Mount Ridley Mines has reported broad, shallow scandium intersections extending up to 8km beyond the Grass Patch Project’s current Block 1 and Block 2 resource boundaries. The results could support a larger JORC resource, but the company has yet to convert the exploration footprint into an updated estimate.
- Mineralisation extends up to 8km beyond current resource boundaries
- High-grade intercepts include 40m at 102.09 ppm Sc₂O₃
- Current 946.1Mt scandium resource remains Inferred
- Phase 2 results to feed into the next MRE update
- A further 2,800 pulps have entered Phase 3 re-assaying
Mount Ridley Mines Ltd (ASX:MRD, OTC: MRDMF) has found more scandium beyond the edges of its already substantial Grass Patch resource, with mineralisation extending as far as 8km beyond the current Block 1 and Block 2 boundaries. The Phase 2 re-assay results do not yet change the company’s official resource, but they widen the geological canvas on which its next estimate will be built.
Broad Intersections Extend Beyond Current Resources
The strongest results were both thick and close to surface. Mount Ridley reported 40 metres at 102.09 parts per million Sc₂O₃ from 18 metres in hole MRAC1040, 22 metres at 119.41 ppm from 12 metres in MRAC1036, 13 metres at 124.60 ppm from 16 metres in MRAC1052, and 16 metres at 106.83 ppm from 32 metres in MRAC1114. Several of those holes ended in mineralisation, leaving the reported intervals open at depth.
Other notable results included 15 metres at 102.15 ppm Sc₂O₃ from 6 metres in MRAC1051, along with 12 metres at 105.70 ppm and 19 metres at 113.38 ppm in the higher-grade intervals of diamond holes MRDD033 and MRDD034 respectively. The company says these grades exceed the current Block 1 and Block 2 resource averages of 77.3 ppm and 74.7 ppm Sc₂O₃, although the comparisons remain exploration results rather than an updated resource calculation.
Mineralised Footprint Reaches Multiple Directions
At Block 1, the most prominent extension runs south to southeast, where Mount Ridley identified a corridor of mineralised holes 4km to 5km beyond the existing resource boundary. Additional results to the west and northwest, including 13 metres at 124.60 ppm Sc₂O₃ in MRAC1052, indicate that the margin remains open. Drillholes between Blocks 1 and 2 also returned broad intervals, including 42 metres at 89.12 ppm, pointing to possible continuity between the two areas.
Block 2 shows a similarly expansive pattern. The northern extension reaches approximately 7km to 8km beyond the current estimate, while drilling to the west and northwest extends the known footprint by about 4km to 5km. The company also identified mineralisation along the southern and southeastern corridor between the blocks, where it says the two resource areas may have scope to connect. Those interpretations still require additional drilling, modelling and estimation.
Resource Update Becomes the Next Test
Grass Patch currently contains a 946.1 million tonne Inferred scandium resource grading 50.1 ppm elemental scandium, equivalent to 47,357 tonnes of contained scandium metal. It also hosts reported rare earth and gallium resources, and Mount Ridley says the scandium intersections overlap the broader REE-gallium system. That multi-commodity association may improve the project’s resource-development options, but the announcement provides no economic study, Ore Reserve or production decision.
Phase 2 results will now be incorporated into the resource model, with the company targeting an update and potential upgrade of the current JORC 2012 Inferred Resource. Meanwhile, 2,800 additional pulps were delivered to the laboratory on 21 September for Phase 3 re-assaying. The next meaningful evidence will be whether the enlarged footprint survives geological modelling and supports a higher-confidence resource classification, rather than simply producing another attractive map of open-ended mineralisation.
Bottom Line?
The exploration footprint is expanding faster than the formal resource, making the next JORC update the key measure of how much of this potential can be converted into defined tonnes and higher-confidence categories.
Questions in the middle?
- How much of the newly identified mineralisation will meet the geological and grade-continuity requirements for an updated resource?
- Will further drilling confirm continuity between Blocks 1 and 2 and across the 7km to 8km northern extension?
- Can the expanded scandium inventory support a viable multi-commodity development after metallurgical recovery, pit optimisation and funding requirements are assessed?