Critica is pushing ahead on its dual critical minerals strategy at its giant Jupiter rare earths project in Western Australia and its Mt Lindsay tin-tungsten asset in Tasmania.

The company says both projects are now marching towards scoping study completions, with economic studies slated to drop for both in the third quarter of this year.

Critica’s diversified critical minerals plans have landed just as tin and tungsten decided to raise their hands as surging strategic metals, making the possibility of development at the globally significant Mt Lindsay project impossible to ignore.

At its Jupiter project, Critica has just completed a resource optimisation program, handing over data from 145 infill drill holes to kick off an updated mineral resource. The work comes on the back of stellar metallurgical results, with beneficiation processes delivering a grade increase of up to 14 times and an impressive 81 per cent recovery of the all-important magnet rare earth oxides (MREO).

In what marks a major de-risking milestone for Jupiter, the company has also successfully produced a commercial-grade product from its ore, producing a mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) containing 58 per cent total rare earth oxides (TREO). A separate process yielded a high-purity MREO containing an impressive 97 per cent TREO.

Management says its results have firmed up the potential for multiple product pathways and demonstrated the flexibility of the Jupiter flowsheet. The company is now preparing product samples for qualification and commercial engagement with potential offtake partners.

While rare earths are the main game at Jupiter, the project also hosts a hefty 70,000 tonnes of the strategically significant gallium metal. Previous testwork showed 63 per cent of the gallium could be extracted using the same flowsheet designed for rare earths, flagging a potentially significant additional value stream for the project.

Critica Limited chief executive officer Jacob Deysel

As Jupiter forges ahead in WA, the company’s Mt Lindsay tin-tungsten project in northwest Tasmania has continued to reawaken. Critica describes it as one of the world’s most significant undeveloped tin-tungsten projects at a time when global supplies of both metals are under increasing pressure.

The project already hosts an 81,000-tonne contained tin resource with an added kicker of 32,000 tonnes of contained tungsten. The resource remains open at depth and is backed by more than 83,000m of historical diamond drilling.

The company is now reassessing the project as a low-impact underground mining development, which it says offers improved ore selectivity and better environmental outcomes compared to historic open-pit concepts.

An updated resource and geological model are now underway, which will feed into the scoping study being advanced by Perth-headquartered engineering group DRA Global.

The project sits within northwestern Tasmania’s fabled tin-tungsten belt, a world-class mineral province that has churned out tin for more than a century and hosts the globally significant Renison tin mine, owned by ASX-listed MetalsX.

To bolster its strategic position, Critica recently joined the US Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC), which is likely to strengthen its access to strategic partnerships and supply chain initiatives in the United States.

The company also secured $300,000 in non-dilutive funding from government-backed programs to accelerate metallurgical development at Jupiter.

With scoping studies for both of its flagship projects converging in Q3, Critica is lining up a period of significant news flow. As the global scramble for secure critical minerals supplies intensifies, this Perth-based explorer might just be holding two of the trump cards Australia has to play.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au