Critical Metals says Tanbreez feasibility on course for Q4 completion

[Ben Graham]

Critical Metals (NASDAQ: CRML) says the bankable feasibility study (BFS) for its proposed 500,000-tonne-per-annum rare earth operation in southern Greenland is now 70% complete, placing it on track for submission in the fourth quarter this year.

The BFS forms a key part of the company’s development plans for its Tanbreez project, recognized as one of the biggest rare earth projects globally. The resource is estimated at nearly 45 million tonnes, of which 27% are categorized as “heavy” rare earths, which are highly sought after by Western suppliers for their use in clean energy, defense and other high-tech applications.

The BFS work is being led by Danish engineering firm NIRAS, which completed environmental fieldwork for the 2025 baseline sampling program in support of the project’s environmental impact assessment.

The study represents the central component of an updated Tanbreez exploration licence application, which will be submitted to Greenland authorities upon completion. This submission, says Critical Metals, will support the progression of the project towards final approval for commercial mining operations.

The final BFS phase will include the completion of mine design and process plant engineering, tailings management and water treatment strategies, and integration of environmental and regulatory inputs.

Tony Sage, executive chairman of Critical Metals, said its progress on the BFS and the completion of baseline sampling represent a “major milestone” for unlocking the full potential of the Tanbreez project, as the current resource only covers about 1% of the entire 4.7-billion-tonne mineralized kakortokite unit at Tanbreez.

Recently, the company launched a 2,000-metre drilling program aimed at expanding the resource ahead of the BFS submission. The drilling will focus solely on the eudialyte component of Tanbreez mineralization found on the Fjord deposit, which accounts for about half of the 45-million-tonne resource.

The BFS is expected to augment the results of a preliminary economic assessment released earlier this year, which gave the project a net present value of approximately $3 billion (approximately $2.8 billion to $3.6 billion at discount rates of 15% and 12.5%, respectively, before tax), with an internal rate of return (IRR) of 180%.

The report outlined a phased growth strategy for Tanbreez, targeting production of around 85,000 tonnes of rare earth oxides per year, beginning as early as 2026, then potentially rising to 425,000 tonnes a year after modular expansion. The first buyer of its mixed rare earth products will be Ucore Rare Metals (TSXV: UCU), which will process them at its new facility in Louisiana under a newly signed offtake agreement.

Despite the update, Critical Metals’ shares dropped 7.5% to $5.73 apiece, in line with declines seen in other US-listed rare earth miners. The New York-based company has a market capitalization of $588.7 million.