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New Frontier Minerals Limited
11 September 2025
 

New Frontier Minerals Limited / Index: LSE & LSE / Epic: NFM / Sector: Industrial Metals and Mining

 

11 September 2025

New Frontier Minerals Limited

("NFM" or the "Company")

 

GeoDrill Appointed to Lead New Frontier Minerals' Maiden Drilling Campaign at Harts Range, NT

 

New Frontier Minerals Limited (LSE/ASX: NFM) is pleased to announce that GeoDrill Australia has been appointed as the drilling contractor to undertake the maiden Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling program at the Harts Range Project, located 140km north-east of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, Australia.

 

Additionally, MBS Environmental were engaged to complete a desktop flora and fauna assessment for the Harts Range Project. All environmental and regulatory documents and applications have been lodged, with drilling to commence upon receipt of final approvals. Logistics scheduling including site works, and drill-target planning are underway, with the first holes to be drilled at the Cusp and Bobs Prospects.

 

Highlights

·    GeoDrill Australia appointed to undertake the maiden Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling program at the Harts Range Project in the NT

·    All environmental and regulatory applications for land access have been lodged, with drilling to commence at Harts Range on receiving final approvals

·    Drilling readiness and logistics including site works and drill target planning are underway with the first holes to be drilled at Cusp and Bobs

·    Harts Range positioned as a potential major source of U.S. critical minerals, with the projects inventory overlapping 17 of the 54 commodities on the U.S. DOI draft 2025 critical list1

 

Chairman Gerrard Hall commented: "We are very encouraged by the progress at the Harts Range Project as we move closer to commencing our maiden drilling program and I would like to acknowledge the efforts of our team and stakeholders as we advance preparations and finalise regulatory approvals. We are pleased to have appointed GeoDrill Australia, a well-regarded drilling contractor with a strong track record across Australian exploration projects, recognised for its outstanding safety record and professional culture.

 

The presence of 17 minerals on the U.S. critical minerals list2 within Harts Range, including strategically important heavy rare earths such as dysprosium and terbium, highlights the potential significance and strategic nature of the Harts Range Project. The Board and management are excited by the opportunity to unlock substantial value for shareholders while contributing to the secure supply of critical commodities essential to modern technologies and the global energy transition."


 

GEODRILL APPOINTED AS DRILLING CONTRACTOR

GeoDrill Australia has been appointed to undertake the maiden reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at the Harts Range Project in the Northern Territory. GeoDrill is a well-regarded, family-owned drilling contractor based in Queensland, with a strong track record of servicing exploration projects across Australia. The company is recognised for its outstanding safety record, professional culture, and advanced capabilities across exploration, geotechnical, and water drilling.

 

In parallel, New Frontier Minerals engaged MBS Environmental to complete a desktop flora and fauna assessment for the Harts Range Project. All required environmental and regulatory documentation have now been lodged with the Northern Territory Mines Department, with final approvals to commence drilling anticipated in the near term.

 

HARTS RANGE POSITIONED AS A MAJOR SOURCE OF U.S. CRITICAL MINERALS

Critical minerals play a vital role in supporting the economy and safeguarding national security, yet their supply chains remain highly vulnerable to disruption.

 

The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) through the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), recently published its draft 2025 List of Critical Minerals2, identifying 54 mineral commodities essential to U.S. economic and national security (Figure 1). These include multiple rare earth elements such as dysprosium, erbium, europium, gadolinium, lanthanum, lutetium, neodymium, praseodymium, samarium, terbium, thulium, ytterbium and yttrium - each considered "critical" because disruptions to their supply could harm U.S. industry and defense.

 

HARTS RANGE INVENTORY ON U.S. CRITICAL LIST

Exploration at Harts Range has confirmed high-grade heavy rare earth and niobium mineralisation. Rock-chip sampling has returned values up to 20.12% total rare earth oxides (TREO) with very high heavy-rare-earth ratios3. Notably, dysprosium and terbium concentrations are particularly strong.

Harts Range hosts seventeen (17) of the 54 critical minerals which include the individual rare earths mineral suite, including dysprosium, terbium, erbium, ytterbium, yttrium and others, alongside niobium and related metals which covers 17 of the 54 commodities on the U.S. draft critical list2.

This announcement was approved for release by the Board of New Frontier Minerals Limited.

 

OPERATIONAL PROGRESS AND NEXT STEPS

·    All environmental and regulatory applications have been lodged with drilling to commence on receiving final approvals.

·    GeoDrill Australia has been appointed to undertake the maiden reverse circulation drilling program. Logistics and target planning are well advanced, with initial drilling to focus on the high-priority Cusp and Bobs prospects, where previous sampling returned standout rare earth and niobium grades.

·    New Frontier Minerals is actively engaging with U.S. and Australian government representatives to highlight the strategic potential of Harts Range as a future supplier of critical minerals.

 


Figure 1: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 2025 draft list of critical minerals2

 

 

ENDS

This announcement was approved for release by the Board of New Frontier Minerals Limited.

 

REFERENCES

1.     U.S. Department of the Interior - Draft 2025 List of Critical Minerals

2.     U.S. Geological Survey - Critical minerals and supply-chain risks https://www.usgs.gov/index.php/media/images/2025-draft-list-critical-minerals

3.     NFM ASX Release "Sampling returns 10.61% TREO with 23.56% Nb2O5 and 15.67% Ta2O5 at Harts Range, NT

 

For further information please contact

 

New Frontier Minerals Limited

+61 8 6558 0886

Gerrard Hall (UK), Chairman




S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP

(Corporate Broker)

+44 (0)1483 413500

Ewan Leggat

+44 (0) 20 7409 3494



St Brides Partners Ltd

(Financial PR)   

+44 (0)20 7236 1177

Ana Ribeiro and Charlotte Page


 

About New Frontier Minerals

New Frontier Minerals Limited is an Australian-based focussed explorer, with a strategy to develop multi-commodity assets that demonstrate future potential as an economic mining operation. Through the application of disciplined and structured exploration, New Frontier has identified assets deemed core and is actively progressing these interests up the value curve. Current focus will be on advancing exploration activity at the Harts Range Niobium, Uranium and Heavy Rare Earths Project which is circa 140km north-east from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

 

Other interests include the NWQ Copper Project, situated in the copper-belt district circa 150km north of Mt Isa in Queensland and the Broken Hill Project in western New South Wales.

 

New Frontier Minerals is listed on the LSE and ASX under the ticker "NFM".

 

Competent Persons Statement

The scientific and technical information in this announcement, which relates to exploration results and the geology of the deposits described, is based on information compiled and approved for release by Mark Biggs. Mark Biggs is a Member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM Member # 107188) and meets the requirements of a Competent Person as defined by the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code 2012 Edition). Mark Biggs has 35 years of experience relevant to Rare Earth Elements (REE), industrial mineral copper mineralisation types, as well as expertise in the quality and potential mining methods of the deposits under consideration. Additionally, he has 25 years of experience in the estimation, assessment, and evaluation of exploration results and mineral resource estimates, which are the activities for which he accepts responsibility. He also successfully completed an AusIMM Online Course Certificate in 2012 JORC Code Reporting. Mark Biggs is a consultant with ROM Resources and was engaged by New Frontier Minerals Limited to prepare the documentation for several prospects, specifically those within the Harts Range Prospects upon which the Report is based. Mr Biggs consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on his information and supporting documents in the form and context in which it appears.

 

Furthermore, the full nature of the relationship between himself and New Frontier Minerals Limited has been disclosed, including any potential conflicts of interest. Mark Biggs is a director of ROM Resources, a company that is a shareholder of New Frontier Minerals Limited, and ROM Resources provides occasional geological consultancy services to New Frontier Minerals Limited.

 

The Report or excerpts referenced in this statement have been reviewed, ensuring that they are based on and accurately reflect, in both form and context, the supporting documentation relating to exploration results and any mineral resource estimates. The release of the Report and this statement has been consented to by the Directors of New Frontier Minerals Limited.

 

Forward Looking Statements

Certain information in this document refers to the intentions of New Frontier Minerals Ltd, but these are not intended to be forecasts, forward-looking statements, or statements about future matters for the purposes of the Corporations Act or any other applicable law. The occurrence of events in the future is subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause New Frontier Minerals Ltd's actual results, performance, or achievements to differ from those referred to in this announcement. Accordingly, New Frontier Minerals Ltd, its directors, officers, employees, and agents, do not give any assurance or guarantee that the occurrence of the events referred to in this announcement will occur as contemplated. The interpretations and conclusions reached in this announcement are based on current geological theory and the best evidence available to the authors at the time of writing. It is the nature of all scientific conclusions that they are founded on an assessment of probabilities and, however high these probabilities might be, they make no claim for complete certainty. Any economic decisions that might be taken based on interpretations or conclusions contained in this announcement will therefore carry an element of risk. The announcement may contain forward-looking statements that involve several risks and uncertainties. These risks include but are not limited to, economic conditions, stock market fluctuations, commodity demand and price movements, access to infrastructure, timing of approvals, regulatory risks, operational risks, reliance on key personnel, Ore Reserve and Mineral Resource estimates, native title, foreign currency fluctuations, exploration risks, mining development, construction, and commissioning risk. These forward-looking statements are expressed in good faith and believed to have a reasonable basis. These statements reflect current expectations, intentions or strategies regarding the future and assumptions based on currently available information. Should one or more of the risks or uncertainties materialise, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary from the expectations, intentions and strategies described in this announcement. No obligation is assumed to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, opinions, and estimates should change or to reflect other future developments.

 

 

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