El Campo project : Ely Gold Royalties acquires heavy rare earth project in California
Ely Gold Royalties, in February, announced the acquisition of the El Campo project, a heavy rare earth deposit in in California.
The Canadian royalty investment company reported the presence of total rare earth oxides (REO) at the project located in San Bernardino County after evaluating nine assayed samples.
The El Campo project comprises five contiguous unpatented mining claims. These claims are surrounded by mining claims that constitute the Mountain Pass Mine Property, and owned by MP Materials.
Mountain Pass Mine Property is said to be the only operational rare earth mine in the Western Hemisphere.
The El Campo project, which was acquired by Ely Gold Royalties through staking, is situated along strike and is 3.2 miles southeast of the Mountain Pass Mine Property.
Map showing the El Campo project in California. Image courtesy of Ely Gold Royalties Inc.
The Canadian gold royalty company has collected and analyzed nine bedrock samples following its acquisition of the rare earths project in California. These samples yielded up to 8.6% rare earth oxides, which are similar in grade to the ore at the Mountain Pass project.
According to Ely Gold Royalties, the mineralization of the rare earth oxides is hosted by syenite and shokonite dikes.
The rare earth oxides content at the El Campo project is made up of heavy rare earth elements – Nd, La, Pr, Ce, and Sm.
Neodymium-Praseodymium (NdPr), which are elevated higher-value elements, are critical for the production of permanent magnets used in electric vehicles and wind turbines. On the other hand, Samarium (Sm) is used in drones, cruise missiles, and other defense applications.
Trey Wasser – President and CEO of Ely Gold Royalties said: “We are excited with the impressive grades from our initial sampling that suggest the potential to outline a high-grade rare earth deposit at our El Campo Project.
“The proximity to the high-grade Mountain Pass Mine, North America’s only operating rare earth mine, makes this a very exciting project. El Campo will be placed in our “properties available for sale” portfolio. The sale of El Campo will generate Ely Gold’s first rare earth royalty”.