Ark Mines (ASX:AHK) has become the latest beneficiary of the Q3CY25 REE thematic uptick as it clocked +240% YTD on Wednesday gains after first receiving a $4.5 million cash injection from a minerals fund; and then expanding a drill run at its flagship on Wednesday.
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First, the injection. On Monday, the QIC Critical Minerals and Battery Technology Fund (QCMBTF) lobbed $4.5M at Ark to “advance development” of its Sandy Mitchell REE project near Cairns in QLD.
The QIC is a QLD-based fund whose title explains its mission. Most importantly, perhaps, is that it’s backed by that jurisdiction’s State Government.
The move was well received by Ark Mines investors on Monday as a sign of confidence in the company’s project from QLD’s government and it ties into an ongoing source of excitement down under: whether or not Canberra will ever be pushed to guarantee an NdPR price floor in the same way US-based MP Materials now enjoys one, thanks to a recent decision from Washington.
So far, there’s no indication of that, but more than one company in the space have been talking about such possibilities. And with REE prices where they are (read: not great), surely Western governments will have to do something if they expect the West to truly build up its own REE capacity.
So that was Monday. Then on Wednesday, the company revealed it’s now expanding its search for REEs on-site Sandy Mitchell, a positive move for investors given the backdrop mentioned above.
With drilling already ongoing and 94 holes completed as of Wednesday, the company’s now looking at a fatter than expected Stage III drilling campaign “designed to significantly increase the Mineral Resource at Sandy Mitchell from the current Measured Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 71.8 Mt @ 1,732.7ppm Monazite Equivalent.”
“Assay results [will] be incorporated into a comprehensive Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) that is scheduled for completion in early CY2026,” the company added.
AHK last traded at 47.5cps.
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