Skip to main content

Stillwater Critical Minerals – Updated MRE More Than Doubles The Mineral Resource at Stillwater West

The KE Report Sep 4, 2026 17:33

Summary

Updated MRE more than doubled Stillwater West to 805M tonnes Inferred plus 29M tonnes Indicated at 0.34% NiTEq — polymetallic scale.

Roughly 40-50% of Stillwater West's value is nickel; copper, cobalt, PGMs, gold and chromium each layer on 5-15% — an unusually balanced polymetallic suite.

Stillwater West now holds the largest known rhodium deposit in North America and the largest nickel-cobalt resource in any active US mining district.

Glencore's 13% strategic stake signals major-producer interest, drawn by 267M tonnes of mid-grade 0.35% NiTEq rock offering 30-40-year production optionality.

Three rigs are pivoting from expansion to infill drilling ahead of a Preliminary Economic Assessment expected next year, supported by $6M in DOE grants.

Key points on Sibanye-Stillwater

  • Rowley frames Sibanye-Stillwater as the producing neighbor within the Stillwater Igneous Complex, noting they run two concentrators doing conventional sulfide flotation and ship a nickel-copper sulfide concentrate to Columbus, Montana for smelting and hydromet.
  • He cites Sibanye-Stillwater's current cost pressures as part of the case for U.S. government interest in Stillwater West as a domestic critical minerals project (as of 2026-09-04).

Key points on Stillwater Critical Minerals Corp

  • The guest argues the updated inferred mineral resource at Stillwater West more than doubles the previous estimate, at a 0.34% total nickel-equivalent grade containing 4.8 billion pounds of nickel, copper, and cobalt plus 7.4 million ounces of platinum, palladium, gold, and rhodium (as of 2026-09-04).
  • Rowley frames the deposit as roughly 40–50% nickel by value, with the rest unusually well balanced — each of the other metals contributing at least 5% and some 10–15% — and says that balance is part of what Glencore likes about the project.
  • He says the resource now covers four deposits across about 10 kilometers of the lower Stillwater Complex, with 267 million tons at the 0.35% nickel-equivalent cut-off (~$9/ton gross value rock) split roughly between Iron Mountain and Chrome Mountain, both flagged as potential starter operations.
  • He outlines a pivot from expansion to infill and indicated-category drilling (three rigs running in Montana, with more rigs floated for 2027), and identifies a PEA as the next milestone, with timing the guest calls 'certainly reasonable' for 2027.
  • The guest highlights recovery-friendly features: high sulfur (0.843%), conventional flotation work being supported by Glencore's XPS, hydromet work with a Columbia University advisor, and $6 million in DOE grants partially directed at metallurgy.