Victory Metals Ltd (ASX:VTM, OTC:VTYMF, FRA:SJ60) has marked a key development milestone at its North Stanmore Heavy Rare Earth Project in Western Australia, with Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King officially launching the company’s rare earths pilot processing plant in Perth.

The facility has been designed to demonstrate and optimise Victory’s critical minerals extraction process and produce representative mixed rare earth product samples for assessment by potential customers and offtake partners.

Minister King described the commissioning as “a major achievement” for Victory Metals and “a significant step forward for Australia’s rare earths sector”.

“Australia has a responsibility to lead on critical minerals and rare earths globally, and milestones like this show how Australia is delivering real results,” she said.

Government support for critical minerals supply

The launch comes as governments and manufacturers continue to seek secure and diversified rare earth supply chains amid geopolitical tensions and supply restrictions affecting strategically important materials.

The pilot plant is set to help position Western Australia as a future supplier of critical rare earths outside traditional supply chains.

The company said North Stanmore was strategically positioned to contribute to resilient supply chains for critical minerals used in advanced manufacturing, defence technologies, renewable energy systems and permanent magnet production.

Victory Metals CEO and executive director Brendan Clark said the commissioning represented an important step towards commercialisation.

“The commissioning of our pilot plant represents a significant step towards commercialisation of North Stanmore.

“The ability to efficiently separate rare earths from our clay-hosted deposit further validates the quality of the project and provides the foundation for generating representative product samples for potential customers.”

North Stanmore rare earths project

North Stanmore is a clay-hosted heavy rare earth project in the Cue region of Western Australia, with mineralisation containing heavy rare earth elements, scandium, hafnium and gallium.

Victory said the project was one of Australia’s most significant clay-hosted heavy rare earth projects.

In August 2025, the company announced a mineral resource estimate of 320.6 million tonnes for North Stanmore, with the majority of the resource classified in the indicated category.

The company said this positioned North Stanmore as Australia’s largest indicated clay-hosted heavy rare earth resource.

Pilot plant highlights

The Perth pilot plant is the product of more than three years of research and development by Victory’s technical team, industry partners and research collaborators.

Victory said the plant had been designed to confirm the simplicity and effectiveness of separating valuable rare earth elements from North Stanmore’s clay-hosted mineralisation.

The company said a key advantage of the process was that it did not rely on high-temperature cracking or complex metallurgical treatment, which could provide a potentially lower-cost and more scalable pathway to production.

“The equipment highlights one of North Stanmore’s most compelling attributes – the simplicity of extracting rare earths from our clay-hosted mineralisation,” Clark said.

“Unlike many rare earth projects globally, our process does not depend on high-temperature cracking or complex metallurgical treatment, providing a potentially lower-cost and more scalable pathway to production and an important competitive advantage for Victory.”

The pilot plant program will also provide operational data to support ongoing project development, while generating product samples for customer qualification and downstream testing programs.

About Victory Metals

Victory Metals is focused on exploration and development of its flagship North Stanmore Heavy Rare Earth Elements, Scandium, Hafnium and Gallium Project in Western Australia.

The company is advancing the project as a potential supplier of critical materials used in future-facing industries, including defence, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing and permanent magnets.

Clark said the pilot plant would support engagement with potential offtake partners as the company continues development work at North Stanmore.

“As governments and manufacturers increasingly seek secure and diversified rare earth supply chains, this pilot plant allows us to demonstrate our process, engage directly with potential offtake partners and continue advancing the project towards development.”