Critical Metals (NASDAQ:CRML) outlined a series of technical, financing, and partnership updates during its business update call, with management focusing primarily on the company’s Tanbreez rare earth project in Greenland and providing a shorter update on the Wolfsberg lithium project in Austria.
Tanbreez: Metallurgy, drilling, and “mine-to-magnet” strategy
Management said 2025 marked a “transformational year,” highlighting independent work that it said validated the project’s processing approach. According to the company, independent consultants replicated historic pilot work and confirmed the ability to consistently produce concentrate grades of “3+%” total rare earth element (REE) oxides.
Another 2025 highlight discussed on the call was the identification of what management described as commercially significant gallium mineralization, which it tied to gallium’s importance in semiconductors, fiber optics, and aerospace.
Offtake coverage reaches 100% as Saudi partnership added
Executives said Critical Metals now has long-term offtake agreements covering 100% of expected mine concentrate production from Tanbreez. Management referenced allocations including Eucor (10%) and Realloys (15%), and discussed two larger “mine-to-magnet” style partnerships:
- Romanian joint venture: described as a 50/50 partnership intended to create an integrated mine-to-magnet supply chain serving European magnet manufacturing. Management said Romania is carrying Critical Metals’ 50% interest in the refinery, which the company characterized as involving no capital outlays, no debt, and no equity dilution for Critical Metals shareholders.
- Saudi joint venture: management said a term sheet has been executed covering offtake, project financing, development, and formation of a 50/50 joint venture to construct and operate a rare earth processing facility in Saudi Arabia. The company said the agreement allocates 25% of Tanbreez concentrate production to Saudi Arabia for the life of the mine under long-term market-based commercial terms, and that Critical Metals would not issue equity or incur debt in connection with the joint venture while retaining its 50% ownership interest on a carried basis.
Management said the Saudi facility is expected to produce separated rare earth oxides, metals, and downstream products including magnet-grade materials, and framed the partnership as expanding processing capacity outside China.
Capital and feasibility: $800 million–$1 billion study range reiterated; near-term spend discussed
In discussing feasibility work at Tanbreez, the company said it continues to progress “feasibility-related technical inputs,” while noting that 2025 drilling results and ongoing metallurgical work are driving additional evaluations and scoping studies to improve mine planning and sequencing and align with anticipated offtake requirements.
Based on feasibility-level work under consideration, management said indicated capital estimates for Tanbreez remain in the $800 million to $1 billion range.
During the Q&A, Group Process Manager Tony Halliday provided additional detail on spending and capital items. He said the company has already committed about $10 million toward pilot plant laboratories and is planning additional site infrastructure. Halliday said the company is “probably looking at about $40 million-$50 million over the next 12 to 18 months” related to the mine and concentrator in Greenland, before long-lead items.
Halliday also discussed a broader capital range for “full infrastructure and input costs” in Greenland, citing $400 million to $600 million in the current market for a facility supplying 100,000 to 150,000 tons of concentrate under the current license, with potential expansion up to 600,000 tons if licenses are expanded.
He added that refineries associated with the European and Saudi joint ventures are expected to be externally funded and therefore “would not affect the group,” while estimating the refinery facilities could be on the order of EUR 1 to EUR 1.2 billion each.
Operational buildout in Greenland and 2026 milestones
Critical Metals said construction has been formally approved in Greenland for an Arctic-grade multi-use storage housing and pilot plant facility in Qaqortoq under a turnkey contract covering engineering, permitting, logistics, construction, and commissioning. Management said the pilot plant section is scheduled to be ready for use on or before 2026, and it also noted the purchase of corporate housing in Qaqortoq to serve as a local office.
The company also announced it has approved and ordered a turnkey integrated mobile geochemical analysis center from Promet, including a Bruker M4 Tornado Plus 26S micro XRF system. Management said the system can generate full elemental REE results in roughly 80 minutes and is intended to reduce assay turnaround times versus off-site lab processing. The company said the facility will be owned and operated exclusively by Critical Metals and staffed with Greenlandic personnel, with results subject to independent oversight and validation, and noted commissioning and operation would be subject to government and regulatory approvals.
In the Q&A, Halliday described the pilot plant as “bigger than a pilot plant,” calling it a proof-of-concept plant designed to feed between 300 and 500 kilograms per hour. He said that by July and August the company expects to be producing “pre-production concentrate,” with an estimated 30 to 50 tons of concentrate available for partners’ test work.
Asked about increasing the company’s Tanbreez stake to 92.5%, Halliday said the transfer is “in progress” and that the company expects it “to happen any day now,” while noting that only directors could comment further.
Wolfsberg lithium project: legal proceedings and downstream plans
On Wolfsberg, management described the project as Europe’s first fully licensed lithium mine and said it is targeting production in 2027 to 2028. The company cited a Zone 1 resource of 12.88 million tons at 1% lithium oxide and pointed to a BMW offtake agreement that includes a $15 million prepayment.
Management also discussed legal developments, stating that in November 2025 the Federal Administrative Court overturned the Carinthian government’s determination that no environmental impact assessment was required. The company said it filed appeals to both the Administrative Court and the Constitutional Court in January 2026 and said it remains confident in its legal position, adding that it would provide updates as proceedings advance.
Additionally, the company said drilling in Zone 2 has been “very successful” and is finding resources beyond the BMW offtake. It also described downstream plans with Saudi Arabia’s Obeikan Group, citing a pre-feasibility study that it said confirms technical and economic viability for a 20,000-ton-per-year lithium hydroxide facility producing battery-grade material meeting BMW specifications, and noted that project finance discussions with multiple banks are “well advanced.”
Management concluded by positioning Tanbreez as a cornerstone asset for a non-Chinese rare earth supply chain and said it plans to provide ongoing updates as it advances pilot operations, drilling, and broader development work.
About Critical Metals (NASDAQ:CRML)
Critical Metals Corp. engages in the mining, exploration, and development of lithium metals. It owns Wolfsberg Project and Tanbreez Project. The company was founded on October 24, 2022 and is headquartered in British Virgin Islands.
