Locksley Resources chief executive officer Kerrie Matthews said: “The alignment of this work with current US Government priorities, including the DOE’s recent US$355 million funding initiatives, enhances our ability to engage with suitable programs as we progress towards pilot-scale development.”
The source of Locksley’s upcoming research collaboration with Columbia is its El Campo rare earths prospect – a standout target tucked deep within California’s Mojave Desert, forming a key pillar of the company’s broader Mojave project.
Positioned just five kilometres from MP Materials’ legendary Mountain Pass rare earths mine and completely surrounded by its leases, El Campo shares the same geological corridor known to host some of the richest rare earths and antimony mineralisation in the United States.
Now, for the first time, the prospect is about to feel the bite of the drill bit. Locksley says the drilling campaign will follow up on some eye-catching surface results, including earlier rock chips that graded up to 12.1 per cent total rare earth oxides.
Those samples also carried an impressive 3.19 per cent neodymium-praseodymium rare earths – the prized magnet metals used in EVs, wind turbines and defence systems.
Mountain Pass is the only rare earths operation running on US soil and is the undisputed crown jewel in MP Materials’ portfolio. Far from an ordinary deposit, the mine hit the world stage in 1952 when rare earths grades of seven per cent stunned the industry and set a global benchmark that held for decades.
Through the ’60s, ’70s and ′80s, Mountain Pass ruled the market before China ultimately took the reins.
Geologically, it remains a standout rare earths–rich carbonatite system cut by fenite and trachyte dykes, forming a deposit that is still considered one of the world’s finest.
The mine’s strategic value has soared in recent years, drawing a US$400 million capital injection from the Pentagon and another US$500 million from tech giant Apple. Together, those investments underline just how vital Mountain Pass has become to America’s national security and advanced manufacturing ambitions.
Notably, it is also the only place in America where rare earths are both mined and processed – a fact not lost on Locksley, its neighbour.
To kick off the work with Colombia university, scientists will take a close look at the Mojave rocks to figure out exactly what minerals are in them and how they’re arranged. The goal is to map the complex carbonatite, monazite and silicate ore systems that typify the Mountain Pass district.
The real alchemy though, comes from applying Colombia’s advanced electrochemical and carbon dioxide-based techniques used to dissolve more than 80 per cent of the ore before separating out the rare earths with highly selective recovery systems.
If the tests work, Locksley says it could offer a brand new homegrown, low-energy pathway to rare earths that sidesteps the environmental baggage of traditional Chinese processing methods.
Notably, the program also brings in AI-powered ore mapping, autonomous cutters and selective mining systems – technology lifted straight from the US Government’s “Mine of the Future” playbook.
With the US pouring millions into the space, Locksley and Columbia will no doubt be using this work to tease out Department of Energy and Department of War funding for the construction of a pilot scale plant.
The first shipment of Mojave ore is already being prepared for Columbia’s labs, with governance meetings and grant applications locked in for the coming weeks.
While the ink is barely dry on the Columbia agreement, the momentum behind Locksley’s US strategy already appears to be building fast.
If the company’s latest research program takes shape as planned, Locksley could find itself stepping into a rare, sweet spot – where timing, technology and geopolitics align to put it at the forefront of America’s next chapter in rare earth processing.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
