Barkly Rare Earths (ASX:BAK) has begun civil works this week ahead of a 10,000m drilling program targeting expansion of its 40 million tonnes inferred mineral resource.
Site preparation and access track construction have commenced at the Barkly Project in the Northern Territory, with drilling scheduled to start next week. The program comprises approximately 400 holes averaging 25m deep across the project’s Immediate Zone.
“What makes Barkly’s ‘soft rock’ deposit particularly compelling is its combination of substantial scale potential, mineralisation at surface, and low deleterious radioactive element content — attributes that distinguish it from the plethora of global ‘hard rock’ rare earths projects,” Managing Director Craig Wright says.
The existing resource grades 2,100 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxide (TREO) for 82,000 tonnes of contained TREO, reported above a 430 ppm neodymium-praseodymium cut-off grade. The resource sits within two optimised pit shells with mineralisation open laterally in all directions.
Earthmoving equipment has arrived on site ahead of drilling, with portable X-ray fluorescence instruments to provide rapid screening during the program.
The program targets resource expansion across the Immediate Zone on approximately 800m spacing, with additional holes testing extensions across the Intermediate Zone. Four holes previously drilled between the two resource areas intersected rare earth mineralisation, suggesting potential for lateral expansion across the intervening 20km.
Barkly’s rare earth mineralised quartz sand is interpreted as marine deposits within a palaeo-embayment encompassed by the project tenements. The company says this depositional setting may support widespread grade and thickness continuity.
The drilling will also provide bulk density data and sample quality information to support future development of its indicated and measured mineral resources.
Separately, Barkly has completed reconnaissance mapping and rock-chip sampling at its Buntine Base Metals Project, where assay results are expected in Q3 2026 after identifying several anomalous lead, cobalt, zinc, and copper zones.
Barkly expects ongoing exploration results throughout Q3 and Q4 2026, with a mineral resource estimate update planned for Q4 alongside geometallurgical test work and modelling.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Images: Barkly Rare Earths
