Hastings Technology Metals (ASX: HAS) has revealed a sizeable maiden niobium oxide resource estimate at its Yangibana rare earths project in Western Australia’s Gascoyne region, with 6.7 million tonnes grading 0.23 per cent for a total of 15,501 tonnes of contained metal.
While niobium – which is used in alloys including stainless steel – has been instrumental in shifting the share price dials of several ASX-listed companies in recent times, Hastings is also pursuing wider, multi-commodity value from the site that sits 250km north-east of Carnarvon, with a view to establishing an updated Yangibana mineral resource estimate by November. It is expected to include additional critical minerals such as zirconium and hafnium.
Management says the shallow, niobium-bearing zones at Yangibana stretch across a 4km strike length and are predominantly found within the Gifford Creek carbonatite – the predominant host rock at its Bald Hill and Simon’s Find deposits. The metal primarily shows up at its highest grade as an element within the mineral ferrocolumbite.
With metallurgical testing already well-advanced, Hastings has identified effective methods to recover niobium from the ore, including the use of magnetic separation and flotation techniques. It suggests that the niobium can be efficiently extracted alongside rare earths, adding another revenue stream to the project.
The maiden Niobium Mineral Resource Estimate is an important step towards providing a multi-commodity recovery process stream and byproduct credit income. Yangibana’s multi-commodity potential is being expanded through further exploration and ongoing metallurgical testing of hafnium-enriched zircon.
Hastings Technology Metals Chief Geologist Dr Louis Schürmann
In August, while taking rock-chip samples from carbonatite-related ironstone intrusions in the footwall of its Bald Hill deposit in a bid expand its niobium footprint, the company noted promising signs of zirconium and hafnium mineralisation within niobium readings that peaked at 23.69 per cent and total rare earth oxides (TREO) running as high as 8.91 per cent, with average grades of 1.21 per cent TREO.
With a mix of 49.05 per cent zirconium to 3.78 per cent hafnium, the discoveries revealed a zirconium-to-hafnium ratio of 13:1, or 3.8-times higher than the global benchmark of 50:1 as cited by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Hafnium, primarily a byproduct of zirconium refining, is crucial in nuclear technology, especially in control rods for nuclear reactors and submarines. The metal is also alloyed with other elements such as titanium and niobium for intense-heat purposes in electronics and aerospace.
By way of example, hafnium carbide has the highest melting point of any binary compound, making it extremely useful in furnaces and kilns.
And the value of the commodity has tripled in four years, reaching a massive US$4494 (AU$6657) per kilogram, meaning that even a small quantity can make a considerable difference to the economics of a project such as Yangibana.
Dr Schürmann says the company’s recent findings have coincided with its existing plans to push forward with designs to build a beneficiation plant in partnership with GR Engineering. It is expected to be capable of not only producing ferrocolumbite and monazite concentrates, but also now hafnium-rich zircon.
Hastings chief operating officer Tim Gilbert adds that management is confident an additional magnetic separation and flotation circuit can be designed and implemented at Yangibana in a relatively short period and in an “effective manner”.
With first production expected in 2026, Hasting is aiming to establish a reliable source of rare earth metals from Yangibana. And with so many innovative technologies critically reliant on these elements, from high-strength steel, nuclear control rods and advanced lithium-ion batteries, the company appears to be ticking all the boxes in its bid to challenge Brazil’s dominance with 90 per cent of the world’s niobium production and the broader TREO supply chain.
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