“Forget American Critical Minerals.” A Bold Explorer Targets the EU

Osmond Resources has become something of an excitement machine of late as it works towards confirming the world-class potential of what it calls its Orión EU Critical Minerals Project in southern Spain.

This enthusiasm is reflected in the 158% rise in the share price since the beginning of the year, to 1.07 $, for a market capitalisation of 133 million dollars (271 million dollars after dilution). But if the company is right about the potential of Orión, the share will not stop there.

Potentially, Orión could offer the European Union a quick solution for its needs in critical minerals such as titanium, rare earths, zircon and hafnium. The EU currently produces little, if any, of these critical minerals.

And like the rest of the non-Chinese world, the EU is determined to build its own supply chain for the type of critical minerals that Orión could provide, all of these elements appearing on its lists of strategic/critical minerals.

This opens up the possibility for Orión to be in line with the same type of government support that critical minerals projects have received elsewhere in the non-Chinese world, including from Canberra, but above all from the White House.

This is why Osmond has cleverly included “EU” and made reference to critical minerals in the full name of its project for Orión.

More than a name But it takes more than a name to arouse the interest of investors and on this front, Osmond has ticked the boxes. It is currently a project with the potential to become a large-scale producer of three essential minerals – zircon, rutile and rare earths (monazite) – each with the potential to individually cover the operating costs of a project, making it a high-margin project.

This potential is indicated by the extremely high grades encountered in the bulk sampling of the distal outcrops of the vast layers of mineralisation deposited millions of years ago by ancient shallow seas that came and went in the region.

In the case of rutile, imagine a grade three and a half times higher than what is currently considered the best in its category, and twice as high for zircon. The grade in rare earths is not comparable to these two, but, once again, it is potentially profitable. In other words, the rutile and zircon could be offered for free.

For good measure, Osmond is also studying options allowing the valorisation of the main waste stream. Quartz (silica) represents about 50% of the total mass and could be delivered in the form of silicon metal, another critical material listed by the EU.

Star performer As suggested previously, the performance of Osmond’s share price this year reflects the growing enthusiasm generated by the potential of Orión and the role it could play in helping to meet the EU’s needs in critical minerals.

But there is still work to be done to confirm the continuity, the grade and the scale of the seams of heavy minerals deposited with the sand in the (multiple) ancient shallow seas all those years ago. To this end, Osmond has launched a drilling programme on the Andalusian project.

Osmond announced on Wednesday that the first drilling has been carried out and that seven promising layers have been identified, including one 5 m thick at 106.5 m. The results of critical analyses are expected in 3 to 4 weeks.

Garimpeiro, for its part, wishes to be present if the analysis results correspond, or even approach, the very high grades previously reported during the bulk sampling of the outcrops. And there is a good chance that the dynamic Tolga Kumova will also be present.

He holds about 10% of Osmond and occupies an official role of strategic adviser within the company.

Meanwhile, a second drill rig has arrived at Orión and will first test the continuity of the prospective stratigraphy at about 1.7 km from the first drill hole in the southern part of the project.

The flow of information with this one will be as strong as possible.

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