Torian Resources Limited (ASX:TNR) Appoints Rare Earth Expert to Management Team

Torian Resources Limited (ASX:TNR) is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Kenneth (Ken) Collerson BSc (Hons), PhD., FAusIMM as a consultant to the Company to strengthen the expertise required to assess the Company's present laboratory multiple-element analysis (including Rare Earths assay suite analysis*) of its submitted 170 samples (>100ppm pXRF Yttrium of 1m intervals) from 41 AV holes (ASX 14th January; and further announcement pending*). Ken will also provide strategic and geological/geochemical advice to assist with targeting to drive the Company's Rare Earths exploration activities.

Professor Ken Collerson is a Principal at KDC Consulting, a Director (R and D) at Transition Resources and an Emeritus Professor in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at UQ. Prior to appointment at Head of Earth Sciences at UQ he was Professor of Geochemistry at the University of California in Santa Cruz. Ken is an internationally recognised geoscientist whose research has provided a basis for predictive mineral system exploration. He is a specialist in exploration for technology metals (REEYs, Sc, W) and battery metals (Cu, Li, Co, Mn), as well as for PGEs and alkaline Au-Cu porphyry systems. His use of spinifex biogeochemistry to explore under cover in western Queensland, resulted in the discovery of a 2000 km long plume generated Silurian to Devonian age mineral province (named the Diamantina Province) that extends from the Macquarie Arc in NSW to the Merlin kimberlite field in the Northern Territory.

Torian's Executive Chair, Paul Summers said "the appointment of Ken to our exploration team is a timely boost to the Rare Earth expertise required at this exciting time for the Company.

Our main focus remains gold exploration and Ken's appointment allows us to have a second set of very experienced eyes review our Rare Earths exploration activity without deviating our exploration team from our core focus of growing a substantial gold resource at the Mt Stirling and Diorite gold projects.

Ken for example, has already indicated that;
"…. the reconnaissance data p-XRF reported by the Company (ASX Jan 14, 2022) defines a significant foot print of anomalous Yttrium (Y) at Mt Stirling." This is because "…the average upper crustal abundance of Y is 21 ppm and Torian has reported 36 samples containing > 100 ppm Y, with some samples containing 460 to 521 ppm."

Yttrium is a pseudo-lanthanide and is a very useful vector element for identifying mineral systems that contain the high value (and rare) heavy Rare Earth Elements (HREEs - Dy, Ho, Gd, Tm, Er, Yb and Lu). This is because of the chemical similarity between Y and HREEs".

Ken also opined that, based on;

"…..the reconnaissance Ni, Co and Cu data in the Y-rich samples (Torian ASX Jan 14, 2022), this elemental anomalism likely reflects the presence of an underlying mafic alkaline mineral system rather than a granite or carbonatite."

"Such a mafic alkaline mineral system target will have implications for the possible presence of other critical elements such as scandium, platinum and palladium in addition to HREEs and Y."

"…the full assay suite for these samples is going to be a very interesting data set to review."

There is no doubt that a second string to Torian's discovery 'bow' has been well received by the market and the board are very buoyed about the Company's future.

Exploration results from both Au and Rare Earths are awaited for continuous release throughout the coming months in this highly active period for the Company


About Torian Resources Limited

Torian Resources Ltd (ASX:TNR) is a gold exploration and development company with an extensive and strategic land holding comprising eight projects and over 400km2 of tenure in the Goldfields Region of Western Australia.

Torian's flagship project, Zuleika, is located along the world-class Zuleika Shear. The Zuleika Shear is the fourth largest gold producing region in Australia and consistently produces some of the country's highest grade and lowest cost gold mines. Torian's Zuleika project lies north and partly along strike of several major gold deposits including Northern Star's (ASX:NST) 7.0Moz East Kundana Joint Venture and Evolutions (ASX:EVN) 1.8Moz Frogs Legs and White Foil deposits.

Torian's other projects include the strategically located Mt Stirling and Malcolm Projects in the Leonora region (near Red 5's King of the Hills Project), where it recently completed updated Mineral Resource Estimates and preliminary scoping studies, and a suite of other projects in the Kalgoorlie region including Credo Well JV Zuleika JV, Bonnie Vale, Gibraltar and Mount Monger/Wombola.

 

Related Companies

Torian Resources Limited