Dreadnought Resources Uncovers Major Rare Earths Potential at Mangaroon Project

About Dreadnought Resources

Dreadnought Resources Limited (ASX: DRE) is a mineral exploration company focused on discovering and defining Tier-1 deposits in highly prospective terranes in Western Australia. Dreadnought controls a portfolio of strategic projects covering over 10,000 square km across the West Kimberley, Gascoyne and Central Yilgarn regions. The company is led by an experienced team with a proven track record of discovery and financing base and precious metals projects.

Dreadnought Resources is exploring for nickel-copper-gold at the Mangaroon project in the Gascoyne, gold and base metals at the Tarraji-Yampi and Bresnahan projects in the West Kimberley and Central Yilgarn regions respectively, and rare earth elements (REE), niobium, phosphate, titanium and scandium at its flagship Mangaroon project.

Major Rare Earths Potential Uncovered at Mangaroon

Dreadnought Resources has significantly expanded the rare earth elements (REE) potential at its wholly-owned Mangaroon project in Western Australia. A regional gravity survey has revealed the Gifford Creek Carbonatite to be over 17km long, more than triple the originally interpreted size.

The Gifford Creek Carbonatite is considered the primary source of REEs at Mangaroon and already hosts an initial Inferred Resource of 10.84Mt at 1.00% TREO announced in August 2022. However, this only covers approximately 600m x 550m of the total 17km x 1km footprint, demonstrating substantial resource growth potential as exploration continues.

In addition, the survey successfully fingerprinted zones of higher-grade residual mineralisation over the existing Resource, allowing Dreadnought to identify other areas with enrichment potential across the broader carbonatite body.

Key Highlights:

• Gravity survey extends Gifford Creek Carbonatite strike length from 5km to over 17km
• At 17km long, the carbonatite is now similar in size and age to the massive Bayan Obo deposit in China, which accounts for 50% of current global REE production
• Existing Inferred Resource of 10.84Mt at 1.00% TREO covers just a tiny portion (<10-15%) of the overall carbonatite body
• Survey fingerprints zones of deeper weathering and higher grades, which can be used to pinpoint additional targets
• Follow-up infill gravity survey underway to further define high-grade zones

Gigantic Scale Carbonatite REE System

The Gifford Creek Carbonatite ("GCC") was initially interpreted from regional magnetics in 2021 as five separate intrusive carbonatite bodies, each approximately 1km2 in size. Subsequent wide-spaced drilling extended the system to around 9.5km strike length.

To more efficiently target zones of deeper weathering and enrichment, Dreadnought undertook a regional ground gravity survey consisting of 1,000m x 40m spaced stations over 20km of prospective strike.

Modelling of the gravity data has now outlined a large-scale carbonatite body extending more than 17km in length and over 1km wide at surface. Less than 10-15% of this expanded footprint has been drill tested, demonstrating massive upside potential as exploration progresses.

The scale of the Gifford Creek Carbonatite, as currently interpreted, is now similar to the giant Bayan Obo deposit in China. This is significant, as Bayan Obo contains three world-class REE deposits and accounts for 50% of current global REE production.

Fingerprinting High-Grade Zones

A key breakthrough from the gravity survey was the successful identification of thicker zones of residual mineralisation over the existing Inferred Resource area. By comparing the gravity response to supergene thickness logged in drilling, Dreadnought has effectively fingerprinted the geophysical signature of higher-grade zones.

An infill gravity survey with 100m x 100m station spacing is underway over the entire 17km carbonatite complex. This will define additional areas with potential for thicker residual enrichment and allow Dreadnought to generate well-constrained drill targets.

Exceptional Critical Minerals PotentialWhile REEs are the primary focus at Gifford Creek, the carbonatite body also contains potential for a range of other critical minerals including niobium, phosphate, titanium and scandium.

Dreadnought's initial drilling encountered broad intercepts of REEs, niobium and phosphate, including:

• 102m @ 1.14% TREO, 2.6kg/t Nd2O3+Pr6O11, 0.4% Nb2O5 & 11.8% P2O5 from 3m
• 113m @ 1.13% TREO, 2.6kg/t Nd2O3+Pr6O11, 0.5% Nb2O5 & 12.4% P2O5 from 7m

With the interpreted size of the system now substantially larger, there is strong potential to delineate further resources of these high-demand tech metals to complement the REE endowment.

Next Steps

Additional assay results from recently completed drilling at Gifford Creek are expected in October 2022. Once the infill gravity survey is completed later this month, Dreadnought anticipates generating and testing new targets across the expanded carbonatite system before the end of the year.

Conclusion

The results of Dreadnought's regional gravity survey represent a major leap forward in understanding the immense critical minerals potential at its Mangaroon project. The company has:

• Uncovered a globally significant, district-scale REE system over 17km long, rivalling the massive Bayan Obo deposit in China
• Successful fingerprinted zones of thicker, higher-grade residual mineralisation, allowing effective vectoring to new targets
• Demonstrated substantial resource growth potential with less than 15% of the system drill tested so far
• Show strong potential for niobium, phosphate, titanium and scandium to complement the REE endowment

With an expanded target footprint and ability to pinpoint new zones of enrichment, Mangaroon shapes up as a Tier-1 critical minerals project that could rapidly emerge as a globally significant supplier of REEs and associated tech metals. Dreadnought is leveraged to success through 100% ownership and looks well positioned to deliver strong newsflow over the coming months.

The company's exploration progress and globally significant REE endowment at Mangaroon make it an attractive investment in the critical minerals space. Investors wanting exposure to a large-scale project with strong growth potential should consider Dreadnought Resources.