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Highlights

  • Empire Metals to deliver maiden Mineral Resource Estimate and begin mining studies at Pitfield in 2025.

  • Pitfield confirmed as the world’s largest undeveloped titanium discovery, with high-grade, near-surface mineralisation.

  • £4.5 million raised in May 2025 to support expanded drilling, metallurgical testing and commercial readiness.

Empire Metals Ltd (LSE:EEE) has unveiled its strategic roadmap for the next 12 months as it accelerates efforts to commercialise the Pitfield titanium project in Western Australia. The project has now been confirmed as the world’s largest undeveloped titanium discovery.

The company plans to deliver a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate, finalise process design, and initiate mining studies in 2025, laying the groundwork for a preliminary economic assessment (PEA). Empire described the year ahead as “transformative,” with Pitfield increasingly regarded as a “once-in-a-generation discovery.”

Empire has defined a JORC Exploration Target ranging from 26.4 to 32.2 billion tonnes grading between 4.5% and 5.5% TiO₂, confirming the scale and uniformity of the deposit. This follows a key breakthrough in 2024, when the company discovered high-grade, near-surface saprolite zones rich in naturally clean rutile and anatase minerals.

Initial metallurgical testing has been promising, with results showing that a 91.7% TiO₂ concentrate can be produced using conventional, energy-efficient processing, avoiding the need for smelting. This supports Empire’s ambition to develop a high-margin, low-impact operation producing rutile-equivalent or pigment-grade titanium product from a single integrated site.

The growing global focus on titanium as a critical mineral—due to its strategic use in defence, aerospace, and industrial pigments—further enhances Pitfield’s significance. With quality feedstock supply tightening globally, Pitfield’s location, scale and favourable metallurgy may offer a unique solution to projected demand shortfalls. Titanium is currently recognised as a critical mineral by the Australian, US, and European governments.

To support accelerated development, Empire raised £4.5 million in May 2025, boosting its cash position to £7 million. The new funding will be used for expanded drilling, bulk testing and technical studies, including the production of sample material for potential offtake partners.

In parallel, Empire has made strategic additions to its technical and leadership teams, enhancing expertise across mineral processing, environmental management and corporate development. 

Empire reported a full-year loss of £4.1 million, reflecting increased exploration activity and the write-down of its Eclipse gold project, which is no longer a core focus.