Latest Critical Minerals News

Iron Bear Resources says a new federal-provincial assessment framework, major Labrador clean-energy investment and strategic-project coordination could improve the development pathway for its Canadian iron ore project. The initiatives are supportive, but they do not yet represent project approvals, secured power or construction funding.

ACDC Metals has joined a U.S.-backed defence consortium, giving its Goschen Central rare earths project a route into government solicitations, research partnerships and potential offtake discussions. The membership is strategically significant, but it is not a funding award or contract.

Lightning Minerals has started a 262-sample Phase 3 soil program at its Warby Tungsten Project in North Queensland, with the first 162 samples already at the laboratory. Results expected in October will help determine whether open tungsten anomalies are ready to support maiden drilling.

Critica Limited (ASX:CRI) has delivered stronger technical results across its Jupiter rare earths and Mt Lindsay tin-tungsten projects, but the developer remains dependent on further funding. Two scoping studies targeted for Q3 2026 now carry the burden of translating resource potential and laboratory results into project economics.

Western Yilgarn expanded its inferred bauxite inventory to 244Mt and added gallium, tellurium, cobalt, scandium and gold targets during FY2026. But the explorer ended the year with $159,481 in cash, a $1.78 million loss and an auditor warning that further funding is required to continue planned activities.

Connected Minerals has made Angola’s Bailundo niobium and rare earths project its flagship after writing off A$3.40 million in Namibian and Western Australian exploration assets. The pivot is now backed by a completed A$4.5 million placement and a planned 6,000-metre drilling campaign, but Bailundo remains an exploration-stage project without a declared resource.

PTR Minerals has identified water-bearing aquifers at all three paleochannel targets tested at its Rosewood Titanium Project, addressing a key requirement for its proposed gravity-based processing operation. The company has also cleared access for infill drilling and broader exploration in South Australia.

Mount Ridley Mines has reported broad, shallow scandium intersections extending up to 8km beyond the Grass Patch Project’s current Block 1 and Block 2 resource boundaries. The results could support a larger JORC resource, but the company has yet to convert the exploration footprint into an updated estimate.

Orbit Resources enters FY2027 with a 17.52Mt Lewis Ponds resource, a preliminary study pointing to a A$481 million pre-tax NPV and a new polymetallic sulphide discovery outside the existing resource. The gains come with familiar junior-miner constraints: a A$3.49 million annual loss, A$3.69 million in cash and further funding still required.

West Cobar Metals has engaged Wallis Drilling for its first scandium-focused campaign at the Salazar project, with work targeted for October subject to approvals. The programme will test shallow saprolite for higher-grade scandium zones and extensions to existing rare earth and titanium dioxide resources.

Perpetual Resources has added 62 lode claims around its Nevada Scheelite tungsten project, expanding the land position by 1,271.63 acres and more than 15 times the original patented claim area. The move broadens the project from a historic mine redevelopment opportunity into a larger exploration play, although the new ground remains untested.

PMET Resources says Koch Technology Solutions has demonstrated a more selective pathway for turning Shaakichiuwaanaan pollucite concentrate into multiple high-purity caesium chemicals. The result is promising, but the commercial case still depends on larger-scale testing, marketable samples and a planned economic assessment.