China’s Export Ban Tightens: Victory Metals’ North Stanmore Gains Strategic Edge

Strategic Grade Enhancements at North Stanmore

Victory Metals Limited (ASX, VTM) has unveiled a breakthrough in upgrading critical rare earth element grades at its North Stanmore Project in Western Australia. By applying a straightforward size-by-fraction separation technique targeting particles finer than 10.8 microns, the company achieved significant enrichment of terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), and scandium (Sc), elements vital to defence and high-tech industries.

This beneficiation method, notable for its simplicity and low cost, delivered a 53% increase in terbium, 25% in dysprosium, and a remarkable 100% boost in scandium grades. Importantly, this process avoids complex reagents or expensive circuits, offering a practical front-end upgrade that reduces the volume of material requiring downstream processing.

Context of China’s Export Controls

The timing of these results is particularly significant against the backdrop of China’s tightened export controls. From December 1, 2025, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) will enforce bans on rare earth exports for military applications, explicitly including terbium, dysprosium, and scandium. These restrictions extend extraterritorially, requiring export licenses for any product containing over 0.1% Chinese-origin rare earths by value.

Such measures underscore the strategic importance of developing non-Chinese sources for these critical materials. Victory’s North Stanmore Project, with its enriched grades and large resource base, positions Australia as a key alternative supplier in a market facing increasing geopolitical supply chain risks.

Robust Resource and Metallurgical Foundations

North Stanmore boasts Australia’s largest indicated clay-hosted heavy rare earth resource, with a Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of 320.6 million tonnes at an average grade of 510 ppm total rare earth oxides plus scandium oxide. The resource includes 176.5 million tonnes classified as indicated, reflecting strong geological confidence.

Complementing the resource scale, metallurgical testwork conducted by Core Resources has demonstrated high recoveries of key elements, 91% for terbium, 92% for dysprosium, and 50% for scandium oxide. These results support the economic potential of the project, with ongoing testwork aimed at optimizing leaching conditions and generating market-ready rare earth concentrates.

Operational and Strategic Implications

Victory’s CEO Brendan Clark highlighted the dual benefits of the beneficiation step, “We’ve delivered significant grade increases in three of the world’s most strategically important elements. This upfront concentration can reduce operating costs and improve payables.” By reducing the tonnage of material processed downstream by approximately 73%, the company anticipates lower reagent consumption and capital expenditure.

As global demand for critical minerals intensifies, particularly for defence and advanced technology applications, North Stanmore’s enhanced grades and resource scale could attract strategic partnerships and off-take agreements. The project’s proximity to infrastructure and ongoing prefeasibility studies further bolster its development prospects.

Looking Ahead

Victory Metals is advancing metallurgical optimization and progressing its prefeasibility study, aiming to refine economic parameters and processing flowsheets. Meanwhile, the evolving geopolitical landscape, marked by China’s export restrictions, elevates the strategic value of projects like North Stanmore in securing diversified global supply chains for critical rare earths.