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- Multiple parallel workstreams accelerating evaluation of Salazar’s scandium
- opportunity
- Approvals underway for targeted drilling of higher-grade scandium zones
- Aircore drilling to occur during Q4 2026
- Scandium-focused metallurgical testwork and flowsheet development progressing
West Cobar Metals (ASX:WC1) continues to accelerate scandium-focused work-programs at its Salazar critical minerals project in the south of Western Australia.
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Recent positive bioleaching screening testwork and a burgeoning demand for scandium has supported a strategy to ramp up development of the high-value critical mineral.
“We are excited to be rapidly progressing towards Salazar’s first drill program specifically targeting scandium. The program will test higher-grade zones within the Newmont deposit and provide data to support a potential Mineral Resource update,” MD, Matt Szwedzicki, said.
“Approvals processes are progressing, with aircore drilling targeted to commence in Q4 2026.”
International attention on scandium is increasing as tightening Chinese export controls reinforce the strategic importance of secure Western scandium supply chains required for defence, aerospace, advanced aluminium alloys, solid oxide fuel cells and semiconductor technologies.
“The timing for accelerating efforts to develop a scandium project could not be better, with the recently announced US$400 million US Government’s Department of War’s Office of Strategic Capital’s (OSC) conditional debt funding to Sunrise Energy Metals Limited (ASX:SRL), that demonstrates the strategic priority placed on secure scandium supply chains,” Mr Szwedzicki said.
West Cobar is currently advancing metallurgical testwork and planning an integrated flowsheet demonstration program to evaluate scandium recovery together with potential rare earth by-products.
“We are driving hard on the scandium front and expect these activities to generate a strong pipeline of newsflow over the coming months,” Mr Szwedzicki, told shareholders.
Recent bioleaching screening testwork of mineralisation from the Salazar project achieved scandium extraction of up to 39% under atmospheric conditions, while earlier metallurgical testwork achieved scandium recoveries of up to 81% using atmospheric-pressure acid leaching.
Mr Szwedzicki said these preliminary results support continued evaluation of atmospheric-pressure processing routes.
“Many scandium projects globally rely on higher-cost high-pressure and high-temperature processing routes. Salazar’s shallow saprolite-hosted mineralisation and atmospheric leach characteristics may provide processing and capital cost advantages. Further testwork and development studies are required to assess flowsheet performance, recoveries, costs and project economics.”
WC1 recently completed a detailed review of the Salazar scandium mineralisation, demonstrating its spatial association with the weathered magnetic amphibolite horizon that also influences the distribution of heavy rare earth elements and titanium dioxide.
WC1 is steady at 1.6¢ with a Mkt cap of $6.654M.
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