WYX targets high-grade gallium in WA: exploration planning underway, new licence granted. A Gallium Story with Substance - #SamsoDYOR.
- Noel Ong
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Announcement
Western Yilgarn Limited (ASX: WYX) has kicked off ground-exploration planning over two gallium targets in Western Australia—Ida Holmes Junction (Figure 1) and New Norcia—building on very high-grade rock chips and historical aircore intercepts. The Company also confirms a newly granted exploration licence at New Norcia and outlines imminent on-ground reconnaissance, including helicopter follow-up over Ida Holmes Junction.
Figure 1: The location of the Ida Holmes Junction Project, WA (source: WYX)
Highlights - A Evolving Gallium Story With Substance
Systematic exploration now planned at Ida Holmes Junction to follow up high-grade gallium delineated in June 2025; helicopter-borne reconnaissance slated to commence this month. Mineralisation remains open in all directions.
Two mineralised zones mapped across E36/1020 and E36/1080, ~21 km apart.
Rock chip assays up to 195.5 g/t Ga (262.79 g/t Ga₂O₃), with multiple high-grade samples including 146.0 g/t, 135.5 g/t, 117.5 g/t, and 97.9 g/t Ga.
New Norcia (E70/6705) granted in the Darling Range Bauxite Mineral Field, ~25 km north of the Julimar West Bauxite Resource Project; land-access negotiations underway to enable drilling.
Historical aircore (New Norcia) shows near-surface gallium:
ABAC002: 9 m @ 95.83 g/t Ga₂O₃ from surface
ABAC003: 2 m @ 134.3 g/t Ga₂O₃ from surface
ABAC007: 6 m @ 110.24 g/t Ga₂O₃ from surface
ABAC008: 9 m @ 110.28 g/t Ga₂O₃ from surface
ABAC009: 4 m @ 95.61 g/t Ga₂O₃ from surface
ABAC011: 8 m @ 90.22 g/t Ga₂O₃ from surface.
Western Yilgarn Non-Executive Director Mr Pedro Kastellorizos commented:
“We have commenced a systematic exploration planning program targeting high-grade gallium mineralisation across both the Ida Holmes Junction and New Norcia Projects in Western Australia. Field activities are expected to commence later this month, with helicopter-borne reconnaissance planned to follow up the highgrade gallium mineralisation previously delineated at Ida Holmes Junction. In parallel, with the New Norcia tenements now granted, the Company has initiated negotiations for land access agreements to enable the commencement of drilling programs aimed at testing the depth and strike continuity of the historically defined high-grade gallium mineralisation associated with bauxite.”
Why this matters now — policy and market context
On 20 October 2025, the U.S. and Australian governments announced support to advance a gallium plant at Alcoa’s Wagerup alumina refinery in WA, targeting ~100 tpa gallium output via a JV structure that includes Japan Australia Gallium Associates (JAGA/Sojitz)—as published here: Governments Announce Support For Alcoa’s Gallium Critical Mineral Development Project In Western Australia (10/20/2025) The parties are targeting 2026 for FID and initial production, underscoring sovereign-supply priorities for a semiconductor-critical metal historically concentrated in a single global source.
For WYX, which is exploring gallium tied to lateritic/bauxite systems, this policy tailwind signals a growing industrial pathway in WA—from discovery to local processing/offtake—should continuity and scale be demonstrated.
Ida Holmes Junction – follow-up over high-grade rock chips
(Figure 2)
WYX’s planned program aims to extend and better define the newly identified mineralised zones at Ida Holmes Junction, with reconnaissance to refine targets and test strike continuity. The presence of multiple, widely separated high-grade rock-chip results (including 195.5 g/t Ga) indicates scale potential, and the Company notes the system remains open.
Figure 2: E36/1020 high-grade gallium rock chip results (source: WYX)
New Norcia (E70/6705) – granted tenure with historical shallow gallium hits
(Figure 3)
With E70/6705 now granted, WYX is moving on access agreements to enable drilling programs that will test depth and strike of historically defined gallium (noted as associated with bauxite). Located within the Darling Range Bauxite Mineral Field and in proximity (~25 km) to the Julimar West Bauxite Resource Project, it provides geological context and operational synergies.
Figure 3: Location of Significant Gallium Drilling Intersections within E70/6705 (source: WYX)
Bauxite resource context across WYX projects
WYX’s Global JORC (2012) Inferred bauxite resources total 205.0 Mt @ 34.1% total Al₂O₃ and 23.7% total SiO₂ (Julimar West, Cardea 2, Cardea 3). A supplementary table using Bomb Digest reports 43.1 Mt @ 30.7% available Al₂O₃ and 6.43% reactive SiO₂ (Cardea 2, Cardea 3, New Norcia). These data frame New Norcia’s bauxite-gallium context.
Samso Concluding Comments
The WYX bauxite is developing into something much larger than my first thoughts. As the ASX market reacts to the whole Gallium story, what is underlying the business is not a standalone mining proposition. The Gallium story is more about being the byproduct of the Bayer process in the bauxite refinery.
In our last Samso News, we made the comment that the business of bauxite in Western Australia is all about logistics and the ability to move the ore to a processing facility. When you take that into consideration, the Western Yilgarn projects are ideally located for this narrative.
I can see that the Alcoa story has sparked a lot of interest in the share price. Speculators would pay to be cautious and follow the facts. In saying that, I do think that Alcoa will have a lot less stress with the anti-bauxite mining fraternity if they look at the Western Yilgarn potential.
Figure 4: Western Yilgarn share price chart as of 23rd October 2025. (source: CommSec)
The recent news with Alcoa will be the main theme only because this will give Alcoa more reasons to "talk" to Western Yilgarn. This is one of the no-brainer situations. What is not certain is the conclusion of any discussion, and what is not certain is any discussion of the metallurgical issues that the project may have.
The Gallium grade that Western Yilgarn has been releasing is consistent with all known Australian bauxite, and there is no reason why there will be any major differences in the geology or future processing issues.
I do not doubt that the recent statement from Alcoa in regards to a Gallium refining process in Australia is going to draw a lot of spotlight to the Western Yilgarn story. There is still caution to consider for shareholders and any potential investors, but this is definitely what I would call a #SAMSODYOR.
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