WA1 Resources has been one of the ASX success stories of 2023, and the explorer has extended its run with another significant announcement at its West Arunta niobium project in WA.
The company announced what it believes to be its “highest-grade niobium intercepts to date”, with results including 31m at 4.6 per cent niobium oxide from 61m deep and 41m at 2.8 per cent niobium oxide from 72m deep.
WA1 is drilling the Luni carbonatite to fully understand the breadth of mineralisation at the West Arunta project, and recent results are uncovering the presence of high-grade niobium up to 400m away from previous drilling locations.
“This latest round of assay results, which includes a number of our highest-grade niobium intercepts to date, further expands the mineralised footprint and continues to establish the potential global significance of Luni,” WA1 managing director Paul Savich said.
“Our understanding of the geological model at Luni continues to evolve and these results suggest thickening of the high-grade and flat-lying blanket of enriched mineralisation along the interpreted southern margin of the carbonatite complex.
“Upcoming drilling will focus on both assessing the internal continuity of mineralisation in this zone and additional drilling in the southeast to test the potential for additional high-grade mineralisation in that position.
“This work will add to the mineral resource estimation process and geological domaining at Luni.”
Recognised on Australia’s critical minerals list, niobium is becoming an increasingly important material in lithium-ion battery technology, with the ability to reduce charge times down to six minutes while enhancing battery life by up to 20,000 cycles.
Trading at $5.12 per share this time last week, WA1 has since soared above $8.50 per share since then, representing a market capitalisation of $428 million.
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