La Paz

Location: Arizona, United States (34.145, -113.792 approx.)

Commodities: rare earth elements

Deposit model: unclassified

Geology

“The La Paz REE property that currently is being explored by AusAmerican Mining Corporation has not been assigned to a particular deposit type. Related Lower Plate rocks, primarily quartz-feldspar gneisses are varyingly brecciated, altered and mineralized. Brecciation is strongest in proximity to the detachment fault where quartz and feldspar grains are crushed into indistinct clusters of mineral fragments and there appears to be a coincident increase, supported by chemical analyses, in the concentration of iron and calcium, as witnessed by strong hematitic alteration and microveining by calcite. Overall, the principal alteration minerals are epidote and quartz.” (Boyer and Ostensoe (2011)) “The mineralization history and genesis of the rare earth occurrences at the La Paz property are unknown at this time. Possible models for mineralization include circulating connate fluids and/or processes associated with Tertiary or Cretaceous intrusions. A hand sample collected from the lower plate within the resource area shows micro-fracturing (figure 12). Drill sample intervals with elevated TREE also show the same type of micro-fracturing in the rock cuttings. It is possible to conclude that the REE are contained in the micro-fractures, however more work to support this conclusion is needed.” (Boyer and Ostensoe (2011)) “The area in the vicinity of the La Paz REE property has been extensively mapped, studied, and explored, largely motivated by the presence of economic mineral deposits in the nearby ranges. Early explorers were motivated by occurrences of copper and gold. To date, the authors do not know of any historical or current exploration work targeting rare earth elements.” (Boyer and Ostensoe (2011)) “Beginning in late November 2011, AusAmerican initiated a core drilling program on the La Paz property. The drill program has 6 permitted drill holes and will test REE mineralization at depth. Core samples from the drill program will be submitted for geochemical and metallurgical analysis. The program has not been completed and no information from that work is available.” (Boyer and Ostensoe (2011)) “The Indicated and Inferred Resource estimate for the La Paz project is based upon detailed logging of rock cuttings from percussion drilling, chip channel surface samples, assays of these samples, and geological interpretation by AusAmerican's consulting geologists. A total of 3364 assays from 195 drill holes and 94 surface samples were used for the estimate. The influence of surface samples in the estimate was small and primarily used to provide minimal data where drill line spacing was large.” (Boyer and Ostensoe (2011)) “Percussion Drilling. AusAmerican contracted Dynamic Rock Solutions LLC of Salome, Arizona to conduct exploratory drilling using a track mounted percussion drill. Drilling began on April 20th, 2011 and was completed on May 31st, 2011. One hundred and ninety five 3.5" drill holes were completed for the purpose of obtaining samples of the rock types present. Holes varied in depth from 40 to 100 feet. Most holes (142 out of 195) were completed to 100 feet and a total of 18,805 feet was drilled. Distances between drill holes was 100 feet and drill holes were located along 4 lines - three parallel lines (A, B, & C) in the NW-SE direction, and a fourth line (D) was oriented in the NE direction and crossed lines A, B, and C. Figure 15 shows drill hole locations at the La Paz property.” (Boyer and Ostensoe (2011)) “At the La Paz property, anomalous REE were detected in chip channel samples taken during reconnaissance geological work from 2010 to 2011, as well as in the majority of the 3270 rock cutting samples submitted for assay analysis during the 2011 drilling program. Details of the geochemistry of the rock cuttings are described in Section 10: Drilling.” (Boyer and Ostensoe (2011))

Published resource estimates

As compiled by USGS USMIN from the cited studies. Resource classes follow the source; "approximate" flags values USMIN reports as approximations. These are not current company reserve statements.

Exploration and site history

• Exploration — Drilling - Beginning in late November 2011, AusAmerican initiated a core drilling program on the La Paz property, 2011 (Boyer and Ostensoe (2011))
• Discovery — Anomalous REE detected in chip samples taken during reconnaissance work from 2010-2011, 2010–2011 (Boyer and Ostensoe (2011))
• Evaluation — Resource estimates - indicated & inferred, 2011 (Boyer and Ostensoe (2011))

Record imported from USGS USMIN ver. 4.0 (June 2019). Developments after that date appear on facility records, not here; see the methodology.