Ionic Rare Earths (ASX:IXR) increases Makuutu exploration target by 50pc

• Ionic Rare Earths (IXR) has announced a 50 per cent increase in an exploration target at the Makuutu Rare Earths Project in Uganda
• The updated exploration target now stands at between 240 and 800 million tonnes at 450 to 900 parts per million total rare earth oxides
• The increase follows extensive drilling last year and a recently granted exploration licence, which is believed to host continued rare earth element mineralisation
• In addition, IXR has been granted another exploration licence and been given a two-year renewal to an existing retention licence within the project
• Now, the miner is gearing up to release an updated mineral resource estimate and conduct drilling in the second quarter
• Following the news, IXR is up 11.8 per cent and shares are trading at 1.9 cents

Ionic Rare Earths (IXR) has announced a hefty 50 per cent increase in an exploration target at the Makuutu Rare Earths Project in Uganda.

Drilling programs conducted last year have led the company to prepare the updated exploration target which now stands at between 240 and 800 million tonnes at 450 to 900 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides.

The revised exploration target has also been increased due to a recently granted exploration licence.

In addition to exploration licence EL00147, exploration licence EL00148 was also granted, while retention licence 1693 was renewed.

Importantly, EL00147 covers land the company believes is host to the continuation of the rare earth element (REE) mineralised basin.

Further, the second granted exploration licence is situated in an area that holds potential for rare earth mineralisation. Additionally, the area provides more ground suitable for a planned processing plant.

The two-year renewal of the retention licence follows Ionic Rare Earth’s submission of a positive scoping study to the directorate of geological survey and mines (DGSM) and shows the Ugandan Government’s confidence in IXR’s ability to progress the Makuutu project.

“Securing EL 1693 for a further two years provides the company with sufficient time to complete the key activities required to support the mining licence application and advance Makuutu to a final investment decision,” Managing Director Tim Harrison said.

“The new exploration target announced today represents an increase of 50% from the previous target, and with the resource update planned for Q1 2021, we expect that the scale of the project will grow substantially,” he added.

Now, the miner is gearing up to release an updated mineral resource estimate, as well as begin an initial drilling program at EL00147 in the second quarter.

Following the news, IXR is up 11.8 per cent and shares are trading at 1.9 cents at 10:26 am AEDT.