Meet Jupiter, Australia’s largest clay-hosted rare earths resource

Critica has achieved a significant milestone at its flagship Jupiter project in Western Australia, revealing the country’s largest and highest-grade clay-hosted rare earth resource.

The independent maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) confirmed a global resource of 1.8 billion tonnes at 1700 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO), including a high-grade 500 million tonnes at 2200ppm TREO.

The MRE places Jupiter – part of the Brothers clay-hosted rare earth project – among the most significant rare earth deposits globally, strengthening Australia’s position in the critical minerals supply chain.

“It is incredibly exciting to be able to unveil Australia’s premier clay-hosted rare earth deposit – the numbers speak for themselves,” Critica managing director Philippa Leggat said.

“Our maiden resource represents a major milestone that we have, rather remarkably, delivered in just over a year from announcing the discovery in November 2023.”

Leggat said the size and grade in the clay-hosted Jupiter deposit is unmatched in Australia and is globally significant.

“The development potential is boosted by its exceptional location in a well-established, West Australian mining district that benefits from robust existing infrastructure,” she said.

“Moreover, the near-surface and highly consistent nature of the deposit affords us optionality when it comes to considering future processing and development scenarios.”

The deposit covers 42km², with an average drill depth of just 58m and over 50 per cent of holes ending in mineralisation.

“Our initial metallurgy has demonstrated the potential to beneficiate our grade by 830 per cent while simultaneously reducing the overall mass by an extraordinary 95 per cent,” Leggat said.

“We are well funded to continue advancing this testwork and drill test our satellite discoveries to assess the true potential of our provincial scale opportunity at the broader Brothers project.”

With six discrete rare earth discoveries identified at Brothers, Critica is positioning itself as a key player in Australia’s critical minerals sector, advancing a globally competitive rare earth project.