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- Caspin Resources (CPN) discovers one of the rarest platinum group elements (PGEs), rhodium, at its Yarawindah Brook project just northeast of Perth in Western Australia
- The discovery came through a re-assay of a drill hole completed at the XC-22 prospect in the project area back in February
- Caspin says the revised analysis shows a peak rhodium value of 0.465 g/t, which has the potential to make a significant contribution to the Yarawindah Brook project’s economics
- CEO Greg Miles says the company now has an extensive assaying program planned to see if rhodium mineralisation occurs consistently at the XC-22 prospect
- Shares in Caspin Resources are up 6.79 per cent this morning to trade at 86.5 cents each at 12:05 pm AEDT
Caspin Resources (CPN) has discovered one of the rarest platinum group elements (PGEs), rhodium, at its Yarawindah Brook project just northeast of Perth in Western Australia.
The metal was discovered through a re-assay of a previous drill hole completed at the XC-22 prospect in the project area. The assay work was designed to follow up on previous “significant” results reported from the area back in February.
Caspin said after analysing the drill hole for the full suite of six PGE elements, the revised intercepts from the hole include a 13-metre hit grading 0.17 grams of palladium per tonne (g/t palladium), 0.74 g/t platinum, 0.11 g/t rhodium, 0.26 per cent nickel and 0.21 per cent copper from 101 metres.
For references, any rhodium values over 0.1 g/t are considered significant, according to Caspin. The company found a peak value of 0.465 g/t rhodium in the hole.
Caspin CEO Greg Miles said this was an “interesting” new development for both the XC-22 prospect and the Yarawindah Brook project as a whole.
“It’s a pleasant surprise given this is the first time we’ve ever assayed for rhodium and bodes well for the discovery of more mineralisation,” Mr Miles said.
“Because of its value, small amounts as low as 100ppb can make a significant contribution to the economics of PGE deposits.”
Given it is four times rarer than gold but still has important industrial uses, rhodium prices over the past three years have ranged from between US$2000 per ounce to US$27,000 per ounce (A$2750 and A$37,100), with the metal currently worth roughly US$20,000 (A$27,500) per ounce.
Caspin said despite the metal’s value, it was not often routinely analysed given its scarcity and the significant extra costs associated with assaying for the full suite of PGEs.
In light of all this, only five samples at Yarawindah had ever been assays for rhodium before Caspin took over the project.
“We’ve now got an extensive assaying program ahead of us and if we can demonstrate that rhodium mineralisation occurs consistently with platinum and palladium at XC-22, then we could be another step closer to an economic discovery,” Mr Miles said.
Shares in Caspin Resources were up 6.79 per cent this morning to trade at 86.5 cents each at 12:05 pm AEDT. The company has a $60.4 million market cap.
