Transcription of The Stock Network Interview with Oceana Metals (ASX:OCN), Chair Russell Curtin
Lel Smits: Oceana Metals is preparing to begin a major 20,000 metre drilling programme at its Saranegra Rare Earths project in Brazil alongside an extensive re-assaying programme of historic drill core. The work is designed to determine the size, continuity and potential scale of the rare earths mineralisation ahead of an initial resource estimate planned for this year. Ahead of presenting at Noosa Mining, I’m joined by Oceana Metals Chair Russell Curtin to discuss why Saranegra could emerge as a significant new rare earths discovery.
Russell, welcome to the Stock Network.
Russell Curtin: Thanks Lel, great to be here.
Lel Smits: Great to have you on and look you’re about to kick off a 20,000 metre drilling programme at Saranegra.
What excites you most about the project and also what are you hoping that this next phase of drilling is going to prove?
Russell Curtin: Yeah Lel, well we’re very excited about this project for a number of reasons. When we initially started looking for a rare earths project, which by the way we’ve been very patient about, we’re really after a couple of attributes and those being size, grade and location. And when we came across Saranegra, which had been in private hands by the way, it seemed to tick all of those boxes.
Lel Smits: Fantastic. And alongside drilling, you’re also re-assaying thousands of metres of historic drill core that was never really tested for rare earths. How do you think these results could change the market’s understanding of Saranegra and also what are the upcoming catalysts here?
Russell Curtin: Yeah, when I talked about those attributes, the first of those was size.
And this project, it’s a district scale Kabanatite complex. It’s a really big system, 10 kilometres across. And our programme’s looking at a one kilometre by 1.5 kilometre priority target with mineralisation remaining open.
And our historical re-assay programme is then moving on to grade and it’s trying to prove up the significant rare earth element mineralisation that we identified during our initial look at the project. And so far this re-assay programme is showing grades of 4% TRIO in thick intervals and peak individual one metre results of over 10%. So this really has the potential to put Saranegra rare earths elements mineralisation in the top tier of Kabanatite hosted deposits globally.
Lel Smits: Well, Russell, I appreciate the update from Oceana Metals. Look forward to hearing more at the Noosa Mining Conference.
Russell Curtin: Thanks, Lel.
Ends