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Australia heavy rare earths-focused company Northern Minerals (ASX: NTU) (Northern Minerals or the Company) is pleased to announce 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.
Highlights
- The Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the Wolverine Deposit – the flagship heavy rare earths deposit at Browns Range – has increased 13% in tonnes to 7.3 Mt @ 0.96% Total Rare Earth oxides (TREO) for a 15% increase in contained metal to 70,500 t when compared to the 2022 MRE2, 3.
- Importantly, the Measured and Indicated Resources total 5.0 Mt @ 1.13% TREO for 55,400 t of TREO, which when compared with the 2022 MRE3 results in:
- a 47% increase in the tonnes
- a 20% increase in the TREO grade, and
- a 75% increase in the TREO metal tonnes
- This updated MRE incorporated results of over 23,000 m from the 58-hole infill diamond drilling programs carried out in late 2022 and 2023-24.
- This MRE marks a significant step in the development of the Browns Range Project and will form the basis of the revised mining engineering component of the forthcoming Feasibility Study.
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 23,286 m. 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 (FS).
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 t 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 t of contained metal tonnes, an increase of 75% compared to the 2022 Mineral Resource Estimate (2022 MRE).4
Table 1: Comparison of 2022 Mineral Resource estimate with 2025 Mineral Resource estimate above a 0.15% TREO cut-off grade.
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 and CEO 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 FS to be finalised.”
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