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(Sharecast News) - Alba Mineral Resources updated the market on its wholly-owned Clogau-St David's Gold Mine in Wales and the high-grade rare earth elements (REE) and gold prospect at Finnsbo in Sweden on Friday.
At Clogau, processing of waste tip material was continuing at the company's pilot plant, with the recent addition of a trommel screen enhancing separation of finer fractions.
The AIM-traded firm said it was preparing for the next round of underground blasting, following the recent multi-year renewal of its exclusive exploration rights at the site.
At Finnsbo, Alba said it had commissioned a Finnish geophysics contractor to conduct a ground-based magnetic survey over a known high-grade outcrop.
The programme, covering about 24 line kilometres, was designed to refine targeting ahead of follow-up drilling.
Previous surface sampling at Finnsbo returned assay results of up to 3.5% total rare earth oxides, 27 grams of gold per tonne, and 2.9% copper, with Alba's own samples including grades of 9.72 grams of gold per tonne and 2.36% TREO.
The company said the survey would also investigate the potential for further magnetite iron ore occurrences, given the area's historical mining activity.
Drill targets were expected to be generated from the data.
"We are very pleased to be close to finalising our revised work plan for the next phase of blasting at Clogau," said executive chairman George Frangeskides.
"Our recent gold sales, which achieved 8.5x the spot price of gold, have given us great confidence as we move into the next stage of underground exploration and development.
"We are also excited to embark upon our first significant field programme at Finnsbo, our high-grade gold and rare earth prospect in southern Sweden."
Frangeskides said access to the rare earth minerals integral to many high-tech products, from mobiles phones to cars, as well as to the global energy transition, was becoming an "absolutely hot button topic" for Western nations in the face of China's near-monopoly in the mining and downstream processing of rare earths.
"One of the attractions of Finnsbo, apart from its location in northern Europe, is that the rare earths and gold have been found outcropping at high grades at surface.
"This forthcoming survey should help us to understand better the potential scale of the target area."
At 1145 BST, shares in Alba Mineral Resources were flat at 0.02p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.