Latest Metallurgical Optimisation News

Australian Rare Earths Limited (ASX: AR3) reported robust progress at its Koppamurra Rare Earths Project, delivering a high-purity Mixed Rare Earth Oxide pathway with near-complete rare earth recovery and improved heap leach performance. Concurrently, the company defined new uranium targets at Overland with drilling imminent, supported by a strengthened balance sheet following a $6 million placement and government grants.

iTech Minerals is gearing up for a major drilling campaign at its Northern Territory gold-antimony project, while its South Australian graphite asset shows promising metallurgical progress towards battery-grade products.

Brazilian Critical Minerals (ASX: BCM) has reinforced the scale and quality of its Ema rare earth project with strong drilling results and steady progress on permitting and feasibility studies, positioning it well amid tightening global supply.

Locksley Resources has kicked off maiden diamond drilling at its Desert Antimony Mine and El Campo Rare Earth Element Prospect, alongside producing 99.5% purity antimony trioxide, reinforcing its push for a US domestic critical minerals supply chain.

Critica Limited has produced its first commercial-quality Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate at 58% TREO, confirming a refinery-aligned product pathway, while launching a major resource upgrade drilling program at its Jupiter Rare Earths Project in Western Australia.

West Cobar Metals has revealed a significant uplift in antimony grades at its Bulla Park deposit after reanalysing drill core with peroxide fusion digest, suggesting the deposit's contained metal and economic potential may be materially higher than previously reported.

Krakatoa Resources has restructured its acquisition of the Zopkhito Antimony-Gold Project in Georgia, adopting a staged earn-in model that reduces upfront payments and prioritises capital deployment into exploration and development activities for 2026.

IRIS Metals has fortified its balance sheet with a A$5.5 million placement and is progressing towards an updated lithium-rubidium resource at Beecher while executing a farm-in deal for a tungsten project in Montana, reinforcing its diversified US critical minerals strategy.

Axel REE is accelerating its in situ recovery (ISR) mining trials at the Caladão Project in Brazil, targeting rare earth elements and gallium extraction through a low-cost, environmentally friendly method. The company is fully funded for pilot wellfield trials at the Woolrich deposit, with expansion potential at Paraíso and Tiger Creek.

Barton Gold has wrapped up diamond and reverse circulation drilling at its Challenger Gold Project, advancing a Definitive Feasibility Study targeting a low-risk Stage 1 open pit operation by the second half of 2026.

Jindalee Lithium Limited's US subsidiary, HiTech Minerals, has signed a binding agreement with Constellation Acquisition Corp I to form US Elemental Inc., a NASDAQ-listed company holding the McDermitt Lithium Project. The transaction values the new entity at approximately US$571 million enterprise value, with Jindalee retaining majority ownership.

Locksley Resources has initiated a four-hole diamond drilling program at its El Campo Rare Earth Element Prospect within the Mojave Project, aiming to test high-grade mineralisation continuity near a major US REE mine.