ActivEX has identified preliminary rare earth element anomalies across an 8km soil grid at its Aramac Project in Queensland, including 28 samples above 1,000ppm TREE. The readings come from handheld pXRF analysis and must be confirmed by laboratory assays now pending from ALS.
- 28 partial TREE readings above 1,000ppm
- Maximum preliminary result of 1,490ppm TREE
- Seven further goethitic gossan rock samples identified
- Only 8km of a broader 55km trend tested
- Laboratory assays and follow-up exploration pending
ActivEX Limited (ASX:AIV) has found a string of preliminary rare earth anomalies across an 8km soil grid at its Aramac Project in central Queensland, with 28 samples returning partial Total Rare Earth Element (TREE) readings above 1,000 parts per million and a peak of 1,490ppm. The result gives the explorer a more defined target than its earlier scarp sampling, but it remains an instrument reading rather than a confirmed laboratory result.
Rare Earth Anomalies Stretch Across the Soil Grid
ActivEX collected 101 soil samples and seven rock samples around the base of a north-south scarp within exploration permit EPM 28644 Fortuna. The soil program was designed to test for extensions to the Dunns Road Prospect's goethitic gossan along an 8km section of strike.
The company says elevated TREE results occur across the grid, while iron is concentrated around exposed goethitic gossan. Barium and zinc are more closely associated with the Dunns Road area, and manganese is concentrated mainly in the northern portion of the grid. The sampling material was generally fine-grained silt, with colluvial cover becoming more prominent away from the scarp.
Handheld Readings Need Laboratory Confirmation
The key qualification is methodological. ActivEX used a Niton handheld pXRF, which can read only five of the 14 rare earth elements included in the TREE calculation: cerium, lanthanum, neodymium, praseodymium and yttrium. The company describes the results as a preliminary indication and cautions that pXRF readings can vary significantly from laboratory assays.
All soil samples, along with the seven newly identified goethitic gossan rock samples, have been submitted to ALS in Townsville for gold, multielement and rare earth analysis. Those results should determine whether the strongest pXRF responses persist under a fuller analytical method and whether the anomalies have sufficient continuity to justify drilling.
Only a Fraction of the Aramac Trend Tested
The tested grid covers only 8km of a broader 55km north-south scarp trend across EPM 28644 and EPM 28645. ActivEX says further goethitic gossan exposures were found during the program, adding geological targets to the soil anomalies, although the filing does not establish a mineral resource or an economic mineralisation zone.
The company's proposed next steps include more surficial sampling across the wider trend, geological and regolith mapping, targeted rock sampling, a drone magnetic survey and aircore drilling of the elevated rare earth trend. Deeper drilling is also contemplated around the goethitic gossan. The immediate test is less dramatic but more important: whether laboratory assays validate the handheld signal and reveal a coherent target beneath the surface cover.
Bottom Line?
The Aramac results improve the exploration case, but the investment significance rests on pending ALS assays and whether the partial anomalies translate into drillable, continuous mineralisation.
Questions in the middle?
- Will laboratory assays confirm the pXRF TREE anomalies and produce comparable or stronger values?
- Do the rare earth responses form a continuous trend, or are they isolated surface anomalies?
- Can follow-up mapping, magnetics and drilling establish a meaningful relationship between the goethitic gossan and rare earth mineralisation?