Australian heavy rare earths company Northern Minerals (ASX:NTU) has announced encouraging preliminary metallurgical results from its Wolverine-Dazzler Blending Study, designed to assess the potential of Dazzler deposit material to complement feed from the Wolverine deposit at the 100%-owned Browns Range Heavy Rare Earths Project in Western Australia's East Kimberley region.
Dazzler, located approximately 15km south of Wolverine, is a smaller but higher-grade deposit.
Preliminary laboratory test work conducted by Bureau Veritas Minerals assessed blends of Dazzler with Wolverine material, using the processing flowsheet established in the 2025 definitive feasibility study.
The results demonstrated that blended feed can produce a total rare earth oxide concentrate meeting DFS specifications, with initial TREO recoveries averaging approximately 79%, comparable to the DFS Wolverine-only program that averaged 84%.
The blending study highlights the potential to expand feed sources for Browns Range and optimise production outcomes in early-stage operations, particularly as the project transitions from open pit to underground mining.
Northern Minerals confirmed that the DFS mine plan based on Wolverine alone remains fully executable, with Dazzler blending being non-critical but potentially economically accretive.
Northern Minerals will continue further test work to optimise the Wolverine-Dazzler blend and plans to release an updated mineral resource estimate for Dazzler in Q4 FY26.
Additional studies, including mining, infrastructure, approvals, and project economics, will follow to evaluate the integration of Dazzler into the Browns Range development.
At the time of reporting, Northern Minerals' share price was $0.035.