Eclipse (ASX:EPM) releases maiden Greenland Gronnedal TREO estimate

Eclipse Metals has released its maiden inferred mineral resource estimate for Gronnedal, unwrapping a 1.18 million tonne resource grading 6,859ppm for 8,074 tonnes of total rare earth oxide in southwest Greenland.

The resource remains open in all directions and represents a small portion of a large carbonatite intrusive which remains largely untouched by the drill.

Eclipse’s Gronnedal MRE extends from surface to 9.5 metres below for 80,0000t a vertical metre, with the company believing it likely the carbonatite stretches to depths going beyond 500m.

All mineralised holes have ended in high-grade rare earths so far, while trench sampling has also returned high grades on the northern and western limits of the sampling grid.

Eclipse has estimated as much as 124,000t tonnes a vertical metre within the resource footprint and set a large exploration target for as much as 40 million tonnes grading up to 7000 parts per million TREO as the upside.

The grade range comprises a large proportion of high-value magnet rare earths it believes could be globally competitive.

While the initial resource is a way off the greater target, the Perth-based explorer now has its case for a high-upside rare earth asset within eyesight of its Ivigtût project, the large and only known source of naturally occurring cryolite on the globe.

Eclipse plans to test the ferrocarbonatite exploration target using a diamond drilling campaign conducted alongside detailed geological mapping activities and petrological studies.

The activities aim to help the company get a better understanding of mineralisation controls.

Eclipse believes an expanded sampling program on the project’s southern end could offer significant new tonnage.

Greenland mining

There are difficulties mining in harsh and remote Greenland, and while there are just the two operating sites, melting ice has opened up a new exploration frontier in the country.

Several companies have laid claim to licences and the vast geological potential of the sparsely populated 2.166 million square kilometre island.

Ivigtût operated for 120 years before closing in 1987, and Eclipse has taken a step closer toward achieving its own mining licence this year for both there and at Gronnedal after a positive response from the local authorities.

Eclipse has all the potential in hand to use old infrastructure at Ivigtût for new operations.

An aerial image of Ivigtût and the now closeted cryolite mine in 1960

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