Surf’s Up: ASX explorer Bayan rides unstoppable US rare earths wave in California

• Bayan Mining and Minerals saw its share price soar 308% in August as investors warmed to American critical minerals stocks and its Desert Star project
• Located on the doorstep of MP Materials’ Mountain Pass mine, BMM non-executive chairman Agha Shazad Pervez says the surge is also due to early exploration success and US policy support 
• Over the next 12-18 months, BMM will deliver regular updates as it de-risks Desert Star via surveys, target definition, and initial drilling

Just 4.5km from North America’s only producing rare earth mine at Mountain Pass, Bayan Mining and Minerals (ASX:BMM) is positioning itself as a standout performer in the rare earths sector, with a staggering 308% share price gain in August showing strong investor appetite for credible US critical minerals exposure.

The surge tells a story of investors recognising the leverage of Desert Star asset, where the combination of location, US policy support and early exploration success is building unstoppable traction.

For BMM non-executive chairman Agha Shazad Pervez, the share price surge also reflects a broader recognition of the company’s potential within the wider US critical minerals renaissance.

The US Department of Defence’s backing of Mountain Pass operator MP Materials with a floor price of US$110/kg for neodymium-praseodymium oxide has de-risked the entire sector, he told Stockhead, creating an environment where explorers like BMM benefit from both price certainty and supportive policy.

“The US wants secure domestic supply and projects like Desert Star can deliver it,” Pervez said.

“We are already evaluating downstream opportunities to claim our place in the US supply chain.”

BMM has moved quickly to capitalise on this opportunity, expanding its footprint in California’s Mojave Desert to 117 federal lode claims across 9.75km2 while appointing Dr Steve Feldgus, former architect of US Critical Minerals Policy, as strategic adviser.

His background working across federal land and minerals agencies will prove valuable for Bayan as it progresses the early stage of exploration across Desert Star to define high priority targets and fast-track the path towards scout drilling.

With more than US$900 million in federal and corporate capital already deployed into US supply chains, Dr Feldgus’ appointment signals BMM’s ambitions extend well beyond traditional exploration, with the company setting itself up for potential partnerships across the critical minerals value chain.

Over the next 12-18 months, investors can expect a steady pipeline of news flow as BMM systematically de-risks the project through completion of geophysical surveys, priority target definition and initial drilling campaigns.

Mountain-Pass style grades

This approach of location, high-calibre guidance and early exploration success has helped BMM stand out in a crowded field of ASX rare earth explorers targeting the Mountain Pass district, where ASX peers include now billion-dollar capped Dateline Resources (ASX:DTR), Great Northern Minerals (ASX:GNM) and Locksley Resources (ASX:LKY).

Formerly listed as Balkan Mining and Minerals, BMM initially staked 72 lode claims to form the Desert Star project in July this year to capture immediate access to radiometric anomalies and infrastructure such as highways, powerlines and rail.

The project lies within the same host rock system and structural corridors that control mineralisation at the Mountain Pass mine, the only commercial rare earths mining and separation operation in America.

Pervez says this gives the company a direct analogue for REE discovery at Desert Star.

“The structural and lithological settings are identical to Mountain Pass, the geophysical anomalies are consistent with REE mineralisation, and assays have now confirmed significant grades such as 26,286ppm TREO,” he said.

“Those numbers are outstanding – globally, REE anomalies are often reported in the low thousands of ppm, so assays exceeding 26,000ppm TREO demonstrate both tenor and potential scale.”

Bayan achieved those reconnaissance sampling results less than two months after securing the asset claims, which the company said confirmed the geological interpretation that the REE corridor extended northeast from Mountain Pass into Desert Star.

A recent desktop study has also turned up four high-priority target zones in structurally favourable positions along that same regional corridor.

More detailed ground magnetic and radiometric surveys are planned across Desert Star to refine the geometry of target areas and provide a robust basis for follow up exploration.

But Pervez said there are a few geological indicators that suggest these targets could host REE systems.

These include strong radiometric anomalies in potassium, thorium and uranium, structural corridors which are aligned with the Ivanpah and Clark Mountain faults that control mineralisation at Mountain Pass and alkaline-carbonatite intrusions emplaced into the same Paleoproterozoic basement rocks that host REEs there too.

Looking ahead, Bayan has several key milestones investors should keenly watch out for, including:

• Assay results from Desert Star North (expected in September)
• The completion of surveys
• Drill permitting
• Results from first drilling campaigns; and,
• The advancement of US partnership discussions.

Bayan Springs

The company also owns the Bayan Springs project in Nevada, with its northern tenements situated near Sun Silver’s (ASX:SS1) Maverick Springs asset, home to an inferred resource of ~195.7Mt at 67.25g/t silver equivalent.

Its southern tenements are within close distance to Kinross’ Bald Mountain operation, which holds a measured and indicated resource of 3.7Moz of gold.

Upcoming work at the asset will comprise a detailed review and interpretation of geochemical datasets to identify priority areas, infill sampling, geological mapping and surveys to refine structural and lithological controls across the project.

At Stockhead we tell it like it is. While Bayan Mining and Minerals is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.