The following news article was published in the Kalgoorlie Miner media platform
May is shaping up as a big month for Nimy Resources as it carries out multiple activities to define its high-grade gallium resource near Southern Cross.
Gallium is used in many cutting-edge technologies such as semiconductors in artificial intelligence and supercomputers, as well as in top-level military applications.
Nimy has been touting the potential of its Block 3 prospect for Australian national security and US defence needs since uncovering it last October.
The company last week said a CSIRO study of fresh rock samples from Block 3 had confirmed the presence of gallium mineralisation in a chloritised schist.
It said these results were important because they would play a key role in the first metallurgical tests which were about to start at Curtin University.
Nimy signed a memorandum of understanding with the Perth educational institution in March to help advance research and development into gallium.
The company last week said Curtin would carry out metallurgical test work covering ore characterisation, gallium recovery analysis, extraction methods, and flowsheet development.
Nimy said drilling by Kalgoorlie-Boulder contractor Raglan Drilling had outlined high-grade gallium across an area measuring 250 metres by 150 metres at Block 3, with the mineralisation remaining open and the host geology extending for several kilometres.
The company said more drilling would start this month, testing potentially high-grade and near-surface mineralisation along strike.
It said this drilling and metallurgy results would underpin a maiden JORC resource later this year.
Nimy technical director Christian Price said the mineralogy studies had returned extremely favourable results, which boded well for the first round of metallurgical tests.
“Metallurgical tests will play a key role in calculating a maiden JORC 2012-compliant resource for Block 3,” he said.
“This work will all be done in parallel with the next round of drilling, which is set to start in early May.”
“We are pushing hard to expedite progress at Block 3 on several fronts at the same time, enabling us to capitalise on the huge worldwide demand for gallium stemming from China’s recent export controls on critical minerals.”
Nimy in March also suggested shifting US and European military commitments to the war in Ukraine had the potential to boost demand for any gallium it produced.
The company said US President Donald Trump’s strategy to slash spending on Ukraine’s defence and force European governments to significantly increase their military spending would create strong demand for Australian gallium.
“Estimates of the coming military spending boom extend into hundreds of billions of dollars,” it said.
“Europe will need to secure substantial supplies of critical metals in markets currently controlled by China.
“Australian gallium could be expected to be in strong demand as European military expenditure grows.”
Nimy has also established a relationship with US defence and technology solutions company M2i Global through a non-binding collaboration agreement in February.
M2i’s purpose is to help the US Department of Defense procure gallium for its needs.