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Doug Bright
Critica Limited has kicked off a major resource upgrade aircore (AC) drilling campaign at its flagship Jupiter rare earths project in Western Australia’s Mid West region, with the program results expected to be a core input to the ongoing scoping study.
The two-pronged program aims to upgrade the resource and boost regional growth across the broader Brothers project, positioning Jupiter – Australia’s largest clay-hosted rare earth deposit – as a potential cornerstone for future Western rare earths supply chains.
The campaign will focus on upgrading priority areas of Jupiter’s inferred resource to a higher indicated classification, strengthening the company’s inventory ahead of mine planning and study inputs.
Critica’s inferred Jupiter resource currently sits at an astonishing 1.8 billion tonnes at 1700 parts per million (ppm) total rare earths (TREO).
To build confidence in the inferred resource, the drill will plunge 143 air-core holes for an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 metres of drilling at a 125m x 125m drill spacing across a 3km x 1km footprint of the optimised resource.
Critica Limited chief executive officer Jacob Deysel said: “Commencement of this drilling programme represents the next step in advancing Jupiter through the Scoping Study. The resource upgrade drilling targets priority areas to support upgrading portions of the current Inferred Resource to Indicated classification, with SRK Consulting engaged to update the Mineral Resource model as new data is incorporated.”
SRK Consulting has been engaged to update the mineral resource model as soon as new drilling data becomes available.
Once the rigs have completed the infill program, they will then move onto new grounds within the project area to test Critica’s priority regional exploration targets at its Juno and Aurora deposits.
The drill bit will be pointed at clay-hosted rare earths mineralisation associated with previously-defined aeromagnetic anomalies and will test for potential mineralisation continuity and scale beyond the current Jupiter footprint.
The Juno prospect lies south of Jupiter and represents a high-priority regional target within the Brothers project. The company plans to drill 30 aircore holes to test priority targets in a 2km x 500m corridor. The mineralisation at Juno features a higher proportion of magnet rare earth oxides (MREO) and offers potential for higher-value rare earths product streams within the Brothers system.
The Aurora regional prospect lies northwest of Jupiter, where previous drilling has identified clay-hosted rare earths mineralisation associated with a discrete aeromagnetic anomaly.
‘The resource upgrade drilling targets priority areas…’
Critica Limited chief executive officer Jacob Deysel
The proposed drilling there will include 28 aircore holes to follow up on the company’s 2024 regional drilling results and will test for mineralisation along a 2km x 500m corridor that could prove similar to the Jupiter deposit.
The entire regional program is supported by the Western Australian Government’s exploration incentive scheme (EIS) co-funded drilling program, with up to 50 per cent reimbursement offered on eligible drilling and mobilisation costs.
The company is also continuing its metallurgical studies. Following its previous production of commercial-quality 58 per cent TREO mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC), Critica has progressed into the next phase of metallurgical optimisation.
While the MREC production milestone confirmed that the current flowsheet worked, the company is undertaking further studies to refine its performance and examine options for process design.
The optimisation push is now running on several fronts at once, with parallel testwork and investigations underway at Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and specialist consultancy Minutech.
Other agencies involved include Phenikaa University in Hanoi and Sedgman, a CIMIC Group company, which is providing end-to-end engineering support for mineral processing.
The various studies are focusing on reagent consumption, enhancing recoveries, managing impurities, and alternative process pathways that could improve capex and opex efficiency.
Critica’s scoping study is slated to occupy the first half of the year, with a pre-feasibility study to kick off on its heels in the second half of the year and continue through to the second half of next year.
The present combined drilling, resource modelling, resource upgrades and metallurgical programs will all feed directly into the scoping study.
The company’s milestone drilling blitz underscores Critica’s momentum in de-risking and advancing one of the world’s standout clay-hosted rare earths mineral systems.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
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