Business · Energy & Commodities · 2 hrs ago
West Cobar finds scandium concentrated in finer Salazar project material
West Cobar Metals is testing ways to upgrade feed for its Salazar scandium project in Western Australia, northeast of Esperance.
In initial tests on one composite made from selected higher-grade drill intervals, material finer than 38 micrometres held 61% of the scandium in 51% of the sample mass.
That fine fraction carried only 33% of the sample’s iron, and its scandium grade was about 20% above the composite’s overall grade.
However, 65% of the sample’s alumina was also in the fine fraction, and substantial scandium remained in coarser material.
The company is testing magnetic and gravity separation to see whether it can upgrade the feed while retaining scandium and managing impurities.
The aim is to send less material, with more scandium and less iron, to leaching and later purification.
Closer drilling is planned for late October on a 100-metre-by-50-metre grid to test higher-grade shallow zones and extensions and provide material for further processing tests.
West Cobar Metals says initial tests found scandium concentrated in the finer material from its Salazar project.
The fraction finer than 38 micrometres contained 61% of the scandium in 51% of the sample mass, and 33% of its iron.
The result came from one indicative composite made from selected higher-grade drill intervals.
Further separation tests will assess feed upgrading and how much scandium remains in the material.
The company plans dedicated scandium drilling at Salazar in late October.
- Who
- West Cobar Metals, which is investigating the Salazar scandium project.
- What
- Initial sizing tests found that the finer fraction concentrated scandium relative to iron.
- When
- The article was published on 14 October 2026. The timing of the tests is not stated.
- Where
- ALS in Perth conducted the tests; the Salazar project is in Western Australia, northeast of Esperance.
- Why
- The company is assessing whether physical separation can improve the material sent for leaching and downstream purification.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
ALS in Perth found that the fraction finer than 38 micrometres held 61% of the sample’s scandium.
ALS is testing magnetic and heavy-liquid gravity separation to assess further upgrading and scandium retention.
West Cobar plans dedicated scandium drilling on a 100m by 50m grid.
- Fine fraction size
- Finer than 38 micrometres
- Scandium in fine fraction
- 61% of the scandium in 51% of the sample mass
- Iron in fine fraction
- 33% of the sample’s iron
- Existing Inferred resource
- 15Mt at 153ppm scandium oxide and 1205ppm total rare earth oxides
- Planned drilling grid
- 100m by 50m
What people are saying
Our initial ALS results give us a clear direction for the next stage of testing. The fine fraction contains 61% of the scandium in just over half the sample mass, while carrying only one-third of the iron.
This is encouraging because upgrading scandium and reducing iron ahead of leaching could improve the feed sent to extraction and purification.