Critica Limited to test big new REE targets at high-grade WA project
- James Pearson
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Rare earths project developer Critica Limited (ASX: CRI) is about to unleash the drill bit on a batch of exciting 8-plus-kilometre-long satellite targets, which have the potential to supercharge its already massive global resource at the company’s Brothers rare earths project in Western Australia’s Yalgoo mining hub.
After receiving the government exploration green light last week, the company is preparing the ground at two of its biggest clay-hosted heavy rare earth prospects, dubbed Aurora and Juno, ahead of an air core drilling campaign.
The promising new targets are a stone’s throw from Critica’s flagship Jupiter deposit, which is home to the largest and highest-grade clay rare earths resource in Australia. Jupiter has an inferred resource of 1.78 billion tonnes grading 1651 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth elements (TREO).
Previous drilling served up a tantalising amuse-bouche, with holes at Juno in particular lighting up with hits of up to 8 metres at 4256ppm TREO and 34 per cent magnet rare earths.
The hits included highly prized heavy rare earths such as dysprosium, terbium and yttrium, which are all under tight Chinese export controls and key to electric vehicle motors, wind turbines and military technology.
Critica’s main Jupiter deposit currently hosts 25,000t dysprosium, more than 5000t terbium and 131,000t yttrium as part of its heavy metal inventory.
Any new drilling results that back up earlier findings at Juno and Aurora - with richer MREO and heavy rare earth element ratios than already discovered at Jupiter - could strongly boost Critica’s position at the negotiating table for processing routes and offtake deals.
At a time when geopolitical tensions are fuelling Western hunger for secure rare earth supplies, Critica says it isn’t wasting any time getting the drill bit into the ground and will shortly mobilise rigs to site.
The program has also received a funding leg up after Critica successfully applied for a WA Government’s minerals Exploration Incentive Scheme grant, which the company expects will cover up to half of its planned air core drill costs.
We’ve planned a low-cost air core drilling campaign to establish the potential of the Aurora and Juno prospects to host wider-spread elevated levels of the heavy rare earths than were identified in select discovery drill holes. Our aim is to add to Jupiter, at the same time as potentially enhancing total grade, percentage magnet rare earth content and a proportional contribution of heavy rare earths such as dysprosium, terbium and yttrium.
Critica Limited Managing Director Philippa Leggat
Critica says beneficiation tests are ongoing at its Jupiter deposit, meanwhile, with the company also working on producing an initial mixed rare earth carbonate ahead of results expected throughout the year.
The company recently revealed that by using a simple flotation process it had managed to convert a representative sample of Jupiter’s mineralisation with an initial grade of 1430ppm TREO into a remarkable high-grade concentrate of 13,310ppm TREO.
When 94.5 per cent of the material was removed, the remaining concentrated product still ran at an impressive REE recovery rate of more than 50 per cent without being further optimised.
Critica says it remains well funded to make progress on all fronts with nearly $5 million in its coffers at the end of March, together with a recently banked $1M R&D refund cheque.
With China’s grip on rare earth exports tightening and the West scrambling for alternatives, Critica’s run appears well timed. If its heavy rare earth hits hold up, Critica could find itself sitting on the largest – and one of the most strategically important - clay REE resources in the country.
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