Business · Companies · 2 hrs ago
West Cobar plans first dedicated scandium drilling at Salazar
West Cobar Metals plans to start its first dedicated scandium drilling at the Salazar project in Western Australia in the third week of October.
Salazar is about 120 kilometres northeast of Esperance and already has an inferred scandium resource.
Earlier drilling mainly targeted rare earths and titanium, with holes spaced much farther apart.
The new program will use closer spacing to investigate higher-grade scandium zones near the surface and whether they extend beyond known areas.
It will focus on the Newmont deposit and also test the Benriach prospect, about 10 kilometres southwest.
Scandium is used in areas including aerospace, defence and fuel cells, while global supply is concentrated and China is a leading producer.
The company will also continue metallurgical studies, but the drilling results will help clarify the size and distribution of the scandium mineralisation.
West Cobar Metals plans its first dedicated scandium drilling at the Salazar project in Western Australia.
The air-core program is scheduled to start in the third week of October and will use closer-spaced drilling to investigate higher-grade shallow mineralisation.
Drilling will target the Newmont area and the Benriach prospect, about 10km southwest of Newmont.
Salazar has an existing inferred scandium resource of 15 million tonnes at 153 parts per million scandium oxide.
The program will also infill and extend drilling across existing rare earths and titanium dioxide resource areas.
- Who
- West Cobar Metals, which has engaged Wallis Drilling for the program.
- What
- The company plans its first dedicated scandium air-core drilling at Salazar.
- When
- Drilling is scheduled to commence in the third week of October 2026.
- Where
- The Salazar project in Western Australia, around 120km northeast of Esperance.
- Why
- To investigate higher-grade shallow scandium zones and extensions to known mineralisation.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
West Cobar announced an expansion of its exploration targets to include the Benriach scandium prospect.
Stockhead reported that drilling was scheduled to commence in the third week of October.
- Drilling contractor
- Wallis Drilling
- Newmont drill spacing
- 100m by 50m, compared with earlier spacing of 500m by 100m
- Salazar scandium resource
- 15 million tonnes at 153ppm scandium oxide, inferred
- Benriach location
- Approximately 10km southwest of Newmont
- Newmont historical intersection
- 13m at 318ppm scandium oxide from 9m, including 3m at 649ppm from 10m
What people are saying
We are excited to commence our first dedicated scandium drilling program at Salazar. The closer spaced drilling will test for higher-grade zones in shallow saprolite and extensions to the known mineralisation.
The program will also test the Benriach scandium prospect, and infill and extend drill coverage of the existing REE and TiO2 resource areas.
Sources
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