en.Wedoany.com Reported - Barkly Rare Earths has secured support from the Northern Territory Government of Australia to fund expansion drilling at its wholly owned namesake rare earth project. The company has received a non-dilutive co-funding grant of up to AUD 115,000 from the Northern Territory Government's 19th round of the Geophysics and Drilling Collaborations Programme. The funds will be used to offset eligible costs for Barkly's Phase 1 resource drilling, subject to the terms of the grant. This follows the company's announcement on June 10 of a AUD 100,000 grant for metallurgical work under the same program.
For Barkly Rare Earths (ASX:BAK), the grant supports a shallow drilling campaign targeting untested areas beyond the current inferred resource. Managing Director Craig Wright stated that the co-funding offer recognizes the technical value and exploration potential of the Barkly project while reducing the company's cost risk during this growth-focused drilling phase. Wright noted that the project already hosts a shallow rare earth resource with significant magnetic rare earth elements. He said the stratigraphic control drilling aims to test whether mineralized horizons extend into underexplored areas within the large, wholly owned tenement package, while also improving understanding of the stratigraphic and basin controls on mineralization. Wright indicated that the drilling could yield useful geological data, refine future drill targets, and support ongoing assessments of the project's scale potential.
The co-funded program covers approximately 1,200 meters of drilling across 20 shallow stratigraphic control holes. Planned drill holes are 60 meters deep, testing the lateral and vertical extent of shallow rare earth mineralization within Barkly's 5,030 square kilometer project area. Barkly stated that the program will generate geological information to improve the targeting of potential resources within its broader tenement package. Initial stratigraphic drilling is expected to begin in July as part of Barkly's broader 2026 exploration program. The grant matches Barkly's planned expenditure on the stratigraphic control holes on a 1:1 basis, reducing direct cost risk while supporting priority exploration work.
The drilling will test Barkly's model of a widespread, shallow sedimentary-hosted rare earth system in the paleo-bay area of the Carpentaria Basin. Results are expected to determine basin architecture, stratigraphic controls, facies relationships, and the potential for deeper or repeated mineralized horizons. Planned work includes one-meter sample collection, field pXRF screening, multi-element laboratory analysis for rare earth elements, petrographic work on key mineralized intervals, and standard quality control. Barkly's current inferred resource stands at 40 million tonnes with a total rare earth oxide content of 2,100 ppm, including 710 ppm magnetic rare earth oxides, above a 430 ppm praseodymium-neodymium cut-off grade. The resource is characterized by high terbium content and low uranium and thorium levels, with initial leach tests achieving a 74% extraction rate for magnetic rare earth oxides.
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