Rare earths companies are starting to gain attention as demand for the magnet rare earths in particular is forecast to boom this decade as we move further towards renewable energy and electric vehicles. The market for magnet Rare Earth Oxides (REO) is expected to increase five-fold by 2030. Two key magnet metals, Neodymium (Nd) and Praseodymium (Pr) have seen their prices rise strongly in 2021 and notably again the past month after a recent dip.
Neodymium (Nd) oxide and Praseodymium (Pr) oxide prices have spiked higher the past month
Source: Kitco
One rare earth junior (Appia Energy) has 2nd highest average rare earth element (REE) grade in the world, at 16.65 wt% TREO, hosted in favorable monazite ore.
Appia Energy Corp. (CSE: API | OTCQB: APAAF) (“Appia”) is focused on rare earths at their 100% owned, 43,434 acre, Alces Lake Project in the Athabasca Basin area of northern Saskatchewan, Canada. They also have uranium prospects in the region as you can read here.
Appia Energy’s project portfolio in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada
The Alces Lake project has ‘monazite ore’ containing valuable rare earths Neodymium (Nd), Praseodymium (Pr), Dysprosium (Dy), and Terbium (Tb). Exploration since 2017 has identified high–grade Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO) with up to 49 wt% TREO (average grades of 16.65 wt% TREO and 3.85 wt% CREO) on or near surface. Less than 1% of the property has been explored with diamond drilling.
On July 15, 2021, Appia announced that they are now embarking on a fully funded ~5-6,000m drilling campaign at Alces Lake, which is as much drilling as they have ever drilled before at the Project. The first phase of ground geology and geophysics is completed and the drilling team is about to mobilize to the Alces Lake camp, where two drilling rigs and crews will be working 24/7 on this phase of the helicopter-supported diamond drilling program.
Alces Lake Project Manager, Nic Guest, commented: “The quality of the data obtained in the first phase of ground exploration is excellent. Our understanding of the various occurrences across the property has grown and we have planned our drill program accordingly. Our first phase of 2021 drilling will give us new and important information.”
Appia President, Frederick Kozak, stated: “Approximately 5,700 metres of drilling has been planned to test the near-surface and down-plunge extents of new and existing rare-earth targets. More than 4,000 metres will be dedicated to identifying the depth potential of the WRCB zone (cumulatively the Wilson-Richard-Charles-Bell discoveries) and help complete the understanding of this significant discovery.”
The Alces Lake Project has excellent local infrastructure including mills, power, labour, highway, air strips, and well established summer and winter access routes. Appia has even recently built a winter camp site to help with all year round operations.
Highlights of Appia Energy’s exciting Alces Lake Project
Source: Company presentation
Closing remarks
Appia is sitting on a super high grade REE monazite ore deposit at Alces Lake. A huge summer drilling campaign has just begun and will help the Company potentially build up a Resource estimate. Rare earths expert Jack Lifton has also agreed to join the Appia team as a Strategic Adviser.
Appia is currently trading on a market cap of C$83 million after a recent stock price dip. For those who missed out on buying Appia earlier, now looks to be a good time to take a second look. We will let you know the drill results as they come in during the following months. Stay tuned.
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