Key Highlights

  • Final assays from the 2026 resource upgrade and expansion drilling are in hand.
  • All 20 holes in the southern grid averaged at least 5.40% heavy minerals over 21 to 24 metres.
  • Work has started on an updated Mineral Resource Estimate.
  • The 4 November release did not include a revised resource figure.

McLaren Minerals (ASX:MML) has received the final assays from its 2026 resource upgrade and expansion drilling at the wholly owned McLaren titanium project in Western Australia. With all results in hand, work has started on an updated Mineral Resource Estimate, although the 4 November release did not include a revised figure.

The final batch covers 137 holes and 2,210 metres of sampled interval, with a length-weighted average of 4.27% heavy minerals and no cut-off applied. Thirty-four holes averaged at least 5% heavy minerals, nine averaged at least 6%, and the best single metre reached 14.15% in hole MAC670.

Where growth could come from

The most relevant results for resource size come from a south-western corridor outside the current Inferred resource, where mineralisation remains open to the south. Hole MAC773 returned 21 metres at 6.35% heavy minerals from surface, MAC774 15 metres at 5.40% and MAC771 17 metres at 4.76%. MAC771 and MAC767, which returned 16 metres at 4.71%, sit at the southern edge of the 2026 drilling grid.

Managing director Simon Finnis said these results gave the company more scope to increase the scale of the resource and project over time, and that the estimate update was in what he called full speed mode. Any additional tonnes will only be confirmed once the new estimate is completed and independently reported.

Testing consistency

The programme included two variography grids of 20 closely spaced holes each. Variography drilling measures how quickly grade changes over short distances; low variability supports more confident geological modelling and can help lift resource classification.

In the southern grid, all 20 holes averaged at least 5.40% heavy minerals over 21 to 24 metres from surface, with MAC713, MAC716 and MAC719 each above 6%. McLaren describes this as strong initial evidence of low variation between holes. It is an early indication rather than a finished statistical outcome, and results from the northern grid will also feed into the model.

Several holes returned high grades from surface, including 9 metres at 9.32% in MAC650 and 6 metres at 8.49% in MAC649. Shallow, higher-grade material can matter in mineral sands because it may influence early mine scheduling.

The dataset is broad. Ninety-one holes returned at least one metre above 6% heavy minerals, and 17 holes returned at least one metre above 10%. McLaren adds that 92 holes, or 65%, had sampled intervals of at least 15 metres, although these are sampled thicknesses rather than intersections defined by a grade cut-off, so they should not be read as mineralised widths.

The baseline

The existing resource totals 529 million tonnes at 4.5% heavy minerals, comprising 249 million tonnes Indicated at 4.70% and 280 million tonnes Inferred at 4.20%, reported above 2% heavy minerals and below 38% slimes.

Heavy mineral grade is only part of the story. The value of a mineral sands deposit depends heavily on the assemblage, meaning the proportions of ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene and zircon within the heavy mineral fraction, as well as slimes content and processing costs. The the announcement did not provide updated assemblage data, so the economic implications of the new results cannot yet be judged.

Next steps

McLaren lists validation and integration of the full 2026 dataset, the resource update itself, assessment of the updated geological model to support mine planning and Bankable Feasibility Study workstreams, and results from current metallurgical testwork. None carries a firm date.

The company, which describes itself as an exploration and pre-development business, has also agreed to acquire the zircon-rich Barossa project in South Australia. Funding the feasibility programme is likely to be a central issue for shareholders alongside the resource outcome.