Key Highlights

  • Hawk Resources reported early assays for 106 of 1,267 lag soil samples at its Olympus scandium project in Western Australia.
  • The highest scandium value in the first batch was 11.2 ppm, compared with historical pXRF readings of up to 742 ppm.
  • The company will wait for the remaining assays, which make up more than 90 per cent of the program, before deciding on next steps.

Hawk Resources Limited (ASX:HWK) reported on 23 October 2026 that early laboratory assays for 106 of 1,267 lag soil samples collected at its Olympus scandium project in Western Australia show uniformly low scandium grades. The results do not reproduce historical portable XRF (pXRF) readings taken at the same locations. Hawk said it will wait for the remaining assays, which make up more than 90 per cent of the program, before deciding on next steps.

The highest scandium value in the first batch was 11.2 parts per million (ppm) in sample OLY10006, and the lowest listed was 1.35 ppm in OLY10074. The historical pXRF work by Redstone in 2006 and 2007 recorded up to 742 ppm scandium across 469 soil samples. One comparison in the announcement pairs historical sample A18557, at 742 ppm, with the nearby Hawk sample OLY10055, which returned 4.78 ppm. Appendix 1 sets out nine such pairs.

Other elements also differ. Hawk said calcium, cobalt, copper, iron and manganese results vary between the two methods. Laboratory calcium reaches about 30.9 per cent in OLY10097, and many samples exceed 20 per cent. Laboratory iron has a maximum of about 14.9 per cent, while historical pXRF iron values reach 29.12 per cent.

The company's interpretation

Hawk suspects the historical pXRF instrument was not precisely calibrated for elements including scandium, and notes that no calibration information is available. It also proposes that the high calcium seen in the laboratory results may have inflated the older scandium readings, because the calcium and scandium spectral bands sit close together on XRF. The company adds that high iron can indicate scandium enrichment in lateritic horizons, and it describes the low iron results as a concern. These are the company's views, and the announcement does not draw a conclusion about the project's prospectivity.

Sampling and data caveats

The samples are mainly the minus 5 millimetre plus 2 millimetre lag fraction, collected on a 100 metre by 100 metre spacing across five grids and analysed by ALS using four-acid ICP and fusion XRF methods. Hawk reported quality control of one duplicate or certified standard per 50 samples. The announcement contains some internal inconsistencies: the laboratory is given as Perth in the main text and Adelaide in an appendix, historical RAB drilling is given as both 932 and 953 metres, and one manganese value appears as 2,256 ppm in one table and 22,560 ppm in another. The dataset is described as early.

Tenure and corporate position

The project comprises exploration licences E69/3987 and E69/3988, covering 309 square kilometres and granted on 16 October 2024 for five years. Beau Resources was the original holder, and Opal Resources has exercised its option to acquire 100 per cent. The interest of Hawk Resources (ASX:HWK) of 80 per cent rests on a binding heads of agreement with Opal. Remaining conditions, namely assignment of an existing third-party agreement and a joint venture agreement, have been waived but are to be executed before completion, which Hawk expects in October 2026. The announcement does not disclose funding amounts, resource studies or environmental approvals.

Next steps

Hawk lists three steps for the fourth quarter of 2026: reviewing the remaining soil assays, designing a drilling programme that depends on the initial sampling results, and initial drilling of high-priority targets, which is subject to rig availability and weather. The remaining samples include six residual sample bags from historical RAB hole MMB0018. More than 1,100 samples are still to report.