Empire Metals (AIM:EEE), the AIM-quoted exploration and development company, has upgraded the Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) at its Pitfield titanium project in Western Australia to 8.16 billion tonnes at 4.3% titanium dioxide (TiO2), containing 349 million tonnes of TiO2.
The company says this confirms Pitfield, across its Thomas and Cosgrove deposits, as the world's largest titanium resource on a contained TiO2 basis, measured against US Geological Survey data and comparable JORC-reported estimates.
The upgrade includes Empire's first Measured Resource at Pitfield, 374 million tonnes at 5.8% TiO2 for 21.6 million tonnes of contained TiO2, alongside 3.65 billion tonnes Indicated at 4.3% TiO2 and 4.2 billion tonnes Inferred at 4.1% TiO2.
A near-surface, in-situ weathered zone of 4.39 billion tonnes at 4.4% TiO2 accounts for 194.5 million tonnes of contained TiO2, described as soft and friable with minimal overburden, supporting simple mining methods.
High-grade cores average above 6% TiO2 over a 5km strike at Thomas and 4km at Cosgrove.
"This upgraded MRE is a landmark moment for Empire Metals and confirms Pitfield as the world's largest titanium resource," said Shaun Bunn, Empire's managing director,
He added that the Measured and Indicated categories "provide the platform for mine planning and the economic studies that will underpin Pitfield's development," adding the project now combines "a titanium resource of exceptional scale, and an integrated processing route designed to produce high-value products."
That processing route, an integrated flowsheet producing 99%-plus purity TiO2 for pigment and titanium sponge feedstocks, was announced on 11 June.
Empire owns 70% of Pitfield in a joint venture with Century Minerals Pty, and operates as sole manager of the project.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
Empire Metals has upgraded Pitfield's resource to 8.16 billion tonnes at 4.3% TiO2 (349 million tonnes contained), confirming it as the world's largest titanium resource by contained metal. The upgrade's inclusion of a first Measured Resource category—374 million tonnes at 5.8% TiO2—moves the project from exploration into mine planning phase, a material step toward development. The near-surface weathered zone (4.39 billion tonnes at 4.4% TiO2) with minimal overburden supports simple extraction methods, reducing technical and capital risk.
The Measured and Indicated resource base now underpins economic studies and mine planning, addressing a key de-risking milestone for a pre-development titanium asset. Combined with the integrated processing route designed to produce 99%-plus purity TiO2 for pigment and titanium sponge feedstocks, the project moves from resource definition toward commercialization pathway validation.
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