VBX expands Wuudagu bauxite resource with high-grade additions from new plateaus

VBX Limited has significantly increased the scale of its Wuudagu bauxite project in northern Western Australia after defining new high-grade mineralisation across three additional plateaus, more than doubling the site’s Measured and Indicated resource base.

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The latest Mineral Resource Estimate, which incorporates results from the company’s 2025 drilling campaign, lifts the combined Measured and Indicated inventory at Wuudagu to 131.9 million tonnes, grading 40.2 per cent aluminium oxide and 12.6 per cent silicon dioxide. The upgrade reflects the delineation of new deposits at the Wuudagu D, E and F plateaus, which were not included in earlier estimates.

Individually, Wuudagu D has been estimated at 16.7 million tonnes grading 42.1 per cent aluminium oxide and 9.6 per cent silicon dioxide. Wuudagu E hosts 6.7 million tonnes at 41.3 per cent aluminium oxide and 9.5 per cent silicon dioxide, while Wuudagu F contributes a further 14.5 million tonnes at 41.6 per cent aluminium oxide and 10.0 per cent silicon dioxide.

VBX said the newly defined plateaus are expected to materially enhance the project’s development profile. Compared with earlier resource areas, the D, E and F plateaus are thicker and carry less overburden, characteristics that support improved grades and more favourable mining conditions. The company believes these attributes will underpin higher production rates and a longer operating life as feasibility work progresses.

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Longer mine life unlocked

The expanded Measured and Indicated resource removes a key limitation identified in previous studies, which had constrained Wuudagu’s projected mine life to around 10 years. With the larger and higher-quality resource base now established, VBX expects the project to support an extended operating life at a planned mining and beneficiation rate of approximately 8 to 9 million tonnes per annum.

Mine planning activities are already underway to integrate the updated resource model into the ongoing Definitive Feasibility Study, which is scheduled for completion in the first half of 2026.

Beyond the current estimate, the company also pointed to further upside within the broader project area. In particular, Plateau G, covering around 6.6 square kilometres, remains untested and represents additional exploration potential.

Drilling and test work

The 2025 drilling programme employed aircore drilling on nominal 150-metre by 150-metre spacing, a configuration that VBX said provided sufficient geological confidence to support Indicated resource classification across most of the new plateaus.

Metallurgical test work carried out to date has shown that silica levels can be reduced through wet screening and scrubbing, with further optimisation studies continuing as part of the feasibility process.

Managing Director Ryan de Franck said the latest drilling results marked a major step forward for the project, delivering a substantial improvement in both scale and quality. He added that the expanded resource base strengthens the overall development case and allows mine planning to move beyond the life-of-mine constraints identified in earlier assessments.

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