Summit Minerals Limited announced that following a delay due to unseasonal rainfall, it has commenced reverse circulation drilling of previously intersected rare-earth mineralisation (REE) at its wholly owned Stallion Project, east of Kalgoorlie. The drilling program has three objectives: to confirm the previously drilled intersections featuring CeO2+La2O3+Sc2O3+Y2O3 enrichment; to assess the total rare earth oxide (TREO) tenor by analysing samples for the full complement of REE, and to identify shallower REE mineralisation marginal to the channel. The target is regolith-hosted REO mineralisation, potentially associated with an ion-adsorption deposit (IAD) resulting from weathering rare-earth-rich host rocks and forming clays.

The REEs are weakly adsorbed onto the clay minerals. Essentially, the IAD model is derived from the weathering of REE- enriched granite, like that found at Stallion. Historically, Manhattan Corporation (MHC) drilled 78 drill holes for 6,552 metres at Stallion pre-2011.

MHC, during exploration for uranium, intersected anomalous REE mineralisation in a weathered granite underlying a deep channel. The returned assays show grades up to 2,666ppm (0.26%) in only four of the 17 rare earth elements. The remaining 13 rare earth elements, including the high- demand HREEs, were not assayed.

Background Information: Manhattan Corporation developed 78 drill holes for 6,552 metres at Stallion pre-2011, with over 1,000 drill samples submitted for multi-element analysis. The Stallion drilling systematically tested a uranium mineralised palaeochannel target on 400m by 100m drill centres over 8 kilometres of strike. MHC sampling was restricted to radioactive intervals defined by scintillometer readings exceeding 300cps, resulting in most holes remaining substantially under-sampled with almost no sampling occurring within the palaeochannel.

The drilled anomalous intersections lie mostly in the weathered granite beneath the channel.