West Cobar Metals (ASX:WC1) positions rare earths, gallium and antimony portfolio within Australia’s Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve Framework

West Cobar Metals controls a portfolio of critical mineral assets in Western Australia and New South Wales that directly align with the Australian Government’s initial priorities under the $1.2 billion Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, which has identified rare earths, gallium and antimony as the first commodities targeted for long term domestic supply security.

The Company’s Salazar Critical Minerals Project hosts large scale JORC 2012 compliant rare earth resources with associated scandium, titanium and emerging gallium mineralisation, while the Bulla Park Project contains an established copper antimony silver Mineral Resource with meaningful contained antimony.

Managing Director Matt Szwedzicki addresses below how these assets align with national critical mineral policy settings and the technical foundations supporting future development pathways.

How does the Australian Government’s Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve prioritisation of rare earths, gallium and antimony align with the Company’s existing resource base?

The current project portfolio already contains defined Mineral Resources or advanced resource definition work across each of the three commodities identified for initial inclusion in the Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, namely rare earths, gallium and antimony, and this alignment is underpinned by JORC 2012 compliant resource estimates and completed technical studies.

“The portfolio already contains established Mineral Resources across each of the three commodities prioritised for the Strategic Reserve, providing direct exposure to rare earths, gallium and antimony within a single company.”

At the Salazar Critical Minerals Project in Western Australia, Total Indicated and Inferred resources stand at 230 Mt grading 1178 ppm TREO at a 600 ppm cut off, including an Indicated component of 44 Mt at 1239 ppm TREO, which establishes a substantial rare earth inventory with defined grade continuity.

In parallel, historical drilling and Company aircore programs have confirmed widespread gallium mineralisation within the Newmont and O’Connor deposits, and a maiden gallium Mineral Resource is currently being prepared using these datasets.

At the Bulla Park Project in New South Wales, an Inferred Mineral Resource of 20 Mt at 0.58% CuEq, equivalent to 0.30% Cu, 0.10% Sb and 4.7 g/t Ag, contains approximately 20,000 t of antimony, thereby providing established exposure to each of the minerals prioritised by the Federal Government for strategic stockpiling and long term domestic supply security.

What is the current scale and quality of the rare earth resource at Salazar, and how does it support potential downstream development pathways?

The Salazar Project hosts a large tonnage rare earth system, with Total Indicated and Inferred resources of 230 Mt at 1178 ppm TREO, including 44 Mt at 1239 ppm TREO in the Indicated category, which together demonstrate both scale and grade consistency across the deposit.

This rare earth inventory is complemented by substantial associated critical mineral resources, comprising Inferred resources of 42 Mt at 5.2% TiO2, 15 Mt at 153 ppm Sc2O3 and 4 Mt at 29.7% Al2O3, each reported at defined cut off grades in accordance with JORC 2012.

“The combination of large scale rare earth resources with associated scandium, titanium and emerging gallium provides a multi commodity platform that has already been supported by metallurgical testwork.”

Metallurgical testwork completed to date has established a potential processing pathway capable of generating a rare earth element product stream with scandium and potentially gallium as co products, while also supporting the production of a separate titanium product stream, and this integration of scale, grade continuity and processing optionality provides a technically robust foundation for future development studies.

What is the status of gallium at Salazar and how is the Company advancing its formal resource definition?

Gallium mineralisation has been recognised throughout the Salazar system based on historical drilling and Company aircore programs across both the Newmont and O’Connor deposits, with the available data indicating that gallium occurs broadly within the rare earth bearing horizons.

“A maiden JORC 2012 compliant gallium Mineral Resource is now being prepared, based on historical drilling and recent aircore programs across the Salazar system.”

On the basis of this combined dataset, the Company is progressing formal resource estimation work, while metallurgical testwork has also demonstrated that gallium has the potential to be recovered as a co product within a rare earth processing flow sheet alongside scandium, thereby supporting its inclusion in future resource statements and technical evaluations.

How does the Bulla Park Mineral Resource support the Company’s exposure to antimony under the Strategic Reserve framework?

The Bulla Park Copper Antimony Silver Project contains an Inferred Mineral Resource of 20 Mt at 0.58% CuEq, calculated at a 0.21% Cu cut off, with individual grades of 0.30% Cu, 0.10% Sb and 4.7 g/t Ag, equating to approximately 20,000 t of contained antimony.

“The current Inferred Resource at Bulla Park contains approximately 20,000 t of antimony within a copper antimony silver system that has only been partially tested by drilling.”

The resource is constrained to a limited portion of a larger gravity anomaly, reflecting the early stage of drilling coverage, while the copper equivalent calculation incorporates metallurgical recovery assumptions of 94.6% for copper, 84.1% for antimony and 82.6% for silver, based on diamond core testwork, providing a technically supported basis for the reported metal inventory.

What does the planned establishment of the Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve imply for the Company’s strategic positioning across its project portfolio?

The Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve is intended to secure long term domestic supply of priority minerals, with an initial focus on rare earths, gallium and antimony and a planned operational commencement in the second half of 2026, supported by $1.2 billion in funding.

Each of these commodities is already represented within the Company’s project portfolio through JORC defined resources at Salazar and Bulla Park and through the ongoing preparation of a maiden gallium resource, supported by completed metallurgical testwork and established processing concepts.

“The portfolio contains JORC compliant rare earth and antimony resources, with a gallium resource in preparation, aligning directly with the initial commodity focus of the Strategic Reserve.”

This combination of large scale rare earth resources, emerging gallium inventory and a defined antimony resource provides a technically supported platform that sits squarely within the initial scope of the Strategic Reserve and aligns the Company’s asset base with policy frameworks directed at strengthening Australia’s critical mineral supply chains and long term security of supply.

Strategic positioning and portfolio context

West Cobar Metals Managing Director Matt Szwedzicki oversees a portfolio that already contains JORC compliant Mineral Resources across each of the minerals prioritised for the first phase of the Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, supported by metallurgical testwork, defined recovery assumptions and active resource definition programs.

With a substantial rare earth inventory and associated scandium, titanium and gallium at Salazar, together with an Inferred copper antimony silver resource at Bulla Park containing approximately 20,000 t of antimony, the Company’s asset base is positioned within the Federal Government’s stated critical mineral priorities, while ongoing technical and resource evaluation work continues to focus on advancing geological understanding and development readiness across these systems.

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