White Hill Project

The White Hill Project is prospective for critical mineral Rare Earth Elements (REE) and comprises two exploration licences, EL6786 and EL6787, situated in the southeastern corner of South Australia, within the Limestone Coast area, approximately 250 km southeast of the state capital of Adelaide.

The project is located near the towns of Padthaway, Lucindale and Naracoorte. Access from Adelaide to the project area is via South Eastern Freeway (M1), Duke Highway (A8) and Riddoch Highway (A66), followed by station or vineyard tracks.

Project history

Data compilation has identified 99 holes that had been drilled within the White Hill Licences, with samples from 14 of these located at the Primary Industry and Regions SA (PIRSA) core facility. Drilling includes regional stratigraphic holes that were drilled by the Bureau of Mineral Resources (now Geoscience Australia) (BMR) in the 1970s, as well as engineering holes, coal exploration holes drilled by Western Mining Corporation (WMC) in the 1980s, and some more recent deeper holes testing the Delamerian basement.

The geology is broadly similar to that hosting Australian Rare Earth’s Koppamurra deposits and includes dunal and intertidal sediments overlying the Gambier Limestone.

Scanning of the core from the 14 available drill holes using a handheld portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) to screen for the presence of rare earth elements (REE) has returned six samples with total REE (TREE) values of >300ppm and in particular BMR hole number 20 with three readings averaging 819ppm between 10.32m and 14.36m depth.

TREE values reported for the White Hill Licences are based on pXRF analysis. pXRF readings should not be considered a substitute for laboratory assays. Laboratory assays are required to determine the widths and grade of mineralisation as reported in preliminary geological logging.

Near term exploration priorities

The initial sampling of historic holes utilising pXRF will be supplemented with submission of the higher grade samples to an analytical laboratory to confirm the initial pXRF results. Upon confirmation of results, a drill program is proposed to be implemented utilising existing tracks to duplicate the historic drill holes as well as infill between the historic drilling to confirm and refine the location of mineralisation.

Upon completion of drilling and receipt of subsequent assay orientation, metallurgical in mineralogical analysis will be undertaken to confirm the nature and deportment of the rare earth elements within the clays.