Osmond reveals 60Mt Orión resource with most of the project still untested

60Mt resource establishes Orión’s first formal inventory

Osmond Resources Limited (ASX:OSM) has put a number around the scale of its Orión project in southern Spain, reporting a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate of 60.0 million tonnes at 9.39% TiO₂, 3.06% ZrO₂, 624 parts per million HfO₂ and 6,274ppm total rare earth oxides. The resource also contains 1,801ppm magnetic rare earth oxides, a subset covering neodymium, praseodymium, terbium and dysprosium.

The more consequential figure may be the area covered: the estimate spans about 7.9 square kilometres, just 3.4% of Orión’s broader 232km² project area. Osmond says that footprint demonstrates potential for expansion, although the company has not established that drilling elsewhere will add tonnes or improve confidence.

Main Seam carries the current development case

The Main Seam accounts for 49.7Mt at 10.29% TiO₂, 3.42% ZrO₂, 690ppm HfO₂ and 7,139ppm TREO. It includes estimated in-situ quantities of 4.26Mt rutile, 2.53Mt zircon, 1.62Mt ilmenite and 495,000 tonnes of monazite, for a combined 8.9Mt of valuable heavy minerals.

That seam is the sole basis of the Scoping Study now underway, which is assessing underground room-and-pillar mining with backfill and a processing route involving crushing, grinding and conventional mineral separation. The separate Upper Seam adds 10.2Mt, but is mostly Inferred and has been reserved for an alternative or future development scenario rather than included in the current mine plan.

Confidence remains the central qualification

Measured and Indicated Resources total 15.3Mt, or 26% of the combined estimate. The remaining 44.7Mt, equivalent to 74%, is Inferred. Within the Main Seam, only 13.8Mt is Measured and Indicated, leaving 35.9Mt in the lower-confidence category.

The resource is reported in situ, with no allowance for mining dilution, mining losses or recovery. Osmond also cautions that the rutile, ilmenite, zircon and monazite grades are calculated from assay relationships and assumed mineral compositions rather than direct quantitative mineralogical measurements for every sample. The contained figures therefore should not be treated as recoverable or saleable product.

Preliminary processing results still need to survive scale-up

Laboratory work and SysCAD modelling have indicated potential for three concentrate streams: zircon grading 64.1% ZrO₂ at a modelled 60.4% net recovery, a mixed titanium-mineral concentrate grading 71.3% TiO₂ at 36.1% net recovery, and a monazite-rich concentrate grading 22.6% TREO at 63.6% net recovery.

Those numbers are not demonstrated plant recoveries or final product specifications. They include extrapolated cleaning stages, while representative variability testing and larger-scale metallurgical work are still required. The fine-grained minerals, which require crushing and grinding to liberate them from the quartz-rich host, make that next stage particularly important.

October drilling sets the next test

Drilling is scheduled to resume in October 2026 to test extensions to both seams and support potential upgrades in resource confidence. Subject to results, laboratory turnaround and funding, Osmond is targeting an updated MRE in the first quarter of 2027.

The project also carries non-geological hurdles. The Orión permit lies almost entirely within a Special Area of Conservation, while the association of rare earths with thorium and uranium will require further work on processing, radiation management, residues and waste. Until the Scoping Study addresses mining recovery, costs, permitting and product quality, the 60Mt headline remains a resource milestone rather than a mine plan.