ABx Group has expanded its rare earths exploration footprint in northern Tasmania, securing a major new tenement alongside co-funding from the Tasmanian government.
Mineral Resources Tasmania has granted the company Exploration Licence EL14/2025, which covers a 165-square-kilometre area situated roughly 30 kilometres north of ABx’s existing Deep Leads rare earths resource.
The addition boosts the company’s total portfolio of prospective tenements for ionic adsorption clay rare earth elements (REE) in the region to over 800 square kilometres.
In a further boost to operations, the ABx Deep Leads–Rubble Mound Extension has been selected as one of five projects to share in up to AU$540,000 of co-funding.
The grants are part of Round 12 of the state government’s Exploration Drilling Grant Initiative (EDGI). The EDGI program provides up to AU$100,000 to successful applicants to offset direct drilling costs.
ABx Managing Director and CEO, Mark Cooksey, said: “The grant of exploration tenement EL14/2025 and the awarding of the Exploration Drilling Grant Initiative demonstrate the attractiveness of Tasmania as a mining jurisdiction and the excellent standing of ABx in Tasmania.
“These outcomes expand our rare earths exploration footprint and reflect the growing confidence we have in the broader prospectivity of the region.”
The company is preparing to launch its next field exploration program in August. The upcoming campaign will integrate AI tools to merge ABx’s metallurgical datasets with public geological data, enhancing target generation and exploration efficiency.
Previous discoveries by ABx in the region have proven highly enriched in dysprosium and terbium, two critical components used in high-performance permanent magnets.
Using its geological model and exploration technology, ABx has identified additional prospective areas to further expand its exploration footprint across northern Tasmania.
The company’s application for EL1/2026, located immediately west of EL27/2022 and EL28/2022 along the prospective Nile Road dolerite foothills trend, remains in progress.
