Strategic Minerals plc (LSE:SML) (SML) said an updated economic sensitivity analysis for its wholly owned Redmoor project in southeast Cornwall indicates a base‑case after‑tax NPV(8%) of US$1.54 billion and an internal rate of return of 40%.
The company said the base case assumes a WO3 price of US$1,200/mtu APT and an indicative pre‑production capital cost of US$109.7m; Snowden Optiro carried out the work using the new 2026 Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE). The filing notes this analysis is preliminary, is based on a Mineral Resource that is 100% Inferred, and "does not demonstrate economic viability".
The sensitivity runs range from an Upside Case with an after‑tax NPV(8%) of US$2.71B and a 55% IRR (WO3 at US$1,800/mtu APT) to a Low Case NPV of US$0.55B and a 22% IRR (WO3 at US$704/mtu APT, reflecting an Argus long‑term forecast). A 2026 MRE case yields US$0.88B NPV and a 29% IRR at WO3 US$850/mtu APT. Snowden Optiro updated CAPEX/OPEX inputs (total OPEX rising from US$66/t to ~US$110/t) and used Datamine StopeMax for life‑of‑mine scheduling; a discount rate of 8% was applied.
The company highlighted that Fastmarkets' benchmark APT prices reported on 20 March 2026 were US$2,500–US$2,800/mtu WO3 (mid‑range US$2,650), materially higher than the prices used across the scenarios. At 17.4 Mt and retaining the 2020 Scoping Study throughput of 600 ktpa, the filing says Redmoor's potential mine life would be approximately 29 years.
Dennis Rowland, CRL Managing Director, said: "When we applied for the SPF project, we established key goals to achieve within 12 months: an updated MRE, leading to an updated economic assessment of the project, and the establishment of an economic case to accelerate the development of the Redmoor project into and through feasibility."
