Drill rig at Tanbreez project. Credit: Critical Metals Corp.
Critical Metals (NASDAQ: CRML) has launched a 2,000-metre drilling program aimed at expanding the resource at its Tanbreez rare earth project in Greenland ahead of a feasibility study. Its shares surged on the update.
In a press release Tuesday, the New York-based critical minerals developer said the drilling represents “an important investment and step” in its efforts to bring a “game-changing rare earth asset” into production as soon as possible.
The Tanbreez project — situated on a 4.7-billion-tonne mineralized kakortokite unit in southern Greenland that has been largely unexplored to date — represents one of the world’s largest rare earth deposits.
The rare earth resource, from an orebody covering 8 km x 5 km in area, is estimated at nearly 45 million tonnes (indicated and inferred), representing just 1% of the entire host rock. Approximately 27% of that resource is categorized as heavy rare earths, which are used in high-performance applications such as clean energy and defense, and are less common than light rare earths.
Based on this resource, Critical Metals released a preliminary economic assessment earlier this year, showing a net present value (NPV) of approximately $3 billion (approximately $2.8 billion to $3.6 billion at discount rates of 15% and 12.5%, respectively, before tax), with an internal rate of return (IRR) of 180%.
The report outlines a phased growth strategy for the Tanbreez project, with initial production of around 85,000 tonnes of rare earth oxides per annum, beginning as early as 2026, then scaled to 425,000 tonnes after modular expansion.
500Mt exploration target
The 2025 drilling campaign will focus solely on the eudialyte component of Tanbreez rare earth mineralization found on the Fjord deposit, which accounts for about half of the resource at 22.6 million tonnes. The remaining resource are contained in feldspar and arfvedsonite.
Specifically, the Critical Metals team is looking to further extend the Fjord deposit to the east approximately 700 metres, and 650 metres along strike of the kakortokite host rock, which by comparison measures 5 km x 2.5 km in area and several hundred metres thick.
In its press release, the company considers this as a 500-million-tonne exploration target with the 4.7-billion-tonne host rock.
According to the company, the target depths for the vertical drill holes will range from 80 to 250 metres over the undulating topography. The first hole has already been collared and down to approximately 60 metres in outcropping kakortokite host.
“This new drilling program is designed to significantly increase the size of the current mineral resource estimate (MRE) and support the development of the bankable feasibility study (BFS), paving the way for a final decision to mine,” stated CEO and executive chairman Tony Sage.
The company also expects new drill results from its 2024 campaign to further verify the potential of the Tanbreez project while it completes this year’s drilling.
With full exploration teams now on site, Critical Metals says new data collected will “play a key role” in finalizing the BFS and preparing the comprehensive reports required by Greenland regulators as well as its proposed financial partners. Last month, it received a letter from the US Export-Import Bank (EXIM) for a loan worth up to $120 million to fund the Tanbreez project.
Shares of Critical Metals soared over 22% to a four-month high of $3.80 on the NASDAQ on the announcement of drilling. It has since pulled back to around $3.60 a share, for a market capitalization of $361.8 million.
