Empire Metals' Pitfield Project in WA has all the hallmarks of a 'giant' copper-titanium mineral system

Empire Metals is an AIM-listed and OTC quoted exploration and resource development company (LON: EEE, OTCQB:EPMLF) with a primary focus on developing Pitfield, an emerging giant titanium project in Western Australia.

The high-grade titanium discovery at Pitfield is of unprecedented scale, with airborne surveys identifying a massive, coincident gravity and magnetics anomaly extending over 40km by 8km by 5km deep. Drill results have indicated excellent continuity in grades and consistency of the mineralised beds and confirm that the sandstone beds hold the higher-grade titanium dioxide (TiO₂) values within the interbedded succession of sandstones, siltstones and conglomerates. The Company is focused on two key prospects (Cosgrove and Thomas), which have been identified as having thick, high-grade, near-surface, bedded TiO₂ mineralisation, each being over 7km in strike length.

A JORC Exploration Target* for Pitfield was declared in 2024, covering the Thomas and Cosgrove mineral prospects, and was estimated to contain between 26.4 to 32.2 billion tonnes with a grade range of 4.5 to 5.5% TiO2.  Included within the total Exploration Target* is a subset that covers the weathered sandstone zone, which extends from surface to an average vertical depth of 30m to 40m and is estimated to contain between 4.0 to 4.9 billion tonnes with a grade range of 4.8 to 5.9% TiO2.

The Exploration Target* covers an area less than 20% of the overall mineral system at Pitfield which demonstrates the potential for significant further upside.

Empire is now accelerating the economic development of Pitfield, with a vision to produce a high-value titanium metal or pigment quality product at Pitfield, to realise the full value potential of this exceptional deposit.

The Company also has two further exploration projects in Australia; the Eclipse Project and the Walton Project in Western Australia, in addition to three precious metals projects located in a historically high-grade gold producing region of Austria.

*The potential quantity and grade of the Exploration Target is conceptual in nature. There has been insufficient exploration to estimate a Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the estimation of a Mineral Resource.

Shares in Empire Metals Ltd (AIM:EEE, OTCQB:EPMLF) rose 16% after the company announced it had produced a high-purity titanium dioxide (TiO₂) product with an assay grade of 99.25%.

The breakthrough came from ongoing testwork at its Pitfield project in Western Australia.

The process used conventional beneficiation, leaching, and refining techniques, with impurities in the final product either undetectable or extremely low.

Managing director Shaun Bunn called the results “exceptional,” noting the product’s suitability for both titanium sponge metal and high-quality pigment applications.

Empire Metals Ltd (AIM:EEE, OTCQB:EPMLF) told investors it has produced a high-purity titanium dioxide (TiO₂) product with an assay result of 99.25% TiO₂.

It comes through ongoing work to optimise the Pitfield project’s technical design. The product development testwork used concentrates from Pitfield.

Empire Metals Ltd (AIM:EEE, OTCQB:EPMLF) has laid out an ambitious roadmap for the next 12 months as it moves to commercialise its flagship Pitfield project in Western Australia, now confirmed as the world’s largest undeveloped titanium discovery.

The company said it expects to deliver a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate, finalise its process design and begin mining studies in 2025, building momentum towards a preliminary economic assessment.

Empire Metals Ltd (AIM:EEE) managing director Shaun Bunn talked with Proactive about the company’s promising recent metallurgical gravity test results at the Pitfield project in Western Australia.

Bunn shared insights into Empire Metals’ advances, explaining that their test work shows they can effectively separate titanium minerals from other elements in the sandstone, which would otherwise increase processing costs.

Titanium doesn’t have the same buzz as lithium or rare earths, but its importance is climbing fast. Lightweight, strong, and corrosion-resistant, it’s essential in everything from aerospace to medical implants, and increasingly, it's becoming a metal of strategic significance.

The aerospace sector remains the heavyweight buyer. Titanium alloys are a go-to material for jet engines and airframes, offering the strength of steel at nearly half the weight.

As commercial aviation recovers and global defence budgets swell, demand here is set to rise. But titanium’s uses go well beyond the skies.

Empire Metals Ltd (AIM:EEE) managing director Shaun Bunn talks with Proactive’s Tylah Tully about the company’s metallurgical test results from its Pitfield project in Western Australia.

Bunn described the results as exceptional, achieving 95% recovery of titanium-bearing minerals using diagnostic acid leaching, marking a major milestone in the development of a high-grade titanium dioxide product with more than 95% purity.

Bunn said, “Our very first diagnostic test was hugely successful, achieving exceptional results with selective processing of weathered rock.”