Locksley lights up new rare earths trend in California

Locksley Resources has deployed ultra-high-resolution geophysics at its Mojave project in California to uncover a brand new rare earths trend just metres from its El Campo prospect.

Flying at just 35 metres above ground with ultra-tight 40-metre line spacing, the heli-survey has peeled back decades of low-resolution legacy data to reveal a much crisper geological picture.

Locksley Resources’ new geophysical survey has unearthed a parallel thorium trend to its El Campo rare earths project and next to MP Materials’ massive Mountain Pass mine.

At the heart of the story is the discovery of two thorium anomalies within Locksley’s claims. The first is a well-defined target in the company’s Northern blocks, marked by distinctive weathering that follows local drainage. It also lines up with a broad, diffuse magnetic response, potentially pointing to altered rocks or changes in lithology.

However, it’s the second anomalous thorium zone that has raised more than a few eyebrows. This fresh target appears to sit just 700 metres to the east and parallel to Locksley’s existing high-grade El Campo prospect. Parallel systems can often multiply project scale quickly if the geology stacks up.

‘The results from this high-resolution geophysical survey are a game-changer for our targeting at Mojave.’

What makes the new data particularly compelling, though, is that thorium happens to be the same tell-tale signature that defines the US’s only operating rare earths mine, MP Materials’ famed Mountain Pass operation, just 1.4 kilometres to the west.

Radiometric surveys earn their keep by measuring the natural gamma radiation given off by different elements at surface, with each element producing its own recognisable signal. The technique only looks into the top 20 to 30 centimetres of the ground, providing a snapshot of surface geology rather than what may be lurking beneath.

However, according to the company, those surface signals can still be highly informative. While buried or “blind” deposits won’t show up directly, even subtle surface anomalies can mark the tip of a much larger rare earths system at depth. When combined with old-fashioned boots-on-ground mapping, rock chip sampling and stream sediment work, the survey can become part of a powerful targeting toolkit.

Locksley Resources managing director Kerrie Matthews said: “The results from this high-resolution geophysical survey are a game-changer for our targeting at Mojave. We can now see clearly defined structural corridors and thorium anomalies that look geologically similar to the systems, known in the district.”

The company says it already has boots on the ground mapping outcrops and collecting samples from the new anomalies to determine whether the geophysical signals translate into real-world mineralisation. Positive confirmation would then fast-track new drill targets for the 2026 field season.

Locksley’s Mojave project spans more than 490 contiguous claims that bracket the massive Mountain Pass mine with the company’s North Block bordering MP Materials’ ground to the east and its promising El Campo prospect sitting along strike just south of the operation.

Last year the company picked up rock chips at El Campo grading up to 12.1 per cent total rare earth oxides (TREO) and an impressive 3.19 per cent neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) - the prized metals used in high-strength magnets for electric vehicles, wind turbines and even defence systems.

Add in a barnstorming high-grade antimony rock chip from the Northern Block grading 46 per cent, plus more than 1 kilogram per tonne silver and the project’s scale sharpens quickly. With antimony now classed as critical by the US for defence and semiconductor use, the company’s broader grounds appear to have enormous strategic value as a multi-commodity play.

With geopolitical pressure mounting on the United States to rebuild domestic supply chains for rare earths and antimony, the timing of Lockely’s new findings could prove invaluable.

If these new parallel anomalies deliver, Mojave may shift from being simply “next door” to Mountain Pass to a genuine district-scale opportunity in its own right.

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