American Rare Earths’ La Paz drill results “exceed expectations”, point to potential new discovery

American Rare Earths Ltd’s (ASX:ARR) latest exploration campaign at the La Paz Rare Earths and Scandium Project in Arizona, USA, has turned up a suite of promising results that could contribute to a mineral resource upgrade. The rare earth element (REE) and magnet rare earths explorer drilled nine holes for 682 metres at its flagship asset in March this year, working through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Western Rare Earths. Promisingly, results indicate all assayed drill holes, including those explored in the previously undrilled southwest area, produced REE grades higher than the cut-off and deeper than the original resource. Broadly, the assays point to a possible new orebody discovery to the southwest, while a series of twin drill holes confirmed the asset’s potential following a 2011 drilling campaign. With a resource upgrade underway and the 2021 drilling results in tow, American Rare Earths anticipates a robust increase in the size of the La Paz mineral resource. Map of the La Paz rare earths play's location. A lucrative campaign American Rare Earths managing director Keith Middleton said the company was incredibly pleased with the “enormous potential” indicated by the recent drilling results. “So many positives have come of this campaign, including higher grade assays to depths four times the maiden resource, an additional new ore body opportunity within the claim control tenancy, high-value scandium ubiquitous to the maiden REE resource area and new areas to the southwest, elevated grades of high-value magnet metals and heavy REEs compared to the 2011 drilling, along with the opportunity to upgrade the resource in size and grade. “The company continues to make good progress toward its goals: cementing itself as a key player in the development of critical high-value scandium and rare earths, building scale to meet critical US demand and maximising shareholder value.” Building on decade-old results Ten years on from the program that helped establish a maiden mineral resource at La Paz, American Rare Earths has confirmed and built on the REE results with an exploration program. Within the company’s drilling campaign, six out of nine holes were drilled as ‘twins’ of select holes explored back in 2011, providing ARR with the opportunity to compare and confirm the historical data. Positively, the 2021 campaign confirmed the previous findings and returned higher average REE grades, drilling four times deeper than the program explored 10 years before. Overall, ARR found the average total rare earth element (TREE) grade was 398 parts per million — an increase of 6.4% on the maiden resource. Map indicates the location of the nine 2021 drill holes explored at La Paz. Potential new orebody In addition to the six twin holes, American Rare Earths drilled two reconnaissance diamond core holes within La Paz’s southwest region — an area which had not been drill tested until March. Drill hole LP21-03 intersected REE mineralisation zones similar to the maiden resource area, showing an average TREE of 377ppm over 14.8 metres using a 300ppm TREE cut-off. Promisingly, drill hole LP21-04 shows the more favourable REE mineralisation of the two holes, showing an average TREE of 401ppm over 48.6 metres using the same cut-off grade. With the favourable results shown in the second reconnaissance drill hole, ARR’s subsidiary intends to stake additional claims and plan further exploration in the area to determine the extent of REE mineralisation. A magnetic market As American Rare Earths prepares to upgrade the resource at its flagship asset, magnet rare earths are increasingly coming to the fore in a range of growth industries. The electronics, auto manufacturing and defence sectors are turning to this class of rare earths to further innovate their offering, meaning these materials are becoming highly sought after. In its latest exploration campaign, ARR has confirmed magnetic rare earths — praseodymium, neodymium, dysprosium and terbium — make up around 27% of the project’s TREE. Managing director Middleton continued: “Government and industry leaders speak of acceleration of those industries that must have rare earths. These include offshore wind, electric vehicles, phones/tablets, air conditioners and the reduced carbon new-energy economy. “North American and European leaders openly speak of the need to develop rare earths supply chains and stockpiles, ex-China, to feed critical defence industry technologies. “With a never-before-seen convergence of market pull and government push happening on a global scale, these are genuinely exciting times.” Next steps Following the drilling developments, ARR continues to focus on its mineral resource upgrade. The company will update the market on this program once its JORC study has been completed. Meanwhile, American Rare Earths is reviewing its exploration plans in a bid to develop a renewed campaign that furthers La Paz’s potential. ARR is completing a GAP analysis at the rare earths asset to identify the steps needed for a scoping study and then a Preliminary Economic Assessment. The company has also engaged and retained lab expertise and consulting services to secure metallurgy guidance as it continues to develop its strategy at La Paz.