Altona Rare Earths plc said it had discovered high grade gallium mineralisation at Monte Muambe in Tete Province, northwest Mozambique.
ECONOMICS
The company intercepted gallium, of up to 232 g/t, along the entire length of hole MM039 located at the Northern End of the Fluorite Zone at target 6.
The best intercept at MM039 was from surface to 100m at 77 g/t gallium, including 14.89m at 141 g/t gallium.
Altona added that the findings also contained high-grade rare earths and fluorspar intercepts.
Hole MM040, located on target 6, identified high-grade rare earths mineralisation after little drilling compared with targets 1 and 4.
“This discovery could potentially change the economics of some of the rare earths ore bodies at Monte Muambe, in particular target 6, by providing an additional valuable by-product,” said Altona.
“The lateral extension of gallium mineralisation is unknown and will be assessed as part of the next field work campaign.”
The company plans to review its drilling data in light of the recent increase in price for gallium.
Monte Muambe, originally targeted for rare earth elements, also hosts fluorspar. Altona is progressing a scoping study with gravity separation and flotation testing underway in Zimbabwe.
“Carbonatites systems typically host a wide range of minerals,” added chief executive officer Cedric Simonet.
“Monte Muambe is no stranger to this, with the presence of rare earths and fluorspar.
“The discovery of gallium mineralisation in parts of the carbonatite intrusion that have seen less exploration so far is a positive development for us and underpins the potential for additional discoveries at Monte Muambe.
“While current work on the potential for short-term fluorspar production continues, we will initially carefully assess the possibility of recovering gallium as a by-product of rare earths and/or fluorspar, and the potential extent of gallium mineralisation at surface level.”
Interim results ending 31 December 2024 show Altona held £156,000 cash with £225,000 undrawn facilities available.
Group losses narrowed from £690,000 for the first half of 2023 to £512,000.
The company also owns the Kabompo South copper project in Zambia and the Sesana copper-silver project in Botswana.