Cameroon’s Minta Rare Earths Show High Grades, but Scale and Viability Remain Unproven

Australian mining company Lion Rock Minerals has reported high rare earth grades from earlier drilling at Minta East in central Cameroon, but the limited results do not yet establish the size or economic viability of a potential deposit. A much larger, recently completed drilling campaign could provide a clearer picture of how far the mineralization extends.

Data released September 2 show an average grade of 4.54% total rare earth oxides (TREO) over 2.3 meters from surface. Two other drill holes returned average grades of 3.40% over three meters and 3.49% over two meters.

The Australian Securities Exchange-listed junior miner has also completed 761 new holes, but laboratory results from that campaign are still pending.

Average grades exceed 3% TREO in several holes

Lion Rock also highlighted a peak grade of 21.15% TREO. That figure, however, applies to an interval of just 30 centimeters, between two and 2.3 meters deep in drill hole MRAU0238. Across the full 2.3-meter interval analyzed in that hole, the average grade was 4.535%.

TREO measures the total amount of oxides from several rare earth elements present in the rock. These metals are used in permanent magnets for electric motors, wind turbines and various electronic applications.

The reported grades were measured directly in material recovered from drilling rather than in a concentrate produced after processing. Lion Rock submitted 91 stored samples from previous exploration work for chemical analysis, and 90 returned usable results.

Of those 90 samples, 40 contained at least 0.5% TREO, 26 contained at least 1%, and 16 contained at least 2%. Among the 15 holes with continuous assay results across their full drilled depth, eight averaged more than 1% TREO and 14 averaged at least 0.5%.

The assays also identified neodymium and praseodymium, two rare earth elements used in permanent magnets. Together, they accounted for about 21% to 24% of TREO in the main intervals analyzed. Dysprosium and terbium, which are used in particular to improve magnets’ resistance to high temperatures, were also detected.

761 new holes and 3,666 samples await analysis

The results released so far do not come from the large drilling campaign that Lion Rock recently completed at Minta East. That program ended on August 29 after 761 holes totaling about 3,485 meters along roughly 50 kilometers of rivers and tributaries.

The campaign produced 3,666 samples. The first 638 have already been sent to a laboratory, and Lion Rock expects to release results progressively over the coming weeks and months.

Those assays should help determine whether the high grades found in some of the earlier holes extend across a broader area. The available results cover only a limited number of samples and cannot yet establish the continuity or extent of the mineralization.

Deeper exploration planned with diamond drilling

Lion Rock also plans diamond drilling to explore deeper formations. Several auger holes had to stop after they encountered layers of weathered rock that the equipment could not penetrate.

That includes MRAU0238, the hole that returned the 30-centimeter interval at 21.15% TREO. Drilling stopped while mineralization was still present, which has prompted Lion Rock to target deeper formations with more suitable equipment.

Future work will seek to establish the thickness, continuity and depth of the mineralized zones. The 761 holes from the latest campaign are primarily intended to provide a better picture of their distribution near the surface and identify areas for more detailed exploration.

No mineral resource or reserve estimate yet at Minta East

Lion Rock has not yet announced a mineral resource, a reserve or an estimate of the total amount of rare earths that could potentially be recovered at Minta East.

The company itself cautions that high chemical grades alone do not demonstrate that a deposit can be mined profitably. Mineralogical analysis and additional tests are still required to establish how the rare earth elements occur in the rock and whether they can be separated to produce a marketable concentrate.

The results therefore confirm that some of the samples contain high concentrations of rare earths, but they do not yet establish the size of a potential deposit, its extraction costs or its economic viability.

According to Lion Rock, the Minta project covers about 8,800 square kilometers in Cameroon. The large area has primarily been explored for rutile, a titanium-rich mineral, but Lion Rock is now also targeting rare earths, particularly at Minta East.

Baudouin Enama