Krakatoa Resources begins drilling at Nb-REE targets in WA’s Mt Clere Project

With support from the Western Australia government through its Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS), Krakatoa Resources Ltd (ASX:KTA) has launched a new diamond drilling program at its Mt Clere Project in Western Australia, targeting two high-priority gravity anomalies that may host rare earths and niobium-bearing intrusions.

The company kicked off an approximately 1,000-metre, two-hole program at the Stone Tank Prospect, focusing on the Jagger and Richards targets. Both ~500-metre drill holes are designed to test dense gravity bodies that Krakatoa believes could represent carbonatite intrusions or related critical mineral systems.

Gravity survey showing Stone Tank prospect - high amplitude gravity targets and structural environment.

“Following the receipt of the $220,000 EIS grant from the WA State Government last October, we are excited to be announcing the commencement of drilling at our highly prospective Stone Tank Nb-REE Prospect,” Krakatoa executive chairman Colin Locke said.

“Our two gravity targets, Jagger and Richards, are extensive, each over 1 kilometre long. Whilst Jagger is associated with a coincident magnetic high anomaly, Richards follows a structural feature with limited coincident magnetism.”

Locke added that the company believes both targets may be intrusive bodies or signatures associated with an intrusive system and expects the drill campaign to take several weeks.

Targeting a carbonatite system

The Jagger and Richards prospects lie within the Stone Tank Nb-REE target zone in Krakatoa’s 100%-owned Mt Clere Project, which sits on the north-western edge of the Yilgarn Craton — a region that has increasingly drawn attention for its critical mineral potential.

The gravity targets are interpreted to mark the lateral extent of a possible carbonatite system — a type of alkaline intrusion known for hosting niobium and rare earth elements (REEs).

Modelled gravity body silhouettes (Yellow 200, Pink 180, Red 160) over various images; Top Left – Gravity station on satellite image; Top Right – Total Bouguer Gravity image; Bottom Left - RTP magnetic image; Bottom Right – AEM time channel 30z.

According to Krakatoa, Jagger’s gravity anomaly coincides with a magnetic high, while Richards is defined by gravity and structural trends but lacks a corresponding magnetic signature. Together, they form part of a broader strategy to test the project’s critical minerals potential across multiple geophysical datasets.

Funded by WA’s Exploration Incentive Scheme

The Stone Tank program is partially funded by a $220,000 grant awarded under the WA government’s EIS, which aims to support resource exploration in underexplored areas.

Krakatoa secured the EIS funding in October 2024 to de-risk initial drilling at Mt Clere — an area the company has previously described as having the potential to host large-scale, high-value mineral systems. A 2023 field campaign had earlier identified pegmatite outcrops in the broader project area, adding lithium and other battery metals to the project's critical minerals mix.

Diversified exploration portfolio

While Mt Clere is back in focus, Krakatoa has also been advancing other key assets, including the Zopkhito antimony-gold project in Georgia, where it is preparing for a maiden drill campaign, and the King Tamba project in WA, which has returned multi-element mineralisation in earlier drilling.

The company’s diversification across antimony, gold, niobium, REEs and lithium aligns with broader investor interest in supply chain-critical metals, with government support and infrastructure access enhancing project viability.

Krakatoa says it will keep shareholders updated as drilling progresses at Stone Tank.