McLaren drilling nails high-grade titanium from surface

McLaren Minerals has continued to deliver broad, consistent and high-grade heavy mineral (HM) intercepts from surface at its namesake McLaren titanium project in the western Eucla basin of Western Australia, as the company works towards upgrading its massive resource.

The 2026 drilling program - a monster 663-hole campaign for 11,568m - is designed to expand and increase confidence in the company’s existing 529-million-tonne indicated and inferred mineral resource, which already showcases an average grade of 4.5 per cent HM.

The latest batch of 57 assayed holes returned a length-weighted average of four per cent HM over an impressive average sampled thickness of 20.1m, with every reported interval starting from surface.

Standout results include a 15-metre hit from surface grading 6.88 per cent HM, with a second hole of 18m assaying 5.87 per cent HM and a third delivering 20m grading 5.69 per cent HM.

‘These attributes give us great confidence that we can mine and process McLaren with modest operating cost inputs.’

McLaren Minerals managing director Simon Finnis

Other strong intercepts from surface featured 21m running 5.53 per cent HM, with two further holes returning 20m at 5.47 per cent HM and 18m going 5.38 per cent HM.

Within the broader zones of mineralisation, McLaren also picked up pockets of higher-grade material, with 10 holes pulling one-metre assays of at least 10 per cent HM. Of those, the best clocked in with 1m at a hefty 17.99 per cent HM and 1m grading 15.60 per cent HM.

The latest drilling has added plenty of weight to McLaren’s working theory that it’s dealing with a remarkably consistent near-surface deposit. Of the 57 holes, a thumping 53 – or 93 per cent – delivered at least 15m of mineralisation from surface, 46 ran for 18m or more and 26 punched through at least 21m.

For a potential bulk mining operation, that sort of geological predictability is potentially geological gold, particularly when it comes to shaping a mine plan and keeping the processing plant fed. The fresh numbers will now be folded into an updated geological model and mineral resource estimate as McLaren builds towards its bankable feasibility study.

McLaren Minerals managing director Simon Finnis said: “More of what we’ve come to expect from McLaren. Broad intervals, with good grades, all from surface. What really sets McLaren apart, and what we’ve said all along, is that it is a very consistent deposit, and a very straightforward deposit, which will lead to ease of mining at scale, and a traditional processing flowsheet.”

The results land at a time of strengthening mineral sands prices and renewed corporate interest in the sector, with some major Australian producers flagging constrained supply and higher contracted zircon prices. Add a recent wave of M&A activity underscoring strategic interest in WA mineral sands assets and solid drilling results are likely to be well received.

With no cut-off grade applied, the average results from each hole offer a direct view of the grade and thickness profile available for a mine planner. McLaren says the continuation of high-grade intersections gives it flexibility in the mine plan to ensure the project gets the best possible start.

While the McLaren project is its main game, it has also moved to establish a second front in its mineral sands growth strategy. The company recently completed the acquisition of the zircon-rich Barossa project in South Australia, giving it another platform for growth in the prospective Eucla basin.

The McLaren project sits in the western Eucla Basin of WA, a province known to host economic mineral sand deposits. With an enormous resource already on the books and a market that is showing renewed signs of life, McLaren looks to be ticking all the right boxes on the path to development.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au