Dreadnought Resources Confirms Thick Rare Earth Zone Beneath Stinger Deposit

Dreadnought Resources (ASX: DRE) has reported a major new rare earths discovery at the Stinger niobium deposit within the Gifford Creek Carbonatite complex of its Mangaroon critical minerals project in Western Australia’s Gascoyne region.

The company drilled four diamond holes to collect oxide material for metallurgical testing, but one deeper hole intersected an unexpected fresh carbonatite zone that returned 140m at 0.9% total rare earth oxides with 24% neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) from 307m depth.

Managing director Dean Tuck said the result demonstrates the scale and diversity of the carbonatite system, which already hosts niobium, rare earths, titanium, scandium, and phosphate.

Discovery Opens New Target

Dreadnought designed the drill program to supply samples for metallurgical test work and did not expect significant new mineralisation.

The deep intercept in hole CBDD011 revealed a thick fractionated carbonatite zone enriched in barium and strontium, with mineralogy including bastnaesite, monazite, and apatite.

The company has not previously identified this style of mineralisation at Gifford Creek.

Carbonatite specialist Ross Chandler said the discovery mirrors features of the Mountain Pass rare earths deposit in the United States, opening a new search space within the central carbonatite complex.

Potential for Upgraded Oxide Zones

Weathering in carbonatite systems typically concentrates rare earth grades by a factor of three to six, however Dreadnought believes the oxide zone above the new intercept could deliver much higher grades.

Previous drilling at Stinger has already confirmed this enrichment effect in niobium results, supporting the case for shallow, high-grade oxide resources.

The company has sent samples from both fresh and oxide zones for mineralogical analysis at the Australian National University to determine the processing characteristics of the mineralisation.

The Gifford Creek Carbonatite complex covers one of the largest known carbonatite systems globally, but only about a quarter of it has seen first-pass drilling.

Dreadnought continues to advance studies across its Mangaroon project, which also hosts the Yin ironstone rare earth resource, the Money intrusion nickel-copper sulphide joint venture with Teck, and multiple gold prospects.

Large Carbonatite Complex

Mr Tuck said the discovery strengthens Dreadnought’s position as a leading explorer of critical minerals.

“Gifford Creek is one of the largest carbonatite complexes globally and the discovery of thick mineralised rare earths underneath Stinger is yet another example of the project’s shallow, high-grade opportunity,” he said.

The company has received increased commercial interest in its portfolio as market sentiment toward critical minerals rebounds, and believes metallurgical work from the new samples will help advance these discussions.

Mr Chandler emphasised the broader implications, noting that the identification of a barium- and strontium-enriched carbonatite zone “represents a significant step change for rare earth exploration within the Gascoyne Province.”