Eclipse confirms critical minerals kicker at Greenland rare earths giant
Brought to you by BULLS AND BEARS
Andrew Todd
Eclipse Metals has confirmed a number of valuable critical minerals at the giant Grønnedal rare earth discovery in Greenland; follow-up analyzes revealed widespread slices of gallium, scandium, and strontium, as well as magnetic rare earth paste.
The results are the icing on the cake, shaping up as a massive multi-element deposit from the same five diamond drills that recently returned dense, near-surface neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) rare earth mineralization.
Earlier this month, Eclipse revealed that every hole in its initial drilling program intersected dense, extensive mineralization from surface. Best results included a stunning 195m putt with total rare earth oxides (TREO) of 6268 parts per million (ppm) and another 114.4m putt with an impressive 6883 ppm TREO.
In particular, 20 strontium intercepts were recorded containing an average of 2.32 percent strontium per meter with a peak of 6.1 percent strontium.
Drilling also returned a large 61 m intercept grade of 12.3 ppm scandium, with a 21.4 m section grading higher at 20.7 ppm scandium.
‘Additional gallium, scandium and strontium results further prove the geochemical productivity of Grønnedal.’
Carl Popal, chairman of the board of directors of Eclipse Metals
Entering the fray, $1,000,000-per-ton gallium made its presence felt with a 42.5 m hit at 26.7 ppm, which included a solid 4.2 m zone leading to high-grade 90.8 ppm gallium.
While these results are a welcome bonus, they are on top of the project’s primary rare earth elements, which carry a high proportion of significantly significant magnet rare earth elements, with NdPr consistently exceeding 30 percent of the total TRO grade in the primary mineralized intervals.
Carl Popal, chairman of the board of Eclipse Metals, said: “The additional gallium, scandium and strontium results further demonstrate the geochemical productivity of the Grønnedal carbonatite system and add another layer to the project’s broader critical mineral profile. Importantly, they sit alongside the recently reported subsurface Nd-Pr-enriched rare earth mineralization across all five drillings, which remains a key focus of the Company as it continues technical and strategic work at Grønnedal.”
The Grønnedal project is located within Eclipse’s wider Ivigtut project, a large carbonatite intrusive complex, a geological environment renowned for hosting world-class rare earths and critical mineral deposits.
The project currently includes an 89 million tonnes, 6363 ppm TREO grade mineral resource from JORC, and the company emphasizes that a large-scale NdPr inventory remains a key focus.
The presence of other critical minerals, such as supply-constrained gallium, used in semiconductors, and scandium, found in high-strength aerospace alloys, could provide some interesting byproduct credits down the road.
The addition of an extra sweetener to Grønnedal, ultra-low uranium levels of just 4.16 ppm, well below Greenland’s legal 100 ppm threshold, means the project is likely to have a clear regulatory pathway.
As the West increasingly seeks to diversify its critical mineral supply chains away from a handful of dominant players, a large, multi-element deposit in a friendly jurisdiction like Greenland could be a useful card to hold.
Eclipse’s Grønnedal appears to be unearthing critical minerals in large quantities, and with management’s eyes focused on the rare earth bounty, bonus metals could provide a material economic boost to an already significant project.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
