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Victory Metals Reports Substantial Grade Increases from Testing of North Stanmore HRE Sample

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By Imelda Cotton - 
Victory Metals ASX VTM Substantial Grade Increases Testing North Stanmore HRE Sample
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Victory Metals (ASX: VTM) has reported that simple, low-cost, size-by-fraction separation of ore from its flagship North Stanmore heavy rare earths (HRE) project in Western Australia has delivered substantial grade improvements for terbium, dysprosium, and scandium.

Simple beneficiation and -10.8 micrometre cyclosizing on a bulk ore sample was able to enrich the key critical elements, which are central to China’s latest bans on defence and high-tech supply chains.

Terbium and dysprosium grades improved by 53% and 25% respectively, while scandium increased by 100% and the ratio of heavy rare earth oxides to total rare earth oxides (HREO/TREO) remained constant at 41%.

Low-Cost North Stanmore Option

The results provide Victory with a low-CapEx, low-OpEx front-end upgrade option for North Stanmore that reduces the throughput of less critical elements and gangue materials.

Victory recently announced a mineral resource estimate for the project of 320.6 million tonnes at 510 parts per million TREO and high HREO/TREO of 39%, mostly in the indicated category.

The company also identified a shallow zone of 50Mt at 1,050ppm, and the mineralisation remains open, presenting an opportunity to target ultra-high HRE ratio zones through future satellite pits.

This positions North Stanmore as Australia’s largest indicated clay HRE resource and highlights its pivotal role as a supplier of critical materials.

Significant Grade Increases

Victory chief executive officer Brendan Clark was happy with the grade improvements.

“This is an incredible outcome at a time when the world’s understanding of the importance of these critical and strategic minerals is rapidly growing,” he said.

“With a simple and low-cost size fractionation step, we have delivered significant grade increases in three of the world’s most strategically important elements, and highlighted the critical nature of projects like North Stanmore.”

Chinese Export Controls

China’s Ministry of Commerce recently expanded the nation’s export control regime on rare earths and related technologies.

Export licensing must now be obtained for rare earths, downstream products, and technologies that incorporate Chinese-origin material, with the rules explicitly prohibiting approvals for military uses.

The regulations take effect from December, with immediate restrictions already in place for Chinese-origin items.

Terbium, dysprosium, and scandium are on the controlled list and are now effectively off-limits to foreign military applications, giving China unprecedented leverage over supply chains for strategic defence and high-tech materials.