McLaren Minerals (ASX: MML) has delivered a substantial upgrade to the mineral resource estimate (MRE) for its 100%-owned McLaren titanium project in Western Australia’s Eucla Basin, strengthening its position as one of the world’s largest undeveloped ilmenite-rich deposits.
The new estimate of 529 million tonnes at 4.5% heavy minerals represents an 85% increase in tonnage and a 90% uplift in contained heavy minerals compared with the company’s 2022 resource, including a tripling of Indicated resources to 249Mt.
The update will feed directly into the company’s ongoing Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS), which McLaren expects to complete in the coming weeks.
Significant Increase Across Key Categories
Completed by ERM Australia, the MRE revision incorporates updated drilling, mineralogical data, and revised slimes criteria confirmed through recent metallurgical test work.
Contained ilmenite has grown from about 4Mt to approximately 7Mt, supported by a consistent assemblage comprising roughly 30% ilmenite and credits in rutile, leucoxene, and zircon.
McLaren said the resource increase comfortably supports its ambition to develop a 10-million-tonne-per-annum mining operation, with the scale of the upgrade providing flexibility for mine design options now being considered under the PFS.
The company noted that all resource reporting excludes a 500-metre corridor along the Eyre Highway, which remains outside the mineralised envelope for regulatory purposes.
Drivers of the Resource Expansion
The company attributed the increase to several factors, including new infill and extensional drilling that identified deeper mineralised zones beneath the previously modelled resource.
Enhanced geological modelling, supported by refined mineral assemblage data and improved understanding of depositional environments, contributed to broader mineralisation continuity across the 5km-by-8.5km footprint.
A key change to reporting criteria — raising the slimes threshold from less than 30% to less than 38% — was validated through metallurgical test work and enabled inclusion of additional mineralised material that meets processing parameters.
Managing director Simon Finnis said the scale of the result had exceeded expectations and confirmed the project’s trajectory toward development.
He said the drilling was specifically designed to support the PFS throughput targets and had achieved that “comfortably,” enhancing confidence as the project moves into the next stage of technical work.
Supporting PFS and Funding Pathway
The resource upgrade will be incorporated into the upcoming PFS, which aims to define a conventional mineral sands flowsheet and assess development scenarios for the large-scale deposit.
McLaren’s recent entitlement offer, seeking to raise about $3.6 million and fully underwritten by Leeuwin Wealth, will help fund ongoing study work and further exploration at the project.
Eligible shareholders may still apply for additional shortfall shares under the offer, which closes on 3 December.
McLaren said the increased scale, strong geological continuity, and confirmed metallurgical performance reinforce its strategic objective of advancing a globally significant titanium project toward development and future production.
