Rimfire Pacific Mining Limited – Murga Scandium Mineral Resource Increases
- Noel Ong
- 6 days ago
- 9 min read
Our curiosity about Scandium was piqued by the Samso Insight we released on April 6, 2026. As I delved deeper into the industry, my fascination with the metal and its obscure market grew. This is another essential critical metal that every ASX investor should be considering right now. For those who have read the Samso Insight, as shown below, the pressing question is: how can I gain exposure to this sector?
I was curious about this question as well, so I began examining the three companies I mentioned in the Samso Insight. To my surprise, discovering the exposure was straightforward. Scandium is concentrated in the Fitfield area, New South Wales, Australia (Figure 1), and there are only three major players to consider.
Figure 1: Australia’s Scandium hotspot (source: OzMin database, Geoscience Australia)
Two of the three companies, Sunrise Energy Metals Limited (ASX: SRL) and Rio Tinto Limited (ASX: RIO) are valued at just under AUD $1.5B and AUD $63.63 respectively. Rimfire Pacific Mining Limited (ASX: RIM) is a modest AUD $38.75M and is currently at AUD $0.015, a penny stock in all its glory.
Hence, this makes Rimfire Pacific Mining Limited (ASX: RIM) as the only one that will fit comfortably within the realms of the average investor on the ASX. I spent a bit of time talking to David Hutton, who is the CEO and Managing Director of the company. and this prompted this Green Samso News article.
The Business of Rimfire Pacific Mining Limited
Rimfire is building a scandium resource base in the Fifield district of New South Wales, with the Murga deposit which sits alongside established deposits such as Syerston, placing it within a known geological setting for this critical mineral. Interestingly, the three main deposits, Murga, Syerston (Sunrise Energy Metals Limited) and Burra (Rio Tinto) sit within kilometres from each other on the same geology with one very distinct difference, Murga does not have the same amount of Fe content which apparently is important in the processing stage.
This announcement reflects a material update to the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE), which is a core step in defining scale, grade, and potential development pathways. The increase in tonnage and contained scandium is relevant from an investor perspective as it changes the size and positioning of the project within the district.
The broader context is the company’s stated strategy to build a globally significant scandium inventory across multiple deposits at Fifield.
Murga Scandium Resource Expansion Defines Scale and Growth Potential
The Murga Scandium Deposit is located within the Fifield district in central New South Wales, approximately 70 km northwest of Parkes (Figure 2). It sits adjacent to the Syerston scandium deposit and forms part of Rimfire’s broader scandium portfolio.
The updated Mineral Resource Estimate replaces the previous Murga North resource and exploration target, consolidating the deposit into a single, larger inferred resource. The estimate is reported under the JORC Code (2012) using a 100ppm scandium cut-off grade.
The mineralisation is hosted within a laterite and saprolite profile developed over ultramafic intrusive rocks. This style is consistent with other scandium deposits in the district and reflects a weathering-driven enrichment process.
Figure 2: Location of Murga Scandium Deposit within the Fifield District. (source: Rimfire Pacific Mining Limited)
Rimfire Pacific Mining Limited – Murga Scandium Resource Increase and Exploration Upside
Updated Inferred Mineral Resource of 56.1Mt @ 138ppm Sc (212ppm Sc₂O₃) for 7,760 tonnes of scandium (11,900 tonnes Sc₂O₃)
Resource remains open laterally and potentially at depth, indicating further growth potential (Figure 3).
Mineralisation defined over a ~15km² area with multiple zones
Figure 3: Scandium block grade distribution across Murga resource. (Rimfire Pacific Mining Limited)
Recommended drilling (Figure 4) includes:
100m x 100m step-out drilling for expansion
50m x 50m infill drilling for grade improvement
Metallurgical test work planned to determine scandium recoveries
Potential for low iron scandium mineralisation (~16% Fe) to support lower-cost atmospheric leaching processing
Rimfire’s total scandium inventory at Fifield now 10.6kt Sc (16.2kt Sc₂O₃)
Figure 4: Areas of recommended exploration and infill drilling. (source: Rimfire Pacific Mining Limited)
The Scandium Business of Rimfire Pacific Mining Limited
Rimfire Pacific Mining Limited is focused on critical minerals exploration, with scandium as a primary target within the Fifield district of New South Wales. The company holds multiple scandium prospects including Murga, Melrose, and Currajong, along with additional exploration upside at the Malamute prospect.
The Murga deposit forms part of a broader strategy to build a scalable scandium resource inventory. The company’s portfolio is centred on laterite-hosted scandium mineralisation associated with ultramafic intrusive complexes, which are known to host scandium, cobalt, and nickel.
The Fifield region provides geological continuity across multiple deposits, allowing Rimfire to develop a district-scale position rather than a single isolated project.
Management Commentary
Management notes that the updated Mineral Resource Estimate reflects improved geological understanding and confirms the scale of the Murga deposit.
The company highlights that defining a large, geologically variable system requires iterative drilling and modelling, and that recent work has improved understanding of grade distribution and orientation.
The focus now shifts to additional drilling and metallurgical testing to expand and upgrade the resource, with the broader objective of increasing the total scandium inventory across the Fifield projects.
Near-term Milestones to Watch
Regulatory approvals for further drilling programs
Commencement of step-out and infill drilling at Murga
Metallurgical test work to confirm scandium recovery pathways
Evaluation of atmospheric leaching processing potential
Further drilling at Malamute prospect (Rabbit Trap Project)
Ongoing expansion of the overall Fifield scandium resource inventory
Samso Concluding Comments
When i look at the current market, the heat has gone out of the gold sector, in terms of the speculation within the mineral exploration sector. The gold producers are in a level of their own and they are still laughing all the way to the bank. I cannot see this slowing down for a long time. So don't get me wrong when I say that the heat is cooling down. Without a major discovery, it is very hard to see where we can find a place to take a "punt".
I like Tungsten but try find a decent deposit that will give you the exposure of a potential discovery. The metal price is now heading into the Solar System. working its way through the planets and enroute to the next galaxy. Can we take a ride, as for now, I have not found anything that is obvious (Critica Limited and Tungsten Mining are the only one worth looking at but they don't seem to be firing with all cylinders).
I never saw Scandium coming into the conversation of "positioning" but since completing the Samso Insight on Scandium and having a conversation with Rimfire Pacific Mining Limited, I think I see the light coming out of Scandium and RimFire as the next potential play. I encourage readers to DYOR and speak to David Hutton as he has a very interesting and potentially compelling story for you.
The facts for Rimfire may seem hard to understand for new investors to this sector, in terms of the metal pricing, the metal consumption and the market leading to the Why Scandium and Why RimFire.
What is simple to visualise are things like this updated Mineral Resource Estimate for Murga showing a material increase in tonnage and contained scandium (Figure 5). The scale of 56.1Mt positions the deposit as a significant component within the Fifield scandium district. The resource remains classified as Inferred, which reflects the current drill spacing and level of geological confidence.
Figure 5: Block grade distribution showing mineralised zones across the deposit. (source: Rimfire Pacific Mining Limited)
In terms of metal volume, this only accounts for about 16,000T of Scandium Oxide which is not as high as Sunrise Energy Metals with about 33,000T and Rio Tinto with 22,000T. According to my rough research, Sunrise Energy Metals and Rio Tinto may be at its limit in terms of resource upside but Rimfire, if ducks line up appropriately, they have some more upside and could rival Rio in that 22,000T level.
For those that have remembered that I mentioned the lower Fe content for Murga, apparently, this is something that will be very positive for processing and could bring the grade for Murga closer to its higher counterparts, meaning that the difference in grades could be negated in the processing stage. However, grade is King and this "theory" is still to be proven. It will be very interesting how the story progress with time.
The deposit geometry is described as flat-lying laterite over ultramafic rocks, which is consistent with similar scandium systems in the region. The continuity appears to be laterally extensive, with multiple zones identified across a broad footprint. The open nature of the resource suggests that additional drilling may increase both tonnage and grade (Figure 6).
Figure 6: Exploration targets highlighting areas open for expansion. (source: Rimfire Pacific Mining Limited)
The processing pathway is noted as a key factor, with the potential for atmospheric leaching due to lower iron content. This is different from higher iron deposits that require high-pressure acid leaching. Metallurgical test work will be required to confirm recovery assumptions and processing costs.
The next stage of work includes drilling to improve resource confidence and test extensions, along with metallurgical studies. These steps are required before advancing toward development studies. The timing of these activities is subject to approvals and operational planning for the June 2026 quarter.
Market Implications
For a company that is potentially in a very hot sector, the share price chart below (Figure 7) seem to be a bit confusing. One would think that there is a lot more interest in the stock, so this is probably a good place to develop questions that would stop you taking on this "punt"
Figure 7: Share price chart for Rimfire Pacific Mining limited. (source: commsec)
Rimfire is a early stage story and one of the obvious strategy is to develop the resource and wait for your neighbours to come knock on the door. Rio Tinto and Sunrise Energy are both looking at building a plant to extract Scandium so a third company doing that would probably be a bit too much to consider.
Personally, I would definitely be playing the card of come and take my ore since the ore has less Fe which would most likely be a better feedstock? Comparing market capitalisation, there is a lot of gap between AUD $38M and AUD1B or AUD $63B, so a number somewhere in between will probably be a good place for shareholders of Rimfire. There are obvious reasons why there is a big gap in the valuation but it is something to ponder.
Figure 8: The share price chart for Sunrise Energy Metals Limited. (source: commsec)
The share price of Sunrise Energy was AUD $0.25 on the 7th April 2025 (Figure 8) and today it is AUD $10.58, so is this something that Rimfire could replicate? I realise that the two projects are in a different stage and my understanding of the story is probably needing for conversations with the company but I am liking the potential.
I am guessing that the disparity in value may have something to do with the grade and that the Chair of the company is Robert Friedland but for those readers interested in the story of Rimfire, your discovery of the reason will be probably what you will need to know asap.
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