Australia-based Magnum Mining and Exploration has sharpened its focus on the growing US market for critical minerals, launching a comprehensive review of its American assets following a board shake-up, a fresh capital raise and the addition of new exploration staff.

The ASX-listed explorer said on Tuesday that the review was aimed at identifying high-priority gold and rare earth targets in light of US policy shifts that emphasised domestic supply. In March, President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled 'Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production', underscoring his administration's push to cut reliance on overseas producers.

Magnum nonexecutive chairperson Michael Davy said that the pivot reflected strategic and market realities. “Western governments are reprioritising gold as a safehaven, as well as rare earths and critical minerals as strategic assets – our portfolio positions us at the intersection of financial security and critical supply chain independence,” Davy said.

“For these reasons the board has considered it a priority to review its portfolio of projects, to ensure that funding can be appropriately directed towards these strategic minerals."

This change in focus, Davy said, did not exclude the company’s Buena Vista iron project, in Nevada, which Magnum believed was "perfectly aligned with global industrial transformation".

"Magnum is continuing discussions with numerous parties around unlocking value from this advanced asset.”

PARKER GOLD’S DUAL POTENTIAL
Magnum’s Parker gold project in Arizona sits on the eastern edge of the Walker Lane Trend, a prolific zone that has produced more than 40-million ounces of gold and hosts AngloGold Ashanti’s 16-million-ounce Silicon/Merlin project and Equinox Gold’s Castle Mountain mine.

Rock chip sampling has returned grades as high as 83.87 g/t gold, 359 g silver, 8.37% copper and 16.1% lead. The company believes the project’s Red Breccia zone, a 4-km-long hydrothermal breccia, may also host rare earth mineralisation linked to carbonatite intrusives – similar to those at the nearby Mountain Pass mine, the only operating rare earth mine in the US.

BUENA VISTA’S CRITICAL MINERAL UPSIDE
In Nevada, Magnum is revisiting its Buena Vista project after new analysis highlighted its potential for rare earth elements (REE). A multispectral study led by geologist Neil Pendock found anomalies consistent with neodymium oxide, helium and radon, which are often associated with REE-bearing systems.

“The Buena Vista magnetite mine in Nevada has potential to host REEs,” Pendock said. “A Sentinel-2 scene over the mining licenses (MLs) collected earlier this week confirms they are anomalous in a spectral endmember interpreted as neodymium oxide. In addition, the MLs are anomalous in helium and radon. The origin of these gasses is likely from the radioactive decay of uranium which is often found in REE deposits.”

Three priority areas have already been identified at Buena Vista, with further surface sampling and geophysical work now being planned.

Magnum said its board would finalise the portfolio review before setting budgets and exploration timetables. Work programmes are expected to include geochemical surveys, geophysics and follow-up drilling to test both gold and rare earth targets.