West Cobar Metals announced on 28 August 2026 that it had expanded the planned air-core drilling program at its Salazar Critical Minerals Project, about 120 kilometres north-east of Esperance in Western Australia, to include a new scandium target at the Benriach prospect.
The program is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026. It will test extensions and higher-grade zones around the existing Newmont scandium resource while also investigating whether scandium-enriched bedrock at Benriach has produced near-surface enrichment in the overlying weathered profile.
Benriach adds a focused drill target
West Cobar said previous reverse-circulation hole BHTRSP002 intersected 27 metres at 102 parts per million scandium oxide from 171 metres in amphibolite bedrock. Aeromagnetic data define the amphibolite as a discrete magnetic body and indicate a position where it approaches the weathered saprolite profile.
The company interprets the amphibolite geochemistry as consistent with an alkaline basalt protolith. It said the association is comparable with the bedrock beneath the saprolite-hosted scandium resource at Newmont, providing a geological basis for testing the weathered material above and beside the Benriach intersection.
Newmont drilling to refine the resource
Salazar currently contains an Inferred Mineral Resource of 15 million tonnes at 153 parts per million scandium oxide. The planned program will include closer-spaced drilling at Newmont to improve the definition of higher-grade zones and test possible extensions to the resource.
Previously reported Newmont results cited by the company include 13 metres at 318 parts per million scandium oxide from nine metres in hole SAC358, including three metres at 649 parts per million from 10 metres. Hole SAC391 returned 11 metres at 282 parts per million from six metres, including four metres at 350 parts per million from nine metres.
Exploration and testwork move in parallel
West Cobar is also progressing metallurgical work covering heap leaching, scandium recovery, mixed rare earth carbonate potential and further bioleaching. Its stated next steps include an integrated flowsheet demonstration and staged scoping and pre-feasibility studies.
The expanded drilling plan creates a defined field program for late 2026 and, if results support the geological interpretation, could provide additional data for future resource and development studies. The work remains exploration-stage, and the company has not announced construction, production or project vacancies.
Source: West Cobar Metals Limited, “Expansion of Scandium Drilling Targets at Salazar”, 28 August 2026.