Victory Metals tacks on valuable gallium to North Stanmore critical minerals bounty

Victory Metals boosts North Stanmore rare earths project with addition of valuable yet fuss-free gallium oxide resource.

Victory Metals has added a gallium resource with an inground value estimated at $3.6bn to its North Stanmore rare earths project. Pic: Getty Images

Special Report: Victory Metals has significantly boosted the potential economics of its North Stanmore clay-hosted rare earths project in WA by defining a gallium oxide resource.

• Massively valuable gallium oxide resource defined at Victory Metals’ North Stanmore REE project
• Resource is within the REE envelope, meaning that no changes to mine plan are required
• Gallium has already been produced as part of the MREC product

Resources at North Stanmore have been updated to 247.5Mt, which translates into 4788t of contained gallium oxide.

This is hugely positive for Victory Metals (ASX:VTM) as the critical mineral used to manufacture semiconductors is priced at a hefty $770/kg with the global market projected to grow from US$2.45 billion in 2024 to US$5.38 billion in 2028 and US$21.53 billion in 2034, representing a compound annual growth rate of 24.3%.

A quick back of the envelope calculation places the inground value of the gallium resource at ~$3.69Bn though this does not take into account recovery rates and other factors.

It comes hot on the heels of the company reporting in late March that it had produced gallium in the final mixed rare earth carbonate product from samples collected across the project with no extra processing required.

Taken together, this represents a big bonus as the company does not need to change its mine plans or add another layer to its processing requirements to produce gallium.

North Stanmore has grown its basket of critical metals subject to Chinese export restrictions. Besides the by-product gallium, these are the heavy rare earths of gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium and yttrium, along with light rare earth samarium and by-product scandium.

China controlled a massive 98.4% share of global gallium production in 2024, meaning that any alternative source of production will be welcome for those seeking supply security.

North Stanmore resource. Pic: Victory Metals

An ‘incredible bonus’

While rare earths remain the core revenue driver for the North Stanmore project, chief executive officer Brendan Clark said the addition of gallium to the resource was an incredible bonus.

“Our focus remains on developing a world-class heavy rare earth project, but the ability to recover gallium concurrently through our recovery process without additional complexity significantly enhances the value proposition,” he said.

“Gallium is a strategic technology metal with growing global demand and its inclusion as a by-product positions Victory as an even more attractive partner for downstream and offtake discussions.”

The updated resource was estimated within the boundaries of 10 tenements and occurs in regolith above an alkaline intrusion, which has not been recognised previously on regional geological maps despite its magnetic signature.

Rare earths mineralisation – and gallium – occurs in a relatively flat-laying saprolite-rich clay horizon.

About 71% of the resource sits within the higher confidence indicated category that provides sufficient certainty for mine planning.

This article was developed in collaboration with Victory Metals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. 

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Originally published as Victory Metals tacks on valuable gallium to North Stanmore critical minerals bounty