Power Minerals Extends Morro do Ferro Rare Earths at Depth
Power Minerals has extended confirmed high-grade rare earth mineralisation at its Morro do Ferro project in Brazil, with a new hole returning 39 metres at 4.42% TREO from 80 metres downhole. Assays from shallower and deeper sections remain pending, leaving the scale and geometry of the zone unresolved.
- 39m at 4.42% TREO from 80m downhole
- 6m at 8.91% TREO and 2m at 11.05% TREO
- Mineralisation confirmed on a section 57m northwest of earlier drilling
- Assays above 80m and below 119m remain pending
- Further drilling and metallurgical work planned ahead of a maiden resource estimate
High-Grade Zone Continues Beyond 119 Metres
Power Minerals Limited (ASX:PNN) has found more high-grade rare earth mineralisation at depth at Morro do Ferro, with drillhole MFSR-056 returning 39 metres at 4.42% total rare earth oxides (TREO) from 80 metres downhole. The interval contains 0.95% magnet rare earth oxides (MREO), including 6 metres at 8.91% TREO and 1.89% MREO from 92 metres.
The strongest reported section was a 2-metre interval from 96 metres grading 11.05% TREO and 2.27% MREO. The deepest reported sample, at 117 to 119 metres, still returned 4.61% TREO and 1.16% MREO, although the company has not yet received results for the section above 80 metres or below 119 metres.
Step-Out Drilling Adds Northwest Continuity
MFSR-056 was drilled on a second section line positioned 57 metres northwest of the initial drilling baseline. Power said the result confirms that the high-grade zone seen in earlier sections continues in the direction modelled by its Exploration Target, while the boundary of the mineralisation remains undefined.
That is an important distinction for an exploration story: the hole expands the area of confirmed mineralisation, but it does not yet establish a Mineral Resource. The reported widths are downhole measurements and may not represent true thickness, while assay batches from a considerable number of holes are still being processed by SGS Geosol.
Resource Definition and Metallurgy Remain the Next Tests
Power also highlighted earlier results from MFSR-054, including 88 metres at 6.33% TREO from surface and a separate 5-metre interval at 4.32% TREO from 181 metres. Results from the remainder of that hole remain pending, adding further uncertainty to the emerging geological picture.
Chief executive Alistair Stephens said the company’s focus was now on defining the mineralisation, advancing metallurgical testwork and progressing towards a maiden Mineral Resource estimate. The next meaningful evidence will come from the pending assays and additional drilling needed to test continuity, geometry and depth rather than from this single hole alone.
Bottom Line?
MFSR-056 strengthens the case for a substantial mineralised system, but pending assays and true-width data will determine whether the high grades translate into a coherent resource.
Questions in the middle?
- Will the pending assays above 80 metres reveal comparable grades closer to surface?
- How consistently does the high-grade zone continue across the remaining section lines and at depth?
- Can metallurgical testwork demonstrate a viable recovery pathway for the reported rare earth mineralisation?
