Rare Earths Americas (NYSE American: REA) announced Wednesday it is expanding beyond its flagship Shiloh project to establish the Foothills Rare Earths district in Georgia.  

Drilling at the Liberty Peak target in the district has now identified monazite-bearing sands similar to those at Shiloh more than 50 km away, pointing to district-scale continuity rather than a single isolated deposit, REA said.

In June, drilling and surface sampling at Shiloh ran up to 44.5% TREO. The company said it believes the mineralized sands system may extend across multiple properties, including the adjacent Liberty Peak property and three additional high-priority exploration targets.  

Collectively, these properties form the Foothills Rare Earths District, which covers an area approximately 17.5 times larger than the original Shiloh target area of over 22,000 acres. 

Drilling at the Liberty Peak property commenced late in the first quarter of this year, the company said, adding that initial assays have yielded encouraging results, with mineralized intercepts up to 10 meters wide and multiple holes ending in enrichment, implying mineralization is potentially open at depth. 

The company, which made its debut on the NYSE American in May, is focused on heavy rare earth elements used in permanent magnets and defense applications, says its Shiloh exploration district could fundamentally alter the US rare earth supply. 

REA currently controls four exploration projects — the most advanced being the Alpha project in Bahia, Brazil, where engineering work is underway toward an SK-1300 initial assessment.