The Queensland Government’s funding underscores the state’s commitment to fostering its critical minerals future, particularly copper, as the region braces for the closure of Glencore’s Mount Isa copper mines later this year.
Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory all offer collaborative exploration grants, which can offer a huge fill up to mining juniors wanting to drill high-risk exploration projects in remote, well-covered areas.
Also important for the company, its 44 per cent stake in ASX-listed Maronan Metals could soon be churning cash as well. Maronan yesterday unveiled a significant resource update for its silver-lead-copper-gold project near Cloncurry, Queensland.
Infill drilling of the project’s shallow starter zone has more than doubled the indicated silver-lead resource to 5.3Mt at 5.2 per cent lead and 116g/t silver. A maiden indicated copper-gold resource was simultaneously released featuring 1.6Mt at 0.77 per cent copper and a healthy 0.67g/t gold. These sit within much bigger global inferred resources of 33.1Mt at 6 per cent lead and 108g/t silver and some 32Mt grading 0.85 per cent copper and 0.63g/t gold respectively.
Maronan has a scoping study underway, but its project’s proximity to the world-class Cannington mine 90km away and its near-surface mineralisation position it as a near-term development opportunity, complementing Red Metal’s expansive portfolio of riches.
Not to be overlooked, Red Metal’s flagship Sybella rare earths project near Mount Isa continues to loom large as a globally significant asset. Recent testwork confirmed Sybella’s exceptional heap leach potential, with high recoveries of magnet rare earths such as neodymium and praseodymium (up to 81%) using minimal acid and ultra-low iron impurities.
The project’s colossal 4.8Bt resource, grading 302 parts per million (ppm) neodymium-praseodymium and 28ppm dysprosium-terbium across an 8-square-kilometre area, offers a low-capex, long-life opportunity that could position Red Metal as a key player in the global rare earths market. That’s if the company can square away its all-important metallurgical refining process.
As Red Metal advances its Gulf and Three Ways drilling programs, alongside Maronan’s development milestones and Sybella’s massive resource potential, the company is entering a pivotal chapter in Queensland. With plenty of world-class potential projects, having multiple chances to land the big one would seem the strategy for the all-upside Red Metal.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
