Latest news with #PhilippaLeggat
Sydney Morning Herald
05-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Critica to test big new REE targets at high-grade WA project
Rare earths project developer Critica Limited 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). 'We've planned a low-cost air core drilling campaign to establish the potential of the Aurora and Juno prospects.' Critica Limited managing director Philippa Leggat 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 Age
05-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
Critica to test big new REE targets at high-grade WA project
Rare earths project developer Critica Limited 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). 'We've planned a low-cost air core drilling campaign to establish the potential of the Aurora and Juno prospects.' Critica Limited managing director Philippa Leggat 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 Age
28-04-2025
- Business
- The Age
Critica pockets $1m R&D boost to supercharge rare earths test work
ASX-listed Critica Limited has pocketed a cool $1.05 million refund from the Australian Tax Office under the Research and Development Tax Incentive Program. The funds will be used to turbocharge the company's plans to push ahead with its exciting rare earths project in Western Australia's Mid West region. The refund has reinforced the company's already solid cash kitty, which sat at $6M at the end of December. The funds will directly fuel the company's metallurgical test work and satellite drilling programs at its wholly owned Brothers clay-hosted rare earth project, including its flagship Jupiter prospect. The extra cash injection appears to have landed at exactly the right time as the company continues to push forward with studies to back up some eyebrow-raising findings revealed earlier this year and works towards producing a mixed rare earth carbonate product. 'The metallurgical workstreams in progress are targeted to build on the outstanding initial beneficiation results we announced earlier this year.' Critica Limited managing director Philippa Leggat Those initial results showed that material from Jupiter could be upgraded by 830 per cent. Test work on a sample from Jupiter's mineralisation has delivered a stunning result, turning an initial grade of 1430 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO) into a turbocharged concentrate grading 13,310ppm TREO. The company said the simple flotation process used managed to supercharge the grade to more than nine times the original head grade, highlighting just how easy the clay-hosted deposit could be to process. Notably, even after stripping out 94.5 per cent of the bulk material, the remaining concentrate still posted an impressive rare earths recovery rate of more than 50 per cent before any further optimisation. The combination of a big uplift in the grade and a reduction in waste could dramatically sharpen future project economics and reshape the company's value proposition.
Sydney Morning Herald
28-04-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Critica pockets $1m R&D boost to supercharge rare earths test work
ASX-listed Critica Limited has pocketed a cool $1.05 million refund from the Australian Tax Office under the Research and Development Tax Incentive Program. The funds will be used to turbocharge the company's plans to push ahead with its exciting rare earths project in Western Australia's Mid West region. The refund has reinforced the company's already solid cash kitty, which sat at $6M at the end of December. The funds will directly fuel the company's metallurgical test work and satellite drilling programs at its wholly owned Brothers clay-hosted rare earth project, including its flagship Jupiter prospect. The extra cash injection appears to have landed at exactly the right time as the company continues to push forward with studies to back up some eyebrow-raising findings revealed earlier this year and works towards producing a mixed rare earth carbonate product. 'The metallurgical workstreams in progress are targeted to build on the outstanding initial beneficiation results we announced earlier this year.' Critica Limited managing director Philippa Leggat Those initial results showed that material from Jupiter could be upgraded by 830 per cent. Test work on a sample from Jupiter's mineralisation has delivered a stunning result, turning an initial grade of 1430 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO) into a turbocharged concentrate grading 13,310ppm TREO. The company said the simple flotation process used managed to supercharge the grade to more than nine times the original head grade, highlighting just how easy the clay-hosted deposit could be to process. Notably, even after stripping out 94.5 per cent of the bulk material, the remaining concentrate still posted an impressive rare earths recovery rate of more than 50 per cent before any further optimisation. The combination of a big uplift in the grade and a reduction in waste could dramatically sharpen future project economics and reshape the company's value proposition.
