Kerwan Rhodium Vein

The Kerwan vein is a deep target and a patient one. Under the floor of Ceres's oldest large basin, a sulfide-rich vein system between 600 and 1,400 metres down carries rhodium, ruthenium and nickel deposited by briny fluids early in the dwarf planet's history.

Gravimetry data scientist Liang Qiao spotted the vein as a subtle linear density high in a Gravwell Gradiometer Array survey that most analysts had written off as noise. A Corehound Deep Core Drill, pushed to its 2,400-metre rating with 2 kilometres of directional reach, confirmed it on the fourth hole. Core samples average 6.3 g/t rhodium, 9.1 g/t ruthenium and 1.8 per cent nickel across a 7-metre true width.

The inferred resource is 19 million tonnes. Claim FV-0219 belongs to the Ceres Free Claimholders' Mutual, which pooled member dues to fund the drilling, and its 48 kilometres of archived core sits in the Ceres Core Library. Rhodium at this grade is worth more per tonne of ore than most iridium deposits in the Belt.