neodymium, dysprosium, praseodymium and terbium compounds as vital components.