Australia heavy rare earths-focused company Northern Minerals (ASX: NTU) has announced a significant increase in the size of the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Wolverine deposit at the company’s Browns Range heavy rare earths project, in the East Kimberley region of Western Australia.
Wolverine is the largest and most significant heavy rare earths deposit at Browns Range. The upgraded MRE is the result of a highly successful infill program completed across Wolverine in late 2022 and 2023/24, comprising 58 diamond holes for 23,286m. The primary purpose of the infill program was to upgrade MRE tonnes from Inferred into the Measured & Indicated categories to inform an update to the Feasibility Study.
The successful outcome of the MRE upgrade work delivered a 15% increase in Wolverine’s total resource to 7.3Mt @ 0.96% Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO) for 70,500 tonnes of contained metal tonnes. Importantly, the proportion of the MRE in the Measured and Indicated categories has shifted significantly to 5.0 Mt at 1.13% TREO for 55,400 tonnes of contained metal tonnes, an increase of 75% compared to the 2022 MRE.
Browns Range is a globally significant heavy rare earths project containing high grades of dysprosium and terbium, which are essential for high-performance permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines and specialist defence applications. Northern Minerals has a long-term supply and funding partnership with Iluka Resources (ASX: ILU) to supply Iluka’s Eneabba rare earths refinery, currently under construction.
Commenting on the upgraded Wolverine MRE, Northern Minerals’ managing director Shane Hartwig said:
“We are extremely pleased with this upgraded Wolverine Mineral Resource Estimate, which has increased both the overall volume of rare earths tonnes as well as confidence levels in the deposit as we progress down the path of developing a mining operation at Browns Range.
“This updated MRE is the result of significant work undertaken by the Northern Minerals team, supported by external consultants. It included designing, implementing and analysing extensive drill campaigns since 2022 as well as a detailed re-logging and analysis of historical drill core to develop a geological domain and sub-domaining approach for the estimate.
“The successful outcome of the work over the past two years has resulted in the re-classification of much of the Inferred component of the 2022 MRE into the higher-confidence Measured & Indicated classifications. The infill program was partly funded by the Federal Government’s Critical Minerals Development Fund.
“Today’s MRE upgrade for Wolverine marks an important milestone in the proposed development of a commercial-scale mining operation at Browns Range, particularly as we continue discussions with parties in relation to funding options. Our team is in the process of incorporating this upgraded Wolverine MRE into mine planning and production scheduling to determine the ultimate project shape for the Project and enable the feasibility study to be finalised.”
