Critica launches scoping study at giant WA Jupiter rare earths play

Aircore drilling at Critica Mineral’s Jupiter rare earths project, near Yalgoo in WA’s mid-west region. Credit: File

Rare earths company Critica Limited (ASX: CRI) has officially shifted gears at its flagship Jupiter project in the infrastructure-rich Yalgoo region of Western Australia, kicking off a scoping study that marks the company’s transition from technical proof to commercial reality.

The study will be led by global engineering group Sedgman, supported by Snowden Optiro on mining inputs and SRK Consulting on resource optimisation, forming a heavyweight technical team tasked with turning Jupiter’s scale and simplicity into a credible development blueprint.

Critica describes Jupiter as Australia’s largest clay-hosted rare earths resource, containing 1.8 billion tonnes grading 1700 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth elements (TREO).

The resource is rich in the valuable magnet rare earths neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium with a bonus 39 parts per million (ppm) gallium. It has low levels of nuisance uranium and thorium, which will significantly help with permitting and environmental red tape down the line.

The flat-lying, near-surface Jupiter deposit is a style of mineralisation acknowledged for its simpler metallurgy and potentially lower capital intensity compared to hard-rock rare earths deposits. That simplicity will help underpin the company’s “beneficiate-first” strategy, which aims to upgrade the ore six to ten times, early in the flowsheet process, before downstream processing begins.

The scoping study will pull together the beneficiation-led flowsheet with mining, processing and infrastructure plans to pin down the project’s first-cut economics, including early capital and operating cost estimates. Just as importantly, it aims to lock in a clear base-case development pathway to carry Jupiter into the next stages of feasibility.

Appointing Sedgman to lead the Jupiter scoping study is a major step forward as we shift from technical validation to defining a development pathway.

Critica Limited CEO Jacob Deysel

Sedgman’s managing director, Grant Fraser, echoed Deysel, describing Jupiter as a compelling development opportunity that combines scale, favourable metallurgy and a flowsheet designed to support efficient downstream processing.

Alongside the headline study, Critica is running a suite of parallel technical programs aimed squarely at de-risking the project. Metallurgical testwork is underway with specialist laboratories, including ANSTO, to further refine the company’s mixed rare earth product pathway and downstream upgrade options.

At the same time, a pilot-scale beneficiation program with Brazil’s GAVAQ is assessing a closed-circuit operation to fine-tune the flowsheet ahead of key study inputs. Metallurgical tests showed the beneficiated Jupiter concentrate can be leached using less expensive, simple, scalable hydrometallurgical methods to produce a clean, high-purity oxide product.

Drilling is also on the agenda, with plans underway to increase the resource tonnage and grade, support resource optimisation and mine planning assumptions. The campaign will also seek to upgrade the resource from an inferred to an indicated category.

Timing-wise, Critica is targeting completion of the scoping study in the first half of 2026, subject to work programs and inputs. If the numbers stack up, the company expects to deliver a completed pre-feasibility study in the second half of this year, a definitive feasibility study in 2027 and a potential final investment decision thereafter.

At the same time, the company is progressing engagement with off-take partners and downstream technology partners. In particular, the company is pushing forward selective gallium precipitation trials and is screening scandium and germanium recovery options.

All of this is unfolding against a powerful macro backdrop. Demand for rare earths continues to accelerate, driven by electric vehicles, renewable energy, advanced electronics and defence applications.

With governments and manufacturers scrambling to secure non-Chinese supply, projects that promise scale, simplicity and capital discipline are increasingly in the spotlight.

For Critica, the Jupiter scoping study is about more than just economics. It is the bridge between discovery and development and a crucial step in the company’s broader mine-to-magnet ambition.

If Sedgman and its partners can translate Jupiter’s technical strengths into a robust commercial case, the project could emerge as a serious contender in Australia’s critical minerals push.

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