Godolphin Resources has acquired a 51% ownership stake in the Narraburra Rare Earth Element (REE) Project, located in NSW, Australia.

The move comes the expenditure norms outlined in the farm-in and JV deal with EX9 were met.

The Narraburra project, situated 12km north-east of Temora in central-west NSW, is recognised as a highly prospective REE project.

It has a mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 94.9 million tonnes (mt) at 739 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO), including a higher-grade component of 20mt at 1,079ppm TREO, compliant with the JORC (2012) standards.

Historically, the area was first explored for REE associated with the Devonian-aged Narraburra Granite.

Godolphin’s exploration efforts, including diamond drilling, have confirmed broad zones of REE mineralisation in various geological materials.

The company noted that its exploration initiatives, such as mapping and multiple diamond drill programmes, have been key in enhancing shareholder value.

Notably, initial leach results from these programmes have shown up to 92% recovery of key magnet minerals like praseodymium, neodymium, terbium and dysprosium.

In April 2023, these drill results supported the delivery of a maiden JORC 2012 MRE. Subsequent HyLogger spectral analysis, QEMSCAN mineralogy and the initiation of metallurgical testing have been pivotal in revealing the project’s low-cost development potential.

Godolphin aims to further this potential through additional drill programmes planned for 2024 to expand and upgrade the MRE, along with initiating a scoping mining study.

The upcoming work programme will also include geophysics and mapping, as well as potential drilling across the newly granted Cambrai licence (EL 9601) adjacent to the project and Trungley (ELA 6677), subject to its approval.