Empire Metals confirms high-grade titanium deposit spanning 6.25 km² in Western Australia
Empire Metals Ltd. has confirmed the presence of a substantial high-grade titanium deposit spanning 6.25-square kilometres in Western Australia, with exceptional ore grades that significantly exceed previous findings.
The company completed drilling across 178 holes totalling nearly 10,000 metres at its Thomas Prospect within the Pitfield Project during February to April 2026.
Results show a continuous core of titanium-rich ore averaging 47 metres thick near the surface, with multiple drill holes returning grades of 7% to 8.79% titanium dioxide, the primary titanium mineral.
The standout result was a two-metre section returning 21.44% titanium dioxide, the highest grade recorded across the entire Pitfield Project to date.
Six individual drill holes each delivered between 51 and 53 metres of ore grading above 7.7%, underlining the consistency and scale of the deposit.
These grades are significant because titanium is extracted at much lower concentrations in many industrial deposits globally. The continuity and thickness of ore near the surface reduces the depth mining companies must extract material, lowering development costs.
Empire’s managing director Shaun Bunn said the drilling programme, the largest undertaken at Pitfield, had fundamentally improved understanding of the deposit’s economic viability.
The company will use this data to update its mineral resource estimate, a technical measure of total ore tonnage and grade, during the third quarter of 2026.
The deposit’s geology provides additional context. The high-grade core exists where sandstone bedrock has been intensely weathered by ancient tropical conditions, concentrating titanium minerals.
Moving eastward, an increasing number of unmineralised siltstones dilute the ore grade, providing a clear boundary to the economic deposit.
Assay results are still pending from a second prospect, Cosgrove, where 310 drill holes were completed across 16,240 metres.
A further exploration drilling programme across 226 holes and 8,788 metres was designed to identify potential infrastructure sites with minimal ore to sterilise during future mine development. Those results are due in late June and July.
Empire is simultaneously advancing metallurgical testing to develop a commercial process for extracting and finishing titanium products, including pigment feedstock used in paints and coatings. Bench-scale testing of its proposed processing flowsheet was successfully completed in June.
The company plans detailed engineering studies by the end of 2026 and continuous pilot-plant testing commencing in the third quarter. With the resource base now more clearly defined by these results, Empire is positioned to move towards mine planning and economic feasibility assessment over the next year.
