Appia Energy Corp. (CSE: API | OTCQB: APAAF) (‘Appia’) has just completed a round of drilling at their 100% owned Alces Lake Property, in the Athabasca Basin area of northern Saskatchewan, Canada. The project has monazite ore containing valuable rare earths Neodymium (Nd), Praseodymium (Pr), Dysprosium (Dy), and Terbium (Tb). Alces Lake hosts the 2nd highest average rare earth element (REE) grade in the world at 16.65 wt% TREO.
The key result of the drilling campaign was that Appia was able to confirm the REE minerals system over a 875m strike length, as deep as 340m from surface, still open in all directions and in two sub-parallel trends.
The original trend includes the high grade REE zones of Wilson, Richard, Charles and Bell which now look to be all joined at depth over a strike length of 145m. As a result the 4 zones have now been combined into one larger zone and named the WRCB zone.
Another positive was that 15 out of the 18 drill holes intersected the REE mineralized system. Assay results from the drill campaign are expected to be released soon.
Shown below from a different rotation is one of the newer trends which includes the Ivan/Dylan and the Mikaela/Dante zones. The other has the Cone Zone.
Alces Lake REE mineralization is running in two sub-parallel trends to the original trend
Appia Vice-President, Exploration and Development, James Sykes, commented:
“This suggests that the System (total REE mineralized zones at Alces Lake), and both first-order lithological emplacement controls, could be present across the entire 45 km geological strike length of the Property at/near surface and continuing at depth.”
The Alces Lake Project’s rare earths start from or near surface and hence are suitable for an open pit mine. Permitting should be smooth being in northern Saskatchewan Canada and the CapEx and OpEx should be reasonably low given the good grades and near surface resource. The fairly recent development by the Government of Saskatchewan to develop a “first-of-its-kind” Rare Earth Processing Facility in Saskatchewan is also very promising for Appia.
Other properties owned by Appia (rare earths and uranium)
In total at Appia’s Athabasca Basin properties Appia has 57,048 hectares which includes Alces Lake, Loranger, North Wollaston, and Eastside properties. They all have uranium.
At Elliot Lake Camp, Ontario, Canada, Appia has 12,545 hectares with both rare earth element and uranium deposits over five mineralized zones.
Appia Energy Corp. is currently trading on a market cap of just C$27m. Given the high rare earths grades at Alces Lake, the planned nearby Saskatchewan Government Rare Earth Processing Facility, renewed interest by governments (the recent US Executive Order on critical materials), and Appia’s potential also with uranium; things are looking very promising for Appia Energy.
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