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Victory Metals (ASX:VTM) is heralding a boost in strategic value for its North Stanmore rare earth element project in Western Australia with the inclusion of 4,788 tonnes of gallium oxide (Ga2O3) to its mineral resource estimate.
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The MRE for the project, which is in WA’s midwest, is now 247.5 million dry metric tonnes at 520 ppm total rare earth oxide plus gallium oxide at 26 parts per million.
This addition significantly boosts the project’s value, Victory says: North Stanmore now contains seven critical metals which fall under Chinese export restrictions, including heavy rare earths like gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, and yttrium; light rare earths like samarium, and strategic byproducts gallium and scandium.
Gallium – which has a market price of $770 per kilogram – is particularly important for the manufacture of AI chips and semiconductors, as well as quantum computing, defence systems, LEDs, and solar panels.
China’s tight global supply makes this an important one for Victory, since it is one of the only companies in Australia that has a declared gallium oxide resource.
Beyond this, CEO and executive director Brendan Clark said this MRE update was an important step for the company – but not one that would change everything completely.
“Our focus remains on developing a world-class heavy rare earth project, but the ability to recover Gallium concurrently through our recovery process without additional complexity significantly enhances the value proposition,” he said.
“The addition of Gallium to the MRE is an incredible bonus, not a dependency.”
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Mr Clark added: “Gallium is a strategic technology metal with growing global demand; its inclusion as a by-product positions Victory as an even more attractive partner for downstream and offtake discussions.”
Victory has been trading at 41.5 cents through early Thursday.
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