Legacy Minerals has appointed WSP to assess scandium at its 100%-owned NiCo Young project, potentially adding a third critical mineral to a 167.8Mt inferred nickel-cobalt resource. The combined JORC update is expected in October, but no scandium resource has yet been established.
- WSP engaged for a combined nickel-cobalt-scandium MRE
- Existing resource contains 996.7kt of nickel and 96.6kt of cobalt
- Near-surface scandium has been identified but remains unreported
- Updated JORC 2012 resource expected in October 2026
- Cobalt Blue MoU continues in parallel
Scandium assessment adds a potential third metal
Legacy Minerals Holdings Limited (ASX:LGM) is putting its 167.8 million tonne NiCo Young resource back under the microscope, with the possibility that the deposit contains more than just nickel and cobalt. The company has engaged WSP Australia to prepare an updated Mineral Resource Estimate that will assess near-surface scandium for the first time alongside the existing nickel-cobalt inventory.
That distinction matters: Legacy Minerals has identified scandium at NiCo Young, but it has not yet reported a scandium Mineral Resource. WSP must first validate historical assay data, define scandium domains, estimate grades and apply JORC Code 2012 classification standards. The company has warned that there is no certainty a reportable scandium resource will result.
Existing resource provides a substantial base
The current NiCo Young Inferred Mineral Resource stands at 167.8Mt grading 0.59% nickel and 0.06% cobalt, containing 996.7kt of nickel and 96.6kt of cobalt at a 0.6% nickel-equivalent cut-off. A higher-grade subset of 42.5Mt grades 0.80% nickel and 0.09% cobalt at a 1.0% nickel-equivalent cut-off.
Both figures remain inferred estimates, and the higher-grade material is a subset rather than an additional resource. The project is 100%-owned, royalty-free and free of liabilities and encumbrances, according to the announcement. Mineralisation at the Ardnaree and Thuddungra prospects extends from near surface to maximum vertical depths of 56 metres and 98 metres respectively, with the company describing the deposits as amenable to open-cut mining with little or no blasting.
Lachlan Fold Belt supplies the geological comparison
Legacy Minerals is positioning NiCo Young within the Lachlan Fold Belt, which hosts Australia’s reported primary scandium resources and several nickel-cobalt laterite systems. Nearby and regional examples include Sunrise Energy Metals’ Sunrise and Syerston resources, Australian Mines’ Flemington project and the Burra-Platina scandium resource now owned by Rio Tinto.
Those deposits demonstrate that scandium can occur with nickel and cobalt in the region, but they do not establish what NiCo Young may contain. The company’s own filing says peer deposits are not necessarily analogous and that scandium at a neighbouring project is not an indication that a JORC-compliant scandium resource will be reported at NiCo Young.
October resource update becomes the immediate catalyst
WSP’s work program covers historical database validation, geological and weathering interpretation, scandium domaining, grade estimation, classification, cut-off grades and reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. Legacy Minerals expects the combined nickel-cobalt-scandium estimate and supporting JORC Table 1 disclosure in October 2026.
The timing gives shareholders a defined near-term test, but the important numbers have yet to arrive: scandium grade, tonnage, contained metal, classification and the assumptions used to determine economic prospects. The update could broaden the project’s critical-minerals profile, although the current announcement provides no basis for quantifying that potential.
Cobalt Blue agreement remains separate
The technical review will run alongside Legacy Minerals’ non-binding three-year memorandum of understanding with Cobalt Blue Holdings (ASX:COB), signed in October 2025 to assess strategic options for cobalt and other products from NiCo Young. Legacy Minerals says the MoU remains in place and is unaffected by the resource update, with any significant developments to be reported separately.
The October estimate therefore has two jobs: establish whether scandium can be reported under JORC, and refresh the nickel-cobalt resource around the same geological model. Until WSP completes that work, NiCo Young remains a large inferred nickel-cobalt resource with scandium potential, rather than a confirmed three-metal resource.
Bottom Line?
The October MRE is the key test: the value of the scandium story will depend on whether historical indications translate into a JORC-compliant resource with meaningful grade, scale and classification.
Questions in the middle?
- Will WSP identify enough scandium grade and continuity to report a JORC-compliant resource?
- How will the combined Ni-Co-Sc estimate affect cut-off grades and the classification of the existing inferred resource?
- Could the updated resource materially influence the strategic options being assessed under the Cobalt Blue MoU?