Mining group ABx to access private land in Tasmanian licence area

The award of the licence will give the company the right to drill for metals, including on private land, throughout the licence area.

The grants now under ABx Group's control extend about 80 kilometres to the south-east, from the Launceston city outskirts near St Leonards, to just south of Rossarden.

ABx Group chief executive officer Mark Cooksey said the company sought the two new licence grants after exploration drilling at its Portrush project near St Leonards yielded very high concentrations of rare earth elements.

"These two large exploration licences significantly increase our rare earths exploration footprint in Tasmania to almost 600 square kilometres," Mr Cooksey said.

The company is planning to begin exploration programs at the two tenements to target prospective areas, focusing on land around its existing Portrush claim, near St Leonards.

The granting of the new licence areas came as the company reported exceptionally high concentrations of critical rare earths were found at near its existing Deep Leads/Rubble Mound tenement west of Launceston.

Mr Cooksey said the result showed a newly drilled area was "the most enriched intercept to date, with grades that I believe are unrivalled in Australia".

He has previously said the rare earth deposits found in Northern Tasmania are often located in ionic adsorption clay geological structures, making them much easier and more economic to extract compared to other rare earth deposits around the world.

"Our ionic adsorption clay rare earths resources are exceptionally enriched in the two most critical rare earths, namely Dysprosium and Terbium," he said.

Both materials are used in the production of permanent magnets, which are critical for high-tech gadgets like wind turbines, electric cars, sonar transceivers and Xray screens.

"These latest results have confirmed that ABx's exploration technology is unravelling the genesis of this unique rare earths resource and leading us to the richer, thicker rare earths mineralisation," Mr Cooksey said.

ABx earlier this month signed a supply deal with South Australian construction materials group Adelaide Brighton Cement for the supply of up to 120,000 tonnes of bauxite from its planned mine in Northern Tasmania.

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