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DY6 Metals
Overview
Rare earth elements (REEs) collectively represent some of the most critical minerals in the world. This group of interrelated minerals has an incredibly broad range of applications — everything from military equipment to consumer electronics. They are also pivotal in the global transition to clean energy and decarbonisation. Neodymium magnets, for instance — composed of neodymium, iron and boron (NdFeB) — are increasingly being used in wind turbines and electric vehicle motors. Dysprosium and Terbium are added to high performance NdFeB magnets to increase the magnet’s resistance to demagnetisation, thereby improving performance through higher operating temperatures.
REEs are also essential to the production of devices such as smartphones, lending context to the news that alongside other critical minerals such as lithium and cobalt, global demand for REEs is expected to increase by as much as 600 percent over the next several decades.
It is clear the world needs to ramp up rare earths production — a challenge DY6 Metals (ASX:DY6) understands. This mineral exploration company holds a 100 percent interest in six highly prospective critical metals projects in Malawi. As one of the most stable jurisdictions in Southern Africa, Malawi is home to considerable mineral wealth — a fact which, alongside its mining-friendly government, has seen the country enjoy significant mining investments over recent years.
Successful completion of maiden 35-hole RC and 8 DDH drilling program for 3,643m RC and 900m of DDH at Machinga HREE and Nb project was completed in September 2023. Assay results of the final diamond Drill hole program returned an average of 29 percent heavy rare earth oxide to total rare earth oxide (HREO:TREO) and 3.6 percent dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb) (DyTb:TREO) at a cutoff grade of >0.25 percent TREO.
DY6 expanded its overall strategic footprint in Malawi to a total of 1,080 square kilometres by staking a carbonatite ring complex in southern Malawi known as Tundulu and several licences considered to be highly prospective for lithium. An exclusive prospecting licence application for 91.5 square kilometres was submitted over Tundulu while an additional four exclusive prospecting licence applications totaling 746.7 square kilometres have also been submitted for the company’s Mzimba (West, Central and South) and Karonga projects.
Company Highlights
- DY6 Metals is an ASX-listed company building a portfolio of critical minerals projects in Malawi that are highly prospective for rare earths, niobium and lithium.
- The company has completed a successful $7-million initial public offering.
- DY6 employs an experienced management team which includes geotechnical experts and mining professionals.
- DY6's projects feature near-surface, high-grade historical drillings and/or workings, and are significantly underexplored with considerable potential to define new mineralised zones.
- Malawi as a mining jurisdiction is incredibly prospective for rare earth elements. In recent years, multiple resource companies have been engaged in comprehensive exploration and development within the region, including:
- Malawi is also known for its excellent operating infrastructure, mining-friendly regulations, and push for renewable energy.
Key Projects
Machinga
Machinga project location
Located within the Chilwa Alkaline Province (the same province that hosts Lindian’s Kangankunde project), Machinga is DY6's flagship project. The original exploration licence, covering 42.9 square kilometers, was acquired in light of uranium channel radiometric anomalies located by a country-wide airborne survey in the 1980s. In 2023, the Malawian Department of Mines granted DY6 Metals an additional licence area for Machinga, which increased its total area to 197 square kilometres. The Machinga radiometric anomaly is continuous along a strike of approximately 7 km, indicating that potential to discover further eudialyte-hosted REE mineralisation may be significant.
Project Highlights:
- A significant HREE project
- 40km east of Lindian’s (ASX:LIN) “Kangankunde”
- Successful completion of maiden 35-hole RC and 8 DDH drilling program for 4,543m at Machinga HREE and Nb project
- Initial exploration focused on historical 2010 drill program for 4000m (Machinga North)
- Future exploration includes extending NE into new licence EL0705 and south along the anomalous zone
- 2023 Maiden Reverse Circulation and Diamond Core drill Assay significant results:
- 15.1 metres @ 1.01 percent TREO, 0.36 percent Nb2 O5 from 23.9 metres (3.71 percent Dy/ Tb/TREO) incl. 4 metres @ 1.75 percent TREO, 0.63 percent Nb2 O5 from 33 metres (3.8 percent Dy/Tb/TREO) drilled downdip (MDD007)
- 13 metres @ 0.65 percent TREO, 0.25 percent Nb2 O5 from surface; incl. 1 metres @ 1.06 percent TREO, 0.37 percent Nb2 O5 from 7 metres, and 1 metres @ 1.28 percent TREO, 0.42 percent Nb2 O5 from 9 metres (MR019)
- 7 metres @ 1.42 percent TREO with 0.49 percent Nb2 O5 from 65 metres (MR011) – 16 metres @ 0.54 percent TREO with 0.21 percent Nb2 O5 from 78 metres, incl. 3 metres @ 1.63 percent TREO, 0.7 percent Nb2 O5 from 87 metres (MR005)
- 11 metres @ 0.74 percent TREO, 0.29 percent Nb2O5 from surface (3.8 percent DyTb/TREO) incl. 2 metres @ 1.36 percent TREO, 0.49 percent Nb2O5 from 6 metres (4 percent Dy/Tb/TREO) (MR024)
Mineralisation
- Strongly mineralised hydrothermal breccia system striking NW-SE and dipping shallowly ~35° to the NE has been confirmed by the recent drilling
- Drill cross sections demonstrate excellent continuity with radiometric contour predicting the mineralised higher-grade zone
- High grade HREE-Nb confirmed from RC and DD drill results at Machinga Central Zone
- The mineralisation at the Machinga alkaline complex contains a higher proportion of valuable dysprosium-terbium (DyTb) with results indicating an average 3.6 percent DyTb:TREO in samples greater than 0.25% TREO.
Salambidwe Project
Straddling the Malawi-Mozambique border, the Salambidwe project covers an area of 24.9 square kilometres, associated with the Salambidwe Ring Complex, which is known for hosting multiple notable carbonate deposits. Geology in the area is also associated with high radiometric values, typically associated with REE mineralization.
Project Highlights:
- Considerable Potential: The Salambidwe project is a virgin rare earth carbonate prospect. While no drilling has taken place at the project, rock-chip samples returned 2.05 percent TREO including 214 ppm dysprosium oxide.
- Area Geology: With a diameter of approximately 6 kilometres, the Salambidwe Ring Complex is largely syenite and nepheline syenite with an agglomerate rock core. Based on this geology and the radiometric signal, the project has the potential for REE mineralisation.
2023 Exploration Program
- DY6 has completed the initial geochemical and geophysical exploration programs at Salambidwe.
- Analytical results have been received for the grid-based soil and rock chip sampling. Results from the 128 soil and 386 rock chips expand the known area of anomalous responses.
- The maximum values from separate rock chip samples were 1.21 percent TREO & 0.12 percent Nb2O5; maximum values from separate soil samples were 0.23 percent TREO & 0.09% Nb2O5.
- The 45-line kilometre airborne geophysical program confirmed the highly concentric nature of the intrusive complex.
- DY6 is assessing the combined geochemical and geophysical data to refine targets prior to a maiden drill program.
Karonga Lithium Project
In 2024, DY6 Metals entered into an exclusive option to acquire an 80 percent interest in the Karonga lithium project, with granted licence EPL0659, spanning 39 square kilometres in northern Malawi. DY6 Metals Ltd submitted four (4) exclusive prospecting licence applications totalling 746.7 km2 in northern Malawi for tenements it considers to be highly prospective for lithium. The Mzimba licences cover a large area (710.5km2) and remain significantly underexplored for LCT pegmatites.
Reconnaissance field work at the Karonga identified some pegmatites of up to 500 metres in length with the potential to host lithium mineralisation. Rock chip samples include visually observed spodumene and lithium micas (lepidolite). Initial reconnaissance indicates huge potential for a major Li discovery and initial ground reconnaissance sampling at Mzimba South licence returned grades of 6.2 percent Li2O (lepidolite mica) and 0.3 percent Li2O (pegmatite rock assemblage), and also high in cesium and rubidium with significant potential for LCT pegmatite hosted mineralisation. The first pass program at Mzimba South consisted of 8 samples from 5 outcrop locations, where artisanal workers have been excavating pegmatites for gemstones (tourmaline, aquamarine and beryl).
Tundulu REE Project
‘Tundulu’ is a known carbonatite ring complex with abundant REE mineralisation, predominantly in the form of bastnaesite and apatite. Shallow historical drilling (1988) (>max depth of 50 metres), includes:
- 41 metres @ 3.7 percent TREO, from 8 metres (JMT-22)
- 17 metres @ 1.3 percent TREO, from surface and 14 metres @ 1.1 percent TREO, from 21 metres (JMT-14)
- 11 metres @ 2.2 percent TREO, from 17 metres and 14 metres @ 4.1 percent TREO, from 36 metres (JMT-17)
- 14 metres @ 1.1 percent TREO, from 3 metres (JMT-07)
Samples from a recent reconnaissance field visit at Tundulu have been despatched for laboratory analysis. Tundulu complements the company’s existing REE and critical metals portfolio in Malawi. A geological team recently undertook a reconnaissance field visit over parts of the licence application area and samples have been submitted for laboratory analysis in South Africa.
Ngala Hill
Situated just east of the Thyolo Fault, the Ngala Hill Project's zone of mineralization contains a strong magnetic anomaly indicative of an oxidized intrusive. Like Salambidwe, Ngala Hill is a relatively fresh asset. It has not been the target of any significant modern exploration efforts, though the results from historical works are nevertheless promising.
Project Highlights:
- Multiple Mineralization Zones: Ngala Hill's deposit takes the form of an ultramafic chonolith that intrudes onto an underlying Proterozoic Basement Complex quartz feldspar-amphibole gneisses. The chonolith is also cut by Karoo-age dolerite dykes. Currently, DY6 has identified three zones of palladium-rich palladium-platinum-gold-copper mineralization worthy of follow-up.
- Promising Historic Results: After trenching the deposit in 2000, Phelps Dodge identified the following mineralization:
- 12 metres at 3 grams per ton (g/t) platinum group elements (PGE)+gold
- 70 metres at 1.12 g/t PGE+gold, including 8 meters at 3.3 g/t PGE+gold
- Presence of Massive Sulphides: Historical exploration has identified massive sulphides with grades of up to 4 g/t palladium+platinum+gold and 0.7 percent copper in saprolite/saprock.
- Close Proximity to Major Infrastructure: Ngala Hill is located close to the Nacala rail/port corridor, with easy access to grid power.
Management Team
Dan Smith - Non-executive Chairman
Dan Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts, is a fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia and has over 15 years’ primary and secondary capital markets expertise. He is a director and co-founder of Minerva Corporate, a boutique corporate services and advisory firm. He has advised on and been involved in over a dozen IPOs/RTOs on the ASX, AIM and NSX. Smith is currently non-executive director for several companies on AIM/ASX operating in the resources sector with a focus on critical minerals and has been heavily involved in project origination and evaluation.
Lloyd Kaiser - Chief Executive Officer
Lloyd Kaiser brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the rare earths sector having recently held the role of general manager of sales and marketing at Arafura Rare Earths Limited (ASX:ARU) where he successfully negotiated binding rare earth off-take agreements with key automotive and wind energy equipment manufacturers. During his more than 10 years of tenure at Arafura, Kaiser also spent a number of years as general manager of technology and engineering where he successfully delivered technology and process flowsheet development milestones, enabling completion of feasibility and FEED engineering at Arafura’s flagship asset, Nolans Bore, Northern Territory.
Kaiser is a chemical engineer with over 30 years of experience in the resource sector spanning multiple commodities and has amassed a large industry network of participants across the rare earths supply chain.
Myles Campion - Non-executive Director
Myles Campion has over 30 years’ experience in the natural resources sector, including exploration geology, resource analysis, fund management, equities research and project and debt financing. He started his career as an exploration and mining geologist in Australia covering base metals and gold. This included being the project geologist at LionOre responsible for the exploration, discovery and BFS completion of the Emily Ann Nickel Sulphide Mine.
Campion’s financial experience ranges from Australian and UK equities research to project and debt financing in London and fund manager for the OEIC Australian Natural Resources Fund for five years in Perth. He has been the executive director of Europa Metals since August 2020 and is a non-executive director at Katoro Gold.
John Kay - Non-executive Director
John Kay is an experienced corporate lawyer and corporate adviser. He has over 15 years’ experience in equity capital markets, M&A and resources gained through both private practice and inhouse roles in Australia and the UK. He currently operates a corporate advisory practice, Arcadia Corporate, which provides corporate advisory and capital raising services to listed and unlisted companies in the small cap mining sector.
Kay has previously held a number of non-executive and company secretarial roles for ASX listed mining and energy companies and has advised on over a dozen IPOs/RTOs on the ASX. He holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Western Australia and is admitted to practice as a lawyer in Western Australia and England & Wales.
Nannan He - Non-executive Director
Nannan He has over 10 years of experience in geosciences, chemical material trading, exploration and resources investment. Through her investment vehicle Woodsouth Asset Management, she has been actively examining exploration and resource projects worldwide and has built strong networks, particularly in the Southeast Asian market.
Troth Saindi - Senior Exploration Geologist / Country Manager
Troth Saindi’s more than 17 years of experience in the mineral resource sector spans from exploration geology through to development and production. Troth commenced his career with MSA Group Services in 2006, focusing on gold, PGEs and base metal projects in the Barberton Greenstone Belt and the Bushveld Complex. From 2007 to 2013, Troth worked with Platinum Group Metals (PTM) in the Western and Northern Limbs of the Bushveld complex as a project geologist. He successfully led the discovery team in the new Waterberg PGE deposit, where a high-grade PGE ore seam was named after him (T-Reef). From 2013 to August 2023, Troth worked as group geologist with AIM- listed Bushveld Minerals Ltd managing several exploration projects and supporting the company’s mining operations. In September 2023, Troth joined ASX-listed DY6 Metals as a Senior Exploration Geologist and Country Manager for the company’s Malawi based projects. He is currently managing DY6 Metals’ REE & Lithium projects in Malawi.
Allan Younger - Technical Consultant
Allan Younger is a Geologist with over 40 years’ experience in all facets of the resources industry and most commodities. He is a specialist explorer highly experienced in target generation and project generation with advanced expertise in multi-element geochemistry application and Interpretation. Younger has worked for a number of large international and junior mining and exploration companies, within Australia and internationally, both as employee, contractor or consultant.
Currently, Younger serves as exploration manager for White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN), a mineral explorer focussing on rare earths and lithium exploration in Western Australia.
Eclipse Metals
Overview
Eclipse Metals Ltd. (ASX:EPM) is an exploration and mining development company focusing on multi-commodity assets that support the world’s decarbonization goals. The company has a robust portfolio of projects in Australia and Greenland targeting crucial minerals, including rare earth elements (REEs), lithium, zinc, manganese, high-purity quartz, gold, copper, vanadium and uranium.
Governments worldwide have set ambitious goals to reach net-zero emissions in the coming decades, highlighting miners that supply the critical minerals required for low-carbon technologies, which is expected to consume a growing percentage of the world’s total mineral production, with vital elements growing by over 100 percent by 2050, according to the World Bank.
Greenland REE deposits
Eclipse Metal’s flagship asset in Greenland, the Ivigtût project, contains known REE mineralization, industrial minerals and lithium potential.
Multiple academic research and significant rare earths results obtained by Eclipse Metals to date imply that the Grønnedal prospect (located 10 kilometers northeast of Ivigtût) has the potential to contain significant rare earth mineralization. This presence is consistent with other rare earth-bearing carbonatite-syenite intrusive complexes and has elevated ratios in praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), with enriched in dysprosium (Dy),
zirconium (Zr) and niobium (Nb) — elements that are crucial in the global journey toward a low-carbon, net-zero-emission future. As a mining-friendly jurisdiction, Greenland has an established infrastructure, reducing future development costs.
Additionally, the Ivigtût project contains a high-grade quartz body, a required material for high-end electronics and semiconductors. Eclipse Metals has begun its initial exploration drilling campaign and developed the project’s environmental impact assessment.
Eclipse Metals’ portfolio also includes Australian assets targeting uranium, copper and manganese as part of the company’s mission to support decarbonization. Its Northern Territory and Queensland assets allow the company to capitalize on existing infrastructure and mining-friendly local governments. The company’s uranium assets are in close proximity to other world-class deposits, allowing Eclipse to benefit from existing infrastructure and community support.
A sound management team with decades of experience in the natural resource industry leads Eclipse Metals. The team’s breadth of expertise includes mineral exploration, geology, corporate administration, metallurgy and international trade, creating confidence in the company’s ability to capitalize on its assets.
Company Highlights
- Eclipse Metals is an exploration and mining development company with assets in Greenland and Australia, supporting the world’s decarbonization goals.
- The company’s flagship Ivigtût multi-commodity asset in Greenland exposes the company to REEs, high-purity quartz, and other industrial metals required for emerging technologies.
- Greenland is a mining-friendly yet underexplored jurisdiction, creating tremendous opportunities for the company.
- Eclipse Metals’ portfolio of assets in Australia includes projects in Queensland and the Northern Territory in world-class mining jurisdictions.
- The company has begun its initial exploratory drilling campaign in Greenland and is progressing on the project’s environmental impact assessment for the mining license.
- An experienced management team leads Eclipse Metals with decades of experience in the mining industry.
Key Projects
Ivigtût Multi-commodity Project
The flagship Ivigtût project has a 120-year mining history, having produced 3.8 million tons of cryolite to support aluminum production. The settlement of Kangilinnguit (Grønnedal) approximately 5.5 kilometers to the northeast of Ivigtut provides access to an existing port. In addition, the project is close to existing infrastructure, including a power station, wharf and heliport, which minimizes future development costs.
Project Highlights:
- A Multi-commodity Project: The asset is known to host REEs and undiscovered polymetallic potential. In addition to REEs, the project contains other minerals, which include:
- Cryolite
- Fluorite
- High silica-grade quartz (99.9 percent SiO2)
- Zinc
- Iron
- Lithium
- Rich Exploration Potential: The asset’s area includes a source of carbonatite minerals and REEs, with deposits occurring in the project area that offers additional exploration opportunities to expand known resources. Eclipse Metals is presently strategically exploring the asset, with a drill program, planned pit dewatering, and sampling of 19,000 meters of historical drill cores.
- High-grade Quartz Opportunity: High-grade quartz is necessary to produce photovoltaic products, such as semiconductors and other high-end electronics. The asset contains over 5 million tonnes of quartz mineralization with up to 99.99 percent silica grade.
The company completed scoping phase reports of social and environmental impact assessments for its Ivigtût project with the assistance of Danish consultancy, COWI. The reports are integral to applying to Greenland’s Mineral Licence and Safety Authority for a mining license.
Eclipse also completed its maiden percussion drilling and trench sampling program at the Ivigtût mine site and Grønnedal carbonatite complex.
MEL2007-45 Location map and exploration drill targets
Northern Territory Uranium projects
Liverpool Uranium Project
The Liverpool project comprises five exploration licenses totalling 1,464 square kilometers in the Northern Territory, a proven uranium district. The advanced exploration target contains multiple drill-ready targets.
Project Highlights:
- Nearby World-class Deposits: The Devil’s Elbow prospect within the asset is near several world-class deposits, including:
- Ranger 1 No 1: 0.34 percent uranium
- Ranger 1 No 3: 0.17 percent uranium
- Nabarlek: 1.95 percent uranium
- Jabiluka 1: 0.25 percent uranium
Encouraging Sample Results:
- Samples from shallow trenching yielded high-grade uranium assays including 3.2 percent uranium oxide, 3.7 percent uranium oxide, 4.40 percent uranium oxide, and 5.8 percent uranium oxide, with 38.1 g/t gold and 28.02 g/t palladium, related to fractures within altered amygdaloidal basalt of the Nungbalgarri Volcanics.
- Samples from the radioactive volcanic boulders returned assays of up to 1,720 ppm uranium (0.17 percent uranium), 1,210 ppm uranium (0.12 percent uranium) and a peak value of 3,300 ppm uranium (0.33 percent uranium).
Ngalia Basin Uranium Project
As Eclipse Metals’ second Northern Territory project, the Ngalia Basin project comprises eight exploration licenses totaling 7,280 square kilometers.
Project Highlights:
- Drill-ready Targets Identified: The company has identified two high-priority drill-ready targets within granted tenements.
- Benefitting from Previous Explorers: The asset’s previous explorers discovered anomalous uranium values, streamlining Eclipse’s exploration program and creating a clear progression path.
Mary Valley Manganese Project
The company’s Queensland project covers 35 square kilometers and is 16 kilometers southwest of Gympie Township. The Mary Valley hosts historic mines, such as Amamoor, which produced roughly 20,000 tonnes at 51 percent manganese. In addition, existing road and power infrastructure significantly reduce future development costs.
Project Highlights:
- Promising Historical Results: Drill results from the previous explorer include:
- 2018 drilling: 3.2 meters at 59.8 percent manganese dioxide
- 2020 shallow drilling: 3.5 meters at 24.9 percent manganese dioxide from the surface
- High-grade Manganese Potential: As an essential component in lithium-ion batteries, high-grade manganese is growing in demand. The Mary Valley deposit may support mill feed for a beneficiation plant capable of producing marketable, high-grade manganese.
- Encouraging Intersection: Previous diamond drill holes produced encouraging results, including:
- ADD 006 – 8.8 to 12 meters manganese oxide = 59.8 percent
- ADD 007 – 14.9 to 17.3 meters manganese oxide = 26.3 percent
- ADD 010 – 0.0 to 5.0 meters manganese oxide = 16.8 percent
Rock Hill Copper Project
The Northern Territory Rock Hill copper project contains encouraging copper-silver mineralization. Eclipse Metals plans to conduct airborne electromagnetic surveys and reverse circulation drilling over the mineralized zones, followed by diamond drilling. The potential mineralized corridor extends for over 10 kilometers.
Project Highlights:
- Promising Historical Results: Historical results indicate upside potential including:
- 3.0 meters at 1,420 g/t silver from 6.1 meters
- 11.6 meters at 0.43 percent copper from 58.2 meters
- 0.3 meters at 4.6 percent copper and 10 g/t silver
- 0.3 meters at 10.20 percent copper, 27 g/t silver
Management Team
Carl Popal - Executive Chairman
Carl Popal has more than 20 years of entrepreneurial experience covering a diverse range of commodities trading, corporate management, minerals exploration, asset management and construction, to name some. Previously, Popal was chief executive director of ASX-listed company Paynes Find Gold Ltd. He is the managing director of Ghan Resources Pty Ltd and Popal Enterprise Pty Ltd. Since 2001, Popal has managed several entities conducting international trading. He has more than 12 years’ experience in property development and has managed various commercial dealings within a network of companies around the world including in India, China and Malaysia.
Rodney Dale - Non-executive Director
Rodney Dale holds a Fellowship Diploma in geology from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and is a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. His experience covers more than 60 years, working in many parts of Australia, Indonesia and Africa on gold, tin, wolfram, base metals and industrial mineral exploration and mining, including trial mining and export of high-grade quartz. He has worked in and managed small gold mines in Western Australia. Since 1970, Dale has been an independent geological consultant with three periods as a director of ASX-listed companies. More recently, he has been involved with the assessment of iron ore projects in Australia, South America, India, China and Africa.
Oliver Kreuzer - Non-executive Director
Dr. Oliver Kreuzer is a registered professional geoscientist and company director with a broad skill set in structural, generative and corporate geology honed within more than a 20-year career in applied research and mineral exploration across a wide range of gold, base, energy and battery metals projects worldwide. His generative work laid the foundations for several new company floats, project acquisitions and new discoveries. Kreuzer is currently a non-executive director of ASX-listed exploration companies 92 Energy Ltd and NickelX Ltd.
Ibrar Idrees – Non-executive Director
Ibrar Idrees has a Bachelor of Commerce (majoring in Accounting and Finance) from Deakin University and has over 10 years of professional and corporate experience gained in a diverse range of industries in Australia and South Asia. Idrees, a practicing accountant, has worked in a variety of business development and financial positions in small and large companies.
Sebastian Andre - Company Secretary
Sebastian Andre is a chartered secretary with over 14 years of experience in corporate advisory, governance, compliance, and risk services. Andre has previously acted as an adviser at the ASX and has a thorough understanding of the ASX listing rules. He holds qualifications in accounting, finance and corporate governance and is a member of the Governance Institute of Australia