Eclipse Metals Ltd. provided an update on the first stage of exploration at its Ivigtût Project, including activities in the Ivigtût mine precinct and Grønnedal carbonatite in southwest Greenland, where its maiden drill program is underway. Eclipse's Executive Chairman Carl Popal has been supervising activities with assistance from Greenlandic geological consultants, drilling and earthmoving contractors. Using recently produced geophysical and remote sensing models as a guide, the program aims to collect sub-surface samples of the REE bearing carbonatite formation and to obtain samples of the Ivigtût mine wall rocks.

Eclipse is also pitting and trenching waste dumps at the historic Ivigtût cryolite mine to assess the variety of mineralisation styles, host lithologies and grades of material mined to better understand their geochemical nature. The dumps will also be prioritised according to their grade and tonnage potential as a future source of saleable product. The Gronnêdal Carbonatite was partially drill-tested in the mid-1900s to evaluate small-scale magnetite seams. More recently, surface samples collected by Eclipse returned significant values for a range of rare earth element (REE) bearing minerals (ASX Release 24 March 2022).

No systematic exploration has been conducted in the area until the current program. On the Grønnedal carbonatite complex, Eclipse has completed 31 drill holes over a ~3.0km by ~1.5km area to depths between 3m and 22m. A grid pattern was utilised where surface features permitted, with ground conditions varying from very broken to solid rock.

Trenches were excavated in areas where drilling was not practicable. The aim of Eclipse's drilling program was to re-test known magnetite mineralisation and to obtain fresh samples of carbonatite and a magnetic dolerite dyke at depth to assess content of rare earth elements. Trenching in rubble covered areas has provided samples of in-situ rock formations.

Sub-samples from several tonnes of trench samples are being prepared for shipment to Australia. Also on the Gronnêdal Carbonatite complex, Eclipse's drilling and trenching in an area of 200 metres by 200 metres has confirmed the highly altered magnetic dolerite dyke to be widespread and deep seated. This is based on the drilling and geophysical interpretation that a vertically extensive magnetite-hematite- carbonate alteration system containing REE is now confirmed in rock chip descriptions and visually in trenches and drill holes.

Results from previous surface samples from the dykes confirmed enriched REE with up to 4.66% total rare earth oxides. In August 2022, Eclipse sent samples of the dyke containing pink-coloured minerals to St Andrews University in the UK for assessment. XRD examination of the sample indicated the pink mineral as possibly being bastnasite enriched in REE carbonates.