West Cobar Metals (WC1) has identified priority drill targets for high-grade scandium mineralisation at its Salazar project in Western Australia. The site currently hosts an Inferred Resource of 15Mt at 153ppm Sc2O3, with the company noting that recent reviews of the magnetic amphibolite horizon have successfully isolated specific zones for follow-up. These targets were confirmed by historical intercepts, including one result of 13 metres at 318ppm Sc2O3.

"Salazar has a significant established scandium resource, which also contains several high grade scandium drill targets. The early testwork conducted to date is encouraging in that a lower cost processing pathway may be feasible."

"If ongoing metallurgical optimisation work continues to support these results, Salazar has the potential to become a lower capital cost scandium development opportunity while simultaneously producing rare earths and other critical minerals."
— Matt Szwedzicki, Managing Director

The company is positioning these findings as a pathway toward potentially lower capital and processing costs. Unlike many global scandium projects that require high-pressure and high-temperature processing, the shallow saprolite-hosted mineralisation at the project has shown positive results in atmospheric-pressure acid leaching tests, achieving up to 81% recovery. Preliminary bioleaching screening also returned encouraging data, which the company expects will inform upcoming technical optimisation programs.

West Cobar Metals is also preparing to launch a new aircore drill program at the project. This activity is designed to further define and extend the newly identified high-grade zones through closer-spaced 100m by 50m drilling. Simultaneously, the company remains focused on technical validation, with results from ongoing metallurgical testwork at ANSTO and CSIRO expected to be reported over the coming months. These results will be critical as the company works to integrate potential co-product pathways for rare earths and other critical minerals into its future development studies.

Read the full announcement: Review Identifies High-Grade Scandium Targets at Salazar