Vital (ASX:VML) tops up Tardiff with more high-grade tonnage

Vital Metals has lifted its rare earth mineral resource tonnage by 79 per cent from the Tardiff Upper Zone at its Nechalacho project in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

The wider Tardiff deposit resource now stands at 213 million tonnes at 1.17 per cent total rare earth oxide at its project southbound to the city of Yellowknife.

It raises both the total contained rare earth oxide and neodymium and praseodymium by a little under 50%, with the estimate now holding 2.48Mt TREO with more than 623,000 tonnes of high-value NdPr.

High-grade mineralisation within the Tardiff deposit is open in multiple directions, and more assays are due in the June quarter of 2024 as Vital look towards another resource upgrade and a finished scoping study over Nechalacho later in the year.

Vital Metals Managing Director and CEO Geordie Mark said deposit size and grade matter, and the mineral resource estimate had reinforced Tardiff’s world-class character and its sector impact potential – particularly in a North American context.

“We believe that Tardiff is an outstanding asset, given that it represents a shallow deposit hosted within a single pit-constrained resource with a high NdPr:TREO ratio (about 25 per cent), and a size that affords potential for project size and scalability of production over a protracted period,” he said.

“We will continue to deliver a range of catalysts over the course of the year, with more Tardiff drill results expected over the next few months, where high-grade mineralisation remains open in several directions out from the 2023 drill grid perimeter.

“These data and updated geological interpretations will form the basis of targeted metallurgical work to inform a scoping study to be completed in late 2024.”

There is increasingly compelling belief for Vital that the project could be one of the few low-cost rare earths operations outside of China.

Shenghe Resources further validated that belief late last year with a cornerstone investment, with the global rare earth leader saying it had recognised the potential of Tardiff to be a world-class, large-scale, and long-life producer.

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