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Monte Muambe High-Grade Gallium Discovery
Monte Muambe High-Grade Gallium Discovery.
About this update from Altona Rare Earths Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n1 April 2025\n \n \nALTONA RARE EARTHS PLC\n(\"Altona\" or \"the Company\")\n \n \nMONTE MUAMBE HIGH-GRADE GALLIUM DISCOVERY\nFLUORSPAR SCOPING STUDY UPDATE\n \nAltona (LSE: REE), a resource exploration and development company focused on critical raw materials in Africa, is pleased to announce the discovery of high-grade mineralisation at Monte Muambe, with concentrations up to 232 g/t Ga.\n \nHighlights\n \n· High-grade gallium intercepts observed at Fluorite Zone and Target 6, up to 232 g/t Ga.\n· Best intercept: MM039 from surface to 100m at 77 g/t Ga, including 14.89m at 141 g/t Ga.\n· Gallium is a rare and highly sought strategic metal whose price has seen recent increases in the context of a trade war between China and the United States.\n· The presence of gallium associated to rare earths could change the economics of some of the rare earths ore bodies at Monte Muambe.\n \nGallium Discovery\n \nGallium is a rare metal usually extracted as a by-product from zinc and bauxite ore and is used in a wide-range of electronic and high-technology applications such as radars, light diodes and semiconductors. Gallium is considered a strategic raw material by several jurisdictions including the European Union, with China having a quasi-monopoly on its production. The price of gallium is currently at about US$ 250 per kg, The recent ban of gallium and germanium exports to the United States has propelled gallium to its highest price since 2011, at US$ 585 per kg in December 2024.\n \nThe price shift in gallium, and recent discoveries of high-grade gallium associated to rare earths in carbonatites, has prompted Altona to review its drilling data for this metal. Gallium is one of the trace elements which were analysed by Intertek Laboratories in the course of the preparation of our rare earths mineral resource estimate. Several high-grade gallium intercepts were noted in diamond drilling holes MM039 and MM040, with grades up to 232 g/t Ga.\n \nThe Company is pleased to announce the following significant gallium intercepts:\n \n\n\n\n\nHole ID\n\n\nFrom\n\n\nLength and Grade\n\n\n\n\nMM039\n\n\nsurface\n\n\n100 m @ 77 g/t Ga\n\n\n\n\nincluding\n\n\n70.85m\n\n\n14.89m @ 141 g/t Ga\n\n\n\n\nMM040\n\n\n37.3m...