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    Defense Metals’ Wicheeda rare earths: drilling and PFS economics for mine planners

    September 1, 2026|

    Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

    Defense Metals’ Wicheeda rare earths: drilling and PFS economics for mine planners

    First reported on MINING.com

    30 Second Briefing

    Defense Metals’ Wicheeda rare earths project in British Columbia has returned resource-conversion drill intercepts including 65 metres at about 3% TREO from 61 metres depth in hole WI26-96, with a 20.3-metre sub-interval at 6.1% TREO, and 184 metres at 1.7% TREO from 91.6 metres in WI26-93. Additional holes WI26-100 and WI26-102 cut 149 metres at 1.55% TREO from near surface and 73.4 metres at 2.6% TREO from 6 metres, respectively, within the 5,345-metre programme. The road-accessible project, 80 km from Prince George, carries a February 2025 PFS valuation of C$1 billion NPV (8%), 19% post-tax IRR and envisages 31,900 t/y TREO concentrate over 15 years from 25.4 Mt at 2.43% TREO.

    Technical Brief

    • All 11 WI26-series holes intersected mineralisation within the 2025 PFS pit shell, supporting reserve conversion.
    • Hole WI26-93 tested the southern deposit margin, indicating mineralisation continuity towards pit limits.
    • Total 2026 resource-conversion drilling reported here covers 5,345 metres across multiple infill and step-out holes.
    • Wicheeda is 80 km northeast of Prince George with existing road access plus nearby power, rail and gas.
    • February 2025 PFS assumes initial capital expenditure of C$1.4 billion for mine and processing infrastructure.
    • Proven and probable reserves stand at 25.4 Mt grading 2.43% TREO, totalling ~617,000 t contained TREO.
    • Additional funding avenues include conditional NRCan Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund support up to C$1.8 million.
    • A proposed C$346.6 million Export Development Canada loan remains at non-binding expression-of-interest stage.

    Our Take

    With an after-tax NPV of about C$1 billion against initial capex of roughly C$1.4 billion, Wicheeda’s 19% IRR sits in the mid-range of advanced rare earths projects in our database, which means securing the proposed C$346.6 million Export Development Canada loan will be critical to keeping equity dilution manageable for a C$61.2 million market-cap company.

    The conditional Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund support noted in a March 2026 piece on Wicheeda, combined with Natural Resources Canada’s broader permitting tools highlighted in July 2026 coverage, signals that this British Columbia rare earths project is likely to benefit from faster power and access approvals than many non-critical mineral mines in the province.

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    Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.

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