Charley Creek | Northern Territory, Australia
Charley Creek Rare Earth Project
Unlocking Scalable Rare Earth Potential in Australia’s Northern Territory
The Charley Creek Project is a strategically advanced rare earth and critical minerals opportunity, anchored by the high-potential Cattle Creek and Western Dam prospects. Situated in a geologically rich corridor of the Northern Territory, the project spans a vast, mineralised terrain offering both near-surface development advantages and significant upside through large-scale resource targets. With growing global demand for ethically sourced REEs, Charley Creek is well-positioned to deliver long-term value through low-cost extraction and scalable growth.
Cattle Creek: A Flagship Prospect with Scalable, Low-Cost Potential
At the heart of the Charley Creek Project, Cattle Creek stands out as a high-value prospect underpinned by a geologically simple, flat-lying alluvial system ideal for bulk mining with minimal overburden.
Drilling has revealed basin variability, with up to 80 metres of mineralised alluvial and colluvial material intersected in some zones. Deeper drilling is planned to unlock basement-hosted REE potential, while resource definition and metallurgical sampling will continue to advance through 2024.
With no stripping required, favourable metallurgy, and proximity to established infrastructure near Alice Springs, Charley Creek presents a compelling opportunity to develop a scalable, low-strip REE operation in a secure, mining-friendly jurisdiction, positioning Enova as a future supplier of critical minerals for the global energy transition.
Geology
The Charley Creek Project is hosted within the prolific Arunta Block geological province, where nature has done the heavy lifting. Over millions of years, rare earth-rich Proterozoic granites, gneisses, and metasediments, many naturally enriched in thorium and uranium, have undergone deep weathering, concentrating valuable minerals into extensive alluvial and saprolite systems. This geological setting, with REE mineralisation in the bedding place of tertiary sediments and capped by quaternary sands and gravels, offers a dual advantage: shallow, low-cost development potential and deeper, scalable REE targets. It’s a rare combination of accessibility and long-term resource upside.
Processing
Early metallurgical results have confirmed the viability of cost-effective gravity separation to recover monazite and xenotime, two key rare earth-bearing minerals. Process optimisation is underway for both alluvial and saprolite-hosted mineralisation, with additional leach testing targeting scandium and elevated rubidium concentrations at the nearby Cockroach Dam area.
The Charley Creek Project mineral processing improvement study by IHC Brisbane is complete. Enova is jointly reviewing the results to determine a pathway for future heavy mineral concentration. Potential use of “high G” separators or jigs may be more effective. The Company must look at the cost of this test work and the impact these changes would have on the process flowsheet.
Tenements
Figure: Charley Creek Group 086 Project Tenements presented as coloured blocks
Charley Creek Group 339 Project Tenements presented as coloured blocks
