Victory Metals has unveiled what could become one of the defining technical advantages of its North Stanmore Heavy Rare Earth Project, with new mineralogical analysis confirming that the vast majority of its high-value rare earth elements are hosted in secondary phosphate minerals rather than traditional hard rock minerals.
The findings could have significant implications for future processing, supporting a potentially simpler beneficiation route as the company advances the project through its Pre-Feasibility Study.
Heavy and Magnet Rare Earths concentrated in one mineral system
Detailed TESCAN Integrated Mineral Analyser (TIMA) work on concentrate produced from Victory’s pilot plant found that secondary phosphate minerals host the overwhelming majority of the project’s most valuable rare earth elements.
The analysis showed:
- 86% of Dysprosium (Dy)
- 82% of Terbium (Tb)
- 96% of Yttrium (Y)
- 88% of Praseodymium (Pr)
- 91% of Neodymium (Nd)
are all concentrated within the project’s combined secondary phosphate mineral system, primarily churchite and rhabdophane.
That is significant because these elements represent both the defence-critical heavy rare earths and the magnet rare earths required for electric vehicles, wind turbines and advanced technologies.
Rather than relying on separate mineral hosts for different rare earths, North Stanmore appears to concentrate much of its economic value within a single secondary mineral assemblage.
A different type of rare earth project
Most rare earth deposits around the world are dominated by primary minerals such as monazite and xenotime, which typically require intensive processing before the rare earths can be extracted.
North Stanmore looks markedly different.
The TIMA analysis found secondary phosphate minerals make up 5.93% of the analysed concentrate, while primary monazite and xenotime together account for just 1.13%.
While further metallurgical work remains ongoing, the mineralogy provides a strong technical basis for the processing route currently being evaluated.
Table 1: North Stanmore August 2025 MRE (≥330 ppm TREO + Sc₂O₃ cut-off grade).
Building a Strategic Rare Earth Supply
North Stanmore continues to emerge as a strategically important heavy rare earth project at a time when governments are seeking secure Western supply chains for critical minerals.
Unlike many projects that are heavily weighted towards a single rare earth element, Victory’s deposit hosts substantial exposure to five strategically important elements (Dysprosium, Terbium, Yttrium, Neodymium and Praseodymium) all of which are essential for permanent magnets used across defence, renewable energy and electric vehicle industries.
Chief Executive Officer Brendan Clark said the latest results further differentiated North Stanmore from conventional rare earth projects, believing it “supports our flotation-led beneficiation and selective leaching strategy, subject to ongoing testwork, and provides a strong technical platform to advance the Pre-Feasibility Study.”
What’s Next?
The new TIMA results will now feed into Victory’s ongoing metallurgical program as the company continues pilot plant optimisation and selective leaching studies.
Further analytical work, including LA-ICP-MS analysis and metallurgical testwork, will refine the mineralogical model and processing response ahead of the Pre-Feasibility Study.
With a 320.6-million-tonne Mineral Resource already defined and processing optimisation gathering pace, North Stanmore continues to strengthen its position as a potential long-term supplier of both heavy and magnet rare earths into Western critical mineral supply chains.
