Critical Metals has commenced a diamond drilling program at the Tanbreez rare earth mine in Greenland, aimed at upgrading the project’s mineral resource classification. The program involves drilling 14 holes, totaling up to 2,200 meters, to shift the resource from Inferred to Indicated status and increase the annual throughput from 500,000 to three million tonnes. The drill core samples collected will undergo geological analysis and petrological testing.
The drilling, expected to take around 30 days, is a pivotal part of Critical Metals’ strategy to conduct a SK-1300 assessment and complete a comprehensive feasibility study. Following this phase, the company will proceed with a percussion drilling program to further delineate mineralization, twin hole drilling for quality assurance and control, and validation of the updated geophysical model.
Critical Metals holds a 42% interest in the Tanbreez project, one of the world’s largest rare earth deposits, with an estimated 4.7 billion tonnes of resources, including 980 million tonnes of eudialyte. The project, which received an exploitation license four years ago, has made significant progress in its pre-operational activities.
CEO and Chairman Tony Sage emphasized the strategic importance of the Tanbreez project in reducing Western dependency on China for critical materials essential to the clean energy transition and defense industries. He expressed optimism about the results of the drilling program and its role in advancing the company’s development strategy for this key rare earth asset.
This news was originally published by Mining Technology, a GlobalData-owned brand.
