Full Breakdown
Barkly Rare Earths Extends Mineralisation Footprint at NT Project
By Drooid · · How we work
Expansion of Rare Earth Mineralisation
On October 19, 2026, Barkly Rare Earths announced that its phase-one drilling campaign at the flagship Barkly rare-earths project in the Northern Territory has pushed known mineralisation an additional eight kilometres beyond earlier intercepts. The new data show mineralised horizons now spanning roughly 23 km, with significant intercepts recorded in 56 of the 60 holes assayed, yielding a strike rate above 93 percent.
Exploration Results and Grades
The 10,000-metre drill program produced several high-grade sections: a 1.5-metre interval grading 2 171 ppm total rare-earth oxides (TRE O) from a shallow 10.5 m depth; a 5-metre section with 4 550 ppm TRE O and 1 678 ppm magnet rare-earth oxides (MRE O); a 2.5-metre run of 1 774 ppm TRE O that includes a 0.5-metre slice at 2 599 ppm TRE O and 845 ppm MRE O; and a 5.5-metre interval grading 1 035 ppm TRE O and 343 ppm MRE O. Across the new intercepts, MRE O accounts for 29-38 percent of TRE O, aligning with the 34 percent ratio reported in the existing inferred resource. Uranium and thorium concentrations remain low, ranging from 1-3 ppm and 5-11 ppm respectively, which could simplify processing.
Company Response and Next Steps
Managing director Craig Wright highlighted the confidence the results provide for scaling the resource and confirmed the company is tendering for a second drill rig to accelerate further drilling. To date, Barkly has drilled 89 holes for 2 168 metres, including six re-drills, with samples from an additional 26 holes awaiting laboratory analysis. Concentration and extraction test work is underway, and a mineral-resource update is targeted for the fourth quarter of this year.
Strategic Context and Market Implications
The expansion occurs as Australia and allied nations increase investment in non-Chinese critical-mineral supply chains. Government backing of A$2 billion for the nearby Arafura Rare Earths Nolans project underscores the broader geopolitical push to secure up to five percent of global rare-earth demand. Barkly’s growing footprint and high-grade hits position it to benefit from this strategic focus.
Verbatim Quotes
“We have now intersected rare earth mineralisation in the northwest, outside the exploration target and six to eight kilometres from previously reported mineralised intercepts. In the south, all eight holes returned significant intercepts... It gives me real confidence in the scale of what we are drilling at Barkly, and we are tendering for a second rig so we can build out the resource faster.” — Craig Wright, earths managing director