Since this time in August, the rare earths explorer's shares have rocketed a whopping 120% higher.

This means the Eclipse Metals share price is now up 340% since the start of the year.

Why is the Eclipse Metals share price rocketing higher?

Investors have been bidding the Eclipse Metals share price higher in recent weeks following the release of a positive announcement in the middle of August.

That announcement revealed that the ongoing examination of historical diamond drill cores from an area near to the Ivittuut Greenland Project has been very promising.

The company advised that it has identified the potential for untapped rare earth, high grade quartz, cryolite, siderite, sphalerite and carbonate material.

What is the Ivittuut Greenland Project?

The Ivittuut Greenland Project is located in southwestern Greenland. It has a power station and fuel supplies to servicing it and local traffic to support mineral exploration. About 5.5km to the northeast of Ivittuut, the twin settlements of Kangilinnguit and Gronnedal, respectively provide a heliport and an active wharf with infrastructure.

The Gronnedal-lka carbonatite complex, where the drill cores have come from, is less than 10km from Ivittuut and only 5km from the port of Gronnedal.

It is one of the 12 larger Gardar alkaline intrusions in Greenland and is recognised as one of the prime rare earth elements (REE) targets in the country.

The release explains that the geophysical analysis over Gronnedal-Ika carbonatite/dyke geological units have been confirmed to be far more extensive than previously known, which is further encouragement for potential REE and sulphide mineralisation. REE occurs throughout the carbonatite complex, especially in late-stage veins where it occurs as various strontium REE carbonate minerals.

All in all, while there is still a lot of work to be done, the company appears to believe it has the potential to be a key supplier of REE in the future. This goes some way to explaining the strong gains by the Eclipse Metals share price over the last month.

The post Here's why the Eclipse Metals (ASX:EPM) share price is up 120% in a month appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Let's take a look at the ASX mineral explorer's latest surface sample results from its rare earths project.

What rare earths results did Eclipse Metals report

The Eclipse Metals share price is going gangbusters today after the company reported strong rare earth mineralisation at its Gronnedal-lka project in south-western Greenland.

Eclipse said grab samples collected at the carbonatite deposit contained total rare earth (TREE) of up to 34,400 parts per million (ppm). It added that the carbonatite could potentially also provide carbonate rock as a commercial by-product.

Carbonate can be used to neutralise acid mine and process water. And Eclipse said it could readily ship any carbonite products from the existing wharf infrastructure at Gronnedal.

Among the rare earths contained in the grab samples, the company said it recognised that europium throughout the carbonatite intrusion at "several times greater concentration than average for rocks elsewhere". It said this was many times more than you'd typically expect in carbonatites and noted that globally europium is in extremely short supply.

Commenting on the grab sample results, Eclipse Metals executive chair Carl Popal said:

Many of these samples were collected from the carbonatite in Gronnedal, but the highly altered surrounding rocks also offer excellent mineralisation potential. The results show persistent content of REE…

Overall, the results confirm there is excellent REE potential at the surface in Gronnedal-lka. The REE prospectivity fits well with our mission to excel in the commercialisation of metals and minerals demanded in the production of green energy and required by the industry to reduce pollutants.

Historical exploration records indicate the potential for rapid development and production of cryolite, fluorite, quartz, REE, carbonate, zinc and siderite.

Eclipse Metals share price snapshot

The Eclipse Metals share price is up more than 100% over the past year. By comparison, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is up 9.5% over that same time.

The post Here's why the Eclipse Metals (ASX:EPM) share price is rocketing 23% today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.