RareX finds new momentum in copper and rare earths portfolio

Cummins Range moves towards commercial pathways

RareX Limited (ASX:REE, REEO) has entered a more consequential phase at Cummins Range after completing mining, heritage and metallurgical milestones, with the company now evaluating commercial pathways including potential strategic partnerships. The latest testwork produced the project’s strongest reported beneficiation results so far, giving RareX a more developed technical proposition to take into those discussions.

The program delivered a 9.5x upgrade in total rare earth oxide to a 25.15% concentrate grade, with rougher recovery of up to 74.6%. SGS Lakefield identified monazite liberation as the main recovery constraint, pointing to finer, staged grinding as the next optimisation target. The company also reported near-complete gallium extraction and scandium recovery of 89% to 93% in work completed with Gega Elements, broadening the potential flowsheet beyond rare earths and phosphate. These results build on the earlier Cummins metallurgy results, which had already established the 9.5x TREO upgrade and a gallium recovery pathway.

Khaleesi copper result awaits laboratory confirmation

At Khaleesi, maiden reverse-circulation drilling has added copper to a project already being assessed for gallium, niobium and rare earths. Hole KRC012 at the Niobe Prospect intersected a 74-metre zone from approximately 77 metres downhole, with portable XRF readings averaging 940 parts per million copper and peaking above 5,724 parts per million, or 0.57%.

The result is notable, but it is not yet a certified resource-grade result. The readings are preliminary field values and cannot be treated as a substitute for laboratory assays. RareX said the mineralisation style has not yet been determined; its geological team is awaiting assays and thin-section work to model the system and assess whether the company is in an outer alteration halo or closer to a higher-grade source. The company’s September copper anomaly therefore remains an exploration lead rather than a defined economic discovery.

Mrima Hill proposal reaches the next tender stage

RareX and Iluka Resources have submitted their proposal for Kenya’s Mrima Hill niobium, rare earths and other minerals project after reaching the Request for Proposal stage of the Kenyan Government’s competitive process. The consortium’s submission includes technical and financial proposals from Ausenco, AMC, AWEMAC, GEM and Curtin University, and outlines potential local value chains spanning rare earths, niobium, phosphate and manganese.

The filing gives no assurance that the proposal will be accepted or that a prospecting licence will be granted. Those decisions remain subject to the discretion of Kenya’s National Mining Corporation and the Cabinet Secretary. The Mrima Hill RFP advance is consequently a process milestone, not an awarded project.

Cash position leaves limited room for delay

RareX ended September with A$2.78 million in cash and cash equivalents after net operating outflows of A$1.303 million for the quarter. Exploration and evaluation spending accounted for A$447,000, largely reflecting the Khaleesi drilling campaign, while staff costs were A$262,000 and administration and corporate costs were A$604,000.

On the quarter’s reported expenditure, the company calculated 2.13 quarters of funding available. That measure can change as drilling, development studies, partnership work or other portfolio decisions accelerate, and it leaves funding capacity as a live issue alongside the technical milestones. The next meaningful tests are the certified Khaleesi assays, further Cummins Range flowsheet optimisation and the Kenyan government’s response to the Mrima Hill proposal.