Vital Metal Ltd. Feb. 7 reported that results from its 2023 drill program at Nechalacho continue to show the potential to upgrade and expand upon shallow, high-grade rare earth element mineralization within the Tardiff deposit on the project about 110 kilometers (70 miles) southeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

In 2021, the Australia-based company began mining high-grade ore from the North T deposit, which was upgraded in preparation for shipping to Saskatchewan for further processing in a mixed rare earth product that could be sent to third-party facilities for final separation into individual rare earth elements.

Technical and financial difficulties, however, led Vital to rethink its previous strategy to establish a relatively small mine at Nechalacho and a rare earths processing plant in Saskatchewan.

Upon completion of a strategic review, the company opted to refocus its efforts on Tardiff, a near-surface deposit at Nechalacho with 119 million metric tons of resources averaging 1.4% (1.67 million metric tons) total rare earth oxides.

To execute this new strategy, Vital drilled 74 resource upgrade and expansion holes at Tardiff in 2023.

The company has previously reported results from 40 of the holes drilled last year. Highlights from previously released assays from 2023 drilling include:

• 81.85 meters averaging 1.6% total rare earth oxides from a depth of 8.2 meters.

• 33.45 meters averaging 2.2% TREO from a depth of 47 meters.

• 31.76 meters averaging 2.1% TREO from a depth of 34.2 meters.

• 23.85 meters averaging 2% TREO from a depth of 9.2 meters.

• 15.5 meters averaging 2.7% TREO from a depth of 30.5 meters.

• 14 meters averaging 2.8% TREO from a depth of 76 meters.

The latest batch of assays is from 10 infill holes focused on upgrading inferred resources to the higher confidence measured and indicated categories. Highlights from this batch of drilling include:

• 18.9 meters averaging 2.4% TREO from a depth of 12.1 meters in hole L23-631.

• 12.9 meters averaging 2.4% TREO from a depth of 56.1 meters in hole L23-661.

• 46.3 meters averaging 1.7% TREO from a depth of 24 meters in hole L23-663.

• 18 meters averaging 2.1% TREO from a depth of 72 meters in hole L23-668.

• 43.5 meters averaging 1.8% TREO from a depth of 38.5 meters in hole L23-680.

"These results continue to support an evolving narrative around grade and continuity of shallow higher-grade zones across the 2023 drill pattern that remain open for future drill-testing," said Vital Managing Director Geordie Mark. "Shallow higher grade drill results across several areas of the 2023 drill pattern foster our aim to add in-ground value potential that could facilitate project de-risking by expanding areas of higher grade and conversion to higher confidence resource categories."

The higher-grade resource potential is highlighted by a 1.9-meter subsection of the hole L23-631 intercept that averages 7.9% TREO. What makes this hole particularly intriguing is it was drilled on the northwest margin at Tardiff, indicating the potential for further expansion to the northwest and north.

"Several areas of higher grade remain open for expansion – particularly along the northwest where drilling has identified a target zone with a 300-metre-plus strike length – more drilling is warranted to examine the extent of mineralization, with results incorporated into a resource update for use in our ongoing scoping study, due for release later this year," Mark added.

Assays are pending from an additional 24 holes drilled during the 2023 program at Nechalacho.

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