West Cobar Metals (ASX:WC1) identifies high grade scandium targets at Salazar

West Cobar Metals has completed a detailed review of the scandium potential at its Salazar Critical Minerals Project in Western Australia, identifying potential higher grade scandium drill target areas within the Newmont deposit.

The review follows the establishment of an Inferred Scandium Resource of 15Mt @ 153ppm Sc₂O₃, with further aircore drilling and metallurgical testwork planned at Salazar.

Highlights

• Detailed review identifies potential higher grade scandium drill target areas

• SAC358 returned 13m @ 318ppm Sc₂O₃ from 9m, including 3m @ 649ppm Sc₂O₃ from 10m

• SAC391 returned 11m @ 282ppm Sc₂O₃ from 6m, including 4m @ 350ppm Sc₂O₃ from 9m

• Metallurgical testwork achieved up to 81% scandium recovery using atmospheric pressure acid leaching

• Preliminary bioleaching screening achieved up to 39% scandium recovery over 27 days

• AC drilling is planned to define and extend higher grade zones of scandium mineralisation

The Salazar Project is a large scale multi commodity critical minerals project located in Western Australia, including resources of rare earth elements, scandium, titanium dioxide, gallium and alumina.

The company’s review identified the association of scandium mineralisation with the weathered magnetic amphibolite horizon, which also controls the distribution of heavy rare earth elements and titanium dioxide.

The Newmont deposit hosts the existing Inferred Scandium Resource within the saprolite clay zone, based on 500m x 100m aircore drill spacing that was primarily designed to establish a large rare earth element and titanium dioxide resource.

West Cobar noted that closer spaced aircore drilling at 100m x 50m spacing around areas of high scandium intersections is planned to define and extend higher grade zones of scandium mineralisation.

Drilling results from the Newmont deposit include SAC358 with 13m @ 318ppm Sc₂O₃ from 9m, including 3m @ 649ppm Sc₂O₃ from 10m, and SAC391 with 11m @ 282ppm Sc₂O₃ from 6m, including 4m @ 350ppm Sc₂O₃ from 9m, indicating potential for areas of higher scandium grades.

Metallurgical testwork undertaken at Nagrom in Australia on saprolite from the Newmont deposit achieved scandium leach recovery of up to 81% using hydrochloric acid at atmospheric pressure and moderate temperatures of 95°C.

The results support the development of a flowsheet with potential to produce a mixed rare earth carbonate and a separate scandium oxide product following downstream purification.

Additional bioleaching screening testwork undertaken by BiotaTec in Estonia produced preliminary scandium extraction results, with the best performing microorganism achieving up to 39% scandium recovery over 27 days and 34% within 96 hours under heap leach style conditions.

These results will guide the next phase of optimisation and scale up testwork with CSIRO to assess the commercial application of biological leaching for scandium and other critical minerals at Salazar.

West Cobar Managing Director Matt Szwedzicki said:

“Salazar has a significant established scandium resource, which also contains several high grade scandium drill targets. The early testwork conducted to date is encouraging in that a lower cost processing pathway may be feasible.”

The company’s next steps include leach testwork at ANSTO, further bioleaching testwork at CSIRO, an AC drill program to define and extend higher grade zones of scandium mineralisation, and integration of scandium, rare earth element and other co product pathways into the process flowsheet.

West Cobar also plans to progress development studies, including a Scoping Study and PFS pathway.

West Cobar’s next work programs include resource definition, metallurgical testing and process flowsheet development at Salazar.