West Cobar Metals Limited has expanded its planned fourth-quarter air-core drilling program at the Salazar Critical Minerals Project in Western Australia to include the Benriach Prospect.

The upcoming campaign will test the weathered profile above and around the Benriach bedrock zone for near-surface scandium enrichment. Previous bedrock reverse circulation drilling at Benriach intersected 27 metres at 102 parts per million Sc₂O₃ from 171 metres in scandium-enriched amphibolite bedrock. Aeromagnetic data indicate the amphibolite forms a discrete magnetic body where the mineralised bedrock approaches the weathered saprolite profile, displaying a geochemical association comparable to the bedrock underlying the Newmont deposit.

“Benriach gives us an exciting scandium target which highlights a potentially significant expansion of the scandium mineralisation at Salazar. We have a substantial bedrock intersection within amphibolite that shows a similar geochemical association to the bedrock beneath the Newmont scandium resource, together with a discrete magnetic body that provides a clear focus for follow-up drilling.”

The Salazar Project currently hosts an Inferred Mineral Resource of 15 million tonnes at 153 parts per million Sc₂O₃ at the Newmont deposit. Previous air-core drilling plans for the fourth quarter of 2026 were confined to the Newmont deposit, but the program has now been broadened to incorporate the Benriach target. The air-core drilling will simultaneously conduct closer-spaced drilling at Newmont to better define higher-grade zones and test potential resource extensions.

“The Q4 air-core program is designed to test the weathered profile above and around this bedrock zone for near-surface scandium enrichment, while also targeting extensions and higher-grade zones at Newmont. It is recognised that high scandium grades are essential for the development of a commercial operation.”

— Matt Szwedzicki, Managing Director

West Cobar previously expanded the resource inventory at the Salazar Project through air-core drilling campaigns conducted in 2023 and 2024. Metallurgical testwork is progressing in parallel with the exploration plans to establish a low-cost scandium extraction flowsheet for the clay-hosted deposit. In the surrounding district, high-grade scandium re-assay results were reported by Mount Ridley Mines Limited at its Mt Ridley project in July 2026.

Read the full announcement: Expansion of Scandium Drilling Targets at Salazar