Key points
- Queensland’s Department of Resources approved the exploration work programme for prospect EPM28606.
- The permit covers 196 square kilometres of the Toolebuc formation in the Tambo region of Central West Queensland.
- Chatham’s subsidiary Avenir Makatea Pty Ltd, trading as Pacific Rare Earths, made the application.
- The company will apply for funding under Queensland’s $26 million collaborative drilling program.
WORK PROGRAMME APPROVED FOR CRP’S
PACIFIC RARE EARTHS SELENIUM EXPLORATION PERMIT
Chatham Rock Phosphate Ltd. has moved another step forward with its selenium prospect EPM 28606 as the Queensland Department of Resources has approved the exploration work program for this prospect.
Exploration area EPM28606, with outcropping beds of the seleniferous Toolebuc formation, covers an area of 196 square kilometres in the Tambo region of Central West Queensland. The area is accessible by local paved roads and well served by local infrastructure in the town of Blackall, north of the area.
Selenium minerals are rare, and although selenium-rich ores exist, few are mined exclusively for the element. Most selenium is obtained as a byproduct of copper ore processing. Selenium is occasionally found in pure form. It occurs in the rare minerals clausthalite and crooksite.
The inclusion of selenium in the Queensland government schedule of new economy minerals (NEM) recognizes the significance of the mineral to the state. Selenium is to be found in its inorganic state as in the seleniferous Toolebuc formation and in the organic state in certain plants.
The company has an interest in both forms, both inorganic and organic, since selenium has application in new technologies as well as in fertilizers and supplements for livestock in selenium-deficient areas of Australia and New Zealand.
With selenium being one of the NEM, the company will now apply for exploration funding under the Queensland government’s $26 million collaborative drilling program.
Pacific Rare Earths
Chatham’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary, Avenir Makatea Pty. Ltd., trading as Pacific Rare Earths, made the application.
Pacific Rare Earths (PRE) is the umbrella company for Chatham’s existing rare earth elements projects at Korella North, Korella Central and Korella South in Queensland, the Chatham Rise project offshore New Zealand, and the selenium project at Tambo.
