Rare Earths Americas hits magnet metals at Homer

Rare Earths Americas (NYSE-A: REA) said initial drilling at its Homer project in Brazil returned broad, near-surface rare earth mineralization enriched in dysprosium and terbium, prompting the company to double its drill fleet to four rigs.

Hole RC-TGA-0010 cut 22 metres grading 2,233 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO) from five metres depth, including seven metres at 3,356 ppm TREO. Heavy rare earth oxides made up 34% of the higher-grade interval, including 4.1% dysprosium and terbium oxides.

Hole RC-TGA-0004 returned 13 metres at 2,238 ppm TREO from 16 metres, including three metres at 3,909 ppm TREO with 40.9% heavy rare earth oxides and 4.4% dysprosium and terbium.

“What stands out is the combination of scale, near-surface mineralization and heavy-magnet enrichment—and how early we are in testing the system,” CEO Donald Swartz said in a release on Wednesday.

More drilling

The company began the fully funded $5-million (C$7.1-million) reverse-circulation and diamond drilling program in June. It expects to finish the campaign by year-end and is targeting an initial mineral resource estimate for Homer in 2027.

The first assays cover about 1,250 metres, or 8% of the planned 15,000-metre program. Results from 11 holes outlined mineralization across about 2.15 sq. km, less than 20% of Homer-A’s main geochemical anomaly and less than 7% of the broader magnetic anomaly. All 11 holes intersected mineralization, while more than 6,500 metres had been drilled by Sept. 15.

A major question is recoverability at Homer, about 180 km from Goiânia in central Brazil’s Goiás state. The rare earths occur in near-surface clay and saprolite, and metallurgical testing is underway to determine whether they are loosely bound to the clay and can be readily leached, a key characteristic of ionic adsorption clay deposits.

Niobium, tantalum

The results also identified niobium and tantalum mineralization. Hole RC-TGA-0014 cut 11 metres grading 1,096 ppm niobium oxide from 21 metres, with 47 ppm tantalum oxide. A deeper interval returned seven metres at 1,009 ppm niobium oxide and 42 ppm tantalum oxide.

Homer’s prominence has risen quickly. When REA completed its May IPO, raising $63.3 million, it classified Homer as a non-material early-stage exploration project behind its Shiloh project in Georgia and the Alpha and Constellation projects in Brazil. The company’s August quarterly filing continued to describe Alpha, Constellation and Shiloh as its three material projects and Homer as an early-stage project.

Shares in Rare Earths Americas fell 1.8% to $10.78 apiece in New York by mid-Thursday, after a 1.3% decline a day earlier, for a market value of about $215 million. The stock is more than 42% below its $19 initial public offering price in May.