Western Yilgarn expands Darling Range bauxite footprint with Cardea 3

Western Yilgarn has acquired the Cardea 3 bauxite project in WA’s Darling Range, which has strong potential to further increase bauxite tonnage and grade through exploration.

Western Yilgarn has more bauxite assets in WA’s Darling Range bauxite mineral field. Pic: Getty Images

Special Report: Western Yilgarn has expanded its bauxite footprint within WA’s Darling Range bauxite mineral field with the acquisition of the Cardea 3 project.

• Western Yilgarn expands WA bauxite portfolio with Cardea 3 acquisition
• Historical drilling has returned high-grade alumina exceeding that mined at the nearby Worsley Alumina Operations
• Cardea 3 is near major highway and multi-user railway

It follows closely on the WA Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety awarding exploration licences E70/6702 and E70/6703 – the Cardea 1 and 2 project areas – in late May.

Western Yilgarn (ASX:WYX) paid the vendor a $5000 cash deposit on executing the terms sheet and will make a further cash payment of $20,000 and issue $25,000 worth of shares at an issue price equal to the 20-day volume weighted average price once the exploration licence application is granted.

Cardea 3 has seen some historical exploration with 422 vacuum drill holes completed to date. Of these, 139 have been analysed for available alumina and reactive silica.

Results from this work indicate that high-grade bauxite is present with available alumina – the portion of Ai2O3 that can be extracted under Bayer process conditions – exceeding 34.5% and reactive silica content of 3.14%.

This compares very favourably with the average mining grades of 28.7% available alumina and 1.9% reactive silica at South32’s (ASX:S32) nearby Worsley Alumina Operations.

Surface bauxite mineralisation has also been defined over a 3km by 1km area with a laterite profile typical of Darling Range bauxite deposits.

“We are extremely pleased with the acquisition of the Cardea 3 project, which provides significant scalability and strong potential to further increase both bauxite tonnage and grade through continued exploration—particularly in the western portion of the exploration licence area,” non-executive director Pedro Kastellorizos said.

“The project's proximity to a multi-user railway, within trucking distance, is a key logistical advantage, especially in the current market environment of record alumina and bauxite prices.”

Cardea 3 location. Pic: Western Yilgarn

Cardea 3 project

Cardea 3 sits within the Darling Scarp Bauxite Province – a key bauxite region centred on Pinjarra, Waroona and Worsley, which are major aluminium production hubs about 80km to 150km south of Perth.

It is about 17.5km east of the company’s Julimar West bauxite project and can be accessed from Perth via the Great Northern Highway and is well supported by the Perth Kalgoorlie Railway line to the south of the project area.

Results from the vacuum drilling have indicated that the highest grade zones – exceeding 40% Ai2O3 - are concentrated in the central and southern portions of the exploration licence area.

WYX added that data to date indicated that alumina and reactive silica for this deposit may be comparable to nearby bauxite mining operations such as the Worsley Alumina Operations.

Surface and drilling geochemistry, along with the interpreted geophysics has highlighted multiple targets proximal to the west and south of the current tenure areas.

Regional mapping and interpretation of the Western Australia Geological Survey has delineated laterite and pisolitic gravels in which the bauxite occurs.

These areas will be systematically targeted once the company starts first pass exploration.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Originally published as Western Yilgarn expands Darling Range bauxite footprint with Cardea 3