Latin tables stellar kaolin results from WA probe

ASX-listed explorer Latin Resources has tabled a stunning set of kaolin results from infill drilling at its Cloud Nine kaolin-halloysite deposit near Merredin in WA. The company says its recent work with the drill bit teased out a myriad of ultra-bright kaolinised granite that has further highlighted the resource’s eminence.

Latin’s kaolinitic ores comprise of both both bright white and ultra-bright white clays, checking in at an industrial grade of over 85 ISO brightness, or “ISO B” – a number that permits the material to be used in the manufacturing of premium paper, porcelain and increasingly in the high purity alumina, or “HPA” market.

Some of the notable intersections include a 38m hit going 85.3 ISO-B from 12m, 25 running 85.2 ISO-B from 17m and 21 at 85.2 ISO-B from 6m. One of the longer results was a 43m hit at 85.4 ISO-B from a depth of 7m.

So far, the company has reviewed the brightness of over 75 per cent of its composite samples from the in‐fill drilling program and expects the balance to be returned from the lab by the end of July. Ongoing work over the past year has delivered a suite of broad, near-surface kaolinised granite sections at Cloud Nine.

The deposit boasts near surface mineralisation masked beneath a thin blanket of soil and sand.

Latin has also completed a geotechnical drilling program at the project comprising of nine 85mm holes in order to get its hands on some samples from within the mineralisation envelope of the operation’s existing resource.

Management says the exploration forms a crucial step in its plans to update Cloud Nine’s mineral resource estimate, with the excavated samples providing an invaluable insight into what lies around the deposit.

The company will also feed the data into its mine design and planning work associated to a pre-feasibility study for the project. The study will evaluate the supply of several kaolin and halloysite-derived end products to a variety of customers.

The explorer is also enlisting speciality geophysics group Southern Geoscience Consultants to run detailed magnetic and radiometric surveys across the project’s regional tenements.

The work could generate a string of new targets along an over 100km patch of ground.

Outside of its use in paper and porcelain, kaolinite is also a key component in a variety of other everyday products including toothpaste, light bulbs, cosmetics, paints and soaps.

However, over the last few years the mineral has received something of a new lease of life following its use in the production of HPA - a material that when lathered across lithium-ion batteries, can boost both performance and longevity.

The results from Latin’s latest round of drilling add another tick of approval for Cloud Nine and with the latest batch of intercepts yielding high brightness scores the project’s assets may yet form an appealing proposition to players in the HPA space.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au