Hawk Resources in discussion with Ngaanyatjarra Council about exploration of Olympus scandium project

A Melbourne-based company says it is in discussions with local traditional owners about exploration of a scandium project near the Northern Territory border. Hawk Resources said the Olympus project had the potential to host a new scandium province, with exploration from 2001-09 highlighting a big 7km by 4km soil anomaly of more than 500 parts per million scandium. The company said this data was derived from pre-JORC 2012 pXRF analyses, with rotary air blast drilling of 42 shallow holes having intercepts up to 11 metres at 934ppm scandium from surface, including 1m at 2164ppm. Olympus is 150km north-east of Warburton in the remote northern Goldfields and Hawk said it was in access discussions with the Ngaanyatjarra Council about undertaking due diligence soil sampling to confirm these historical results and follow-up across priority zones. The company said it was reviewing a native title agreement the council had drawn up to enable this activity to occur at the project. Hawk swooped on the project last October, acquiring an option from unlisted company Opal Resources to earn up to 80 per cent of Olympus and it raised $5 million in conjunction with this. The company said Redstone Resources had previously explored Olympus for copper, nickel, cobalt, platinum group elements, and gold between 2001-09. It said the native title agreements covering Redstone’s work had been terminated when the exploration licences were relinquished in 2009. Hawk managing director Scott Caithness said the Ngaanyatjarra Lands were private and there was a requirement for explorers to have a native title agreement and complete a cultural heritage survey before starting work. ““Hawk has some confidence that native title agreement negotiations and the cultural heritage survey will progress as there are other companies already exploring under agreements in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands and the Olympus area had an access agreement and underwent a cultural heritage survey prior to work done by the previous explorer almost 20 years ago,” he said. “While this process may take some months to complete, it is important that Hawk develops and maintains strong local relations so that its exploration can move forward with community support. “Olympus has the potential to be a major new scandium province hence it is critical that the company gets this phase of work right.” Hawk said once negotiations about the agreement were completed, ministerial consents to conduct exploration and enter the Ngaanyatjarra Lands could be sought from the relevant WA government departments. The company said following completion of the agreement, a survey would be carried out over the land to be explored to ensure that cultural heritage sites were protected. Hawk said scandium was a rare strategic critical mineral and unique because it had no primary mines globally, with current supply relying solely on by-product extraction from rare earth operations or processing stockpiles. The company said there were several standalone scandium projects under exploration and feasibility in Australia, with the majority near Fifield in central New South Wales. Hawk said this area was referred to as “Scandium Valley” and project owners included Sunrise Energy Metals and Rio Tinto. As well as Olympus, Hawk said it was advancing its Cactus copper project in the US State of Utah, and it also had five lithium projects across the States of Minas Gerais and Bahia in Brazil. Hawk’s disclosures came a day after Perth-based exploration company Mount Ridley Mines last week announced a scandium resource of “global” scale at its namesake project north-east of Esperance. ‘Mount Ridley explained scandium was a rare metal with unique metallurgical properties, most notably its ability to significantly improve strength, corrosion resistance, and weldability when added in small amounts to aluminium alloys. The company said these characteristics made scandium highly sought after for lightweight, high-performance applications and underpinned its use in aerospace components including airframes and structural parts, as well as defence applications such as missiles and lightweight armour. It said even minor scandium additions could materially enhance alloy performance, supporting broader adoption across advanced manufacturing sectors, with other applications including lighting and electronics and high-performance automotive parts. Mount Ridley said the global scandium market was undergoing a rapid transformation, reflecting strong growth drivers across aerospace, defence, clean energy and advanced manufacturing. The company said global demand for scandium metal was valued at US$611.95 million in 2024 and was expected to reach US$1.206 billion by 2032. It said the scandium market faced significant supply chain challenges, stemming from extreme geographic concentration of production sources and the absence of established primary scandium operations. Mount Ridley said that according to the United States Geological Survey, about 95 per cent of global scandium production originated from just three countries: China (60 per cent), Russia (25 per cent), and Kazakhstan (10 per cent). The company said this concentration created substantial geopolitical and supply security risks, particularly for aerospace and defence supply chains in western economies. Mount Ridley said with Australia partnering with the US to secure critical mineral supply chains, its scandium resource put it at the forefront of this emerging sector. The company said the project’s combination of in-situ scandium, gallium, and rare earth potential aligned directly with international efforts to diversify critical mineral supply chains, while reinforcing Australia’s role as a long-term strategic supplier of high-value critical minerals to the United States and allied markets.