Mont Royal Resources has identified significant growth opportunities within the BD-Zone of its Ashram Rare Earth Element deposit, highlighting promising mineralogy and high-value rare earth element concentrations that could enhance project economics.
- Internal review reveals BD-Zone as a discrete sub-domain with growth potential
- High distributions of valuable rare earth elements NdPr and TbDy identified
- Mineralogy dominated by bastnaesite, parisite, and synchysite with coarse grain size
- BD-Zone mineralisation lies within current pit design but excluded from resource estimates
- Scoping-level metallurgical test work planned to evaluate processing potential
A New Growth Frontier at Ashram
Mont Royal Resources Ltd (ASX, MRZ) has announced a promising development at its Ashram Rare Earth Element and Fluorspar Deposit in Quebec, Canada. An internal geological review has spotlighted the BD-Zone, a previously underappreciated lithological domain, as a significant opportunity for expanding the overall mineral resource. This discovery could reshape the project’s development trajectory by adding valuable tonnage and improving economics.
The BD-Zone surrounds the established A- and B-Zone domains within the Ashram deposit and has historically been discounted due to lower total rare earth oxide (TREO) grades. However, recent drilling has revealed extensive mineralised widths, some exceeding 200 metres, and a more continuous domain than previously understood, particularly to the east and at depth.
High-Value Rare Earth Elements and Favorable Mineralogy
What makes the BD-Zone particularly compelling is its enrichment in high-value rare earth elements such as Neodymium and Praseodymium (NdPr), which are critical for permanent magnets, and Terbium and Dysprosium (TbDy), essential for high-performance applications. Although the average TREO grade in the BD-Zone is lower at 0.78%, the NdPr and TbDy proportions relative to TREO are notably high, 26.81% and 10.43% respectively, suggesting a premium quality resource.
The mineralogy is dominated by rare-earth fluorocarbonate minerals including bastnaesite, parisite, and synchysite. These minerals typically respond well to conventional flotation processing. Moreover, the BD-Zone exhibits a relatively coarse grain size, ranging from 50 to over 200 microns, which is advantageous for crushing and grinding operations, potentially lowering processing costs.
Implications for Resource Growth and Project Economics
Significantly, much of the BD-Zone mineralisation lies within the current conceptual pit design but was excluded from the existing Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) due to its lower grade. This presents a clear opportunity to incorporate this domain into future resource updates, potentially increasing the overall tonnage and reducing the strip ratio, thereby enhancing the project’s economic profile.
Mont Royal’s Managing Director, Nicholas Holthouse, emphasised the upside potential, "A revisiting of the geological model indicates a substantially larger and more continuous domain adjacent to the current Mineral Resource, with mineralisation remaining open at depth. Coupled with the favourable NdPr and TbDy distributions and mineralogy, this provides compelling upside to our development pathway."
Next Steps, Metallurgical Testing and Evaluation
The company is now planning a scoping-level metallurgical test work program focused on the BD-Zone. This will include detailed mineralogical studies and testing of crushing, grinding, and flotation methods aimed at producing a marketable concentrate with high recovery rates. While initial mineralogy is encouraging, the limited dataset means further work is needed to confirm processing characteristics and economic viability.
As Mont Royal advances this program, investors and industry watchers will be keen to see how the BD-Zone’s inclusion might alter the Ashram Project’s resource base and development timeline, potentially positioning the company more favourably in the critical rare earth elements market.
Bottom Line?
The BD-Zone’s promising mineralogy and rare earth element profile could be a game-changer for Ashram’s resource growth and economics, next up, metallurgical testing will reveal its true potential.
Questions in the middle?
- Will metallurgical testing confirm the BD-Zone’s amenability to conventional processing?
- How significantly could the BD-Zone increase Ashram’s total mineral resource and impact project economics?
- Could the BD-Zone’s high NdPr and TbDy content influence Mont Royal’s positioning in the rare earth supply chain?