Mount Ridley Mines Announces Major Scandium Discovery at Esperance
Mount Ridley Mines has taken a significant leap forward in establishing itself as a key player in the global critical minerals sector. The company has unveiled a maiden scandium mineral resource at its flagship Mount Ridley project, located near Esperance in Western Australia. This announcement marks a pivotal moment for the project, which is rapidly gaining recognition as a large-scale, multi-element critical minerals system.
World-Class Scandium Resource Details
The company has reported an inferred scandium resource of 367.98 million tonnes, grading at 57.3 parts per million (ppm) scandium. This equates to an impressive 18,855 tonnes of contained scandium metal. This new resource firmly positions the Mount Ridley project among the largest publicly reported JORC-compliant scandium deposits worldwide, highlighting its strategic importance.
Mineralisation is spread across multiple blocks within the well-known Grass Patch Complex. This includes the Central Scandium zone, which contains Blocks 1A and 1B, and the Northern Scandium zone, which hosts Block 2. All these resource areas are situated along the same geological corridor that already contains Mount Ridley's gallium and rare earth mineralisation, suggesting a cohesive and extensive mineral system.
Multi-Element Critical Minerals Potential
Notably, Mount Ridley has observed that the scandium mineralisation is closely associated with gallium and heavy rare earth elements. This co-hosted nature reinforces the project's reputation as a comprehensive, multi-element critical minerals system rather than a single-commodity operation. Block 1A and 1B host an inferred resource of 155.2 million tonnes at 57.8 ppm scandium, while Block 2 adds a further 212.7 million tonnes at 54.7 ppm scandium. All blocks remain open for expansion and have been prioritised for future resource definition drilling.
The company believes that the integration of scandium, gallium, and heavy rare earths within the same regolith could be a significant advantage. If these metals can be extracted using a single, integrated processing route, it could substantially reduce development costs and improve economic viability. This potential synergy could transform what might have been a challenging specialty metals project into a more streamlined and value-packed development.
Strategic Importance of Scandium
Scandium is a small but strategically vital market, with applications in aerospace, defence, and advanced manufacturing. The metal is highly valued for its ability to enhance the strength, corrosion resistance, and heat tolerance of aluminium alloys. Global supply has become increasingly constrained due to Chinese export restrictions, with only a few producers worldwide and no dominant Western source, making discoveries like this crucial for supply chain diversification.
Expanding Critical Minerals Portfolio
For Mount Ridley, this scandium resource builds directly onto the project's already substantial critical minerals inventory. In October last year, the company reported a maiden gallium resource of 838.7 million tonnes at 29.3 ppm, equivalent to 24,584 tonnes of contained metal, making it one of the largest known gallium deposits globally. Additionally, a previously defined 168 million tonne rare earths resource at the Mia prospect, rich in magnet rare earths such as neodymium and praseodymium, further bolsters the portfolio.
In total, Mount Ridley now controls a sprawling mineralised system that extends for more than 25 kilometres along the Grass Patch complex, indicating genuine district-scale critical minerals potential. More than 75 per cent of Mount Ridley's tenure remains untested, with multiple defined target corridors yet to be drill-tested, providing significant scope for resource growth and upgrades.
Long-Term Value Creation Efforts
Beyond exploration, Mount Ridley has been laying the groundwork for long-term value creation. Late last year, the company executed a Material Transfer Agreement with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States. This agreement allows material from the project to be used for advanced analysis and test work, reflecting growing interest from Western countries in securing diversified, non-Chinese sources of critical minerals for defence and high-technology supply chains.
With a giant scandium resource now confirmed, a world-scale gallium inventory, and magnet rare earths already defined at Mia, Mount Ridley is quickly emerging as one of Australia's most compelling multi-commodity critical minerals stories. If ongoing drilling continues to expand the resource and metallurgical studies prove that the elements can be extracted together, the Mount Ridley project could evolve from an exploration play into a strategically important supply hub for Western high-tech and defence industries.
