THE DRILL SERGEANT: Red Metal (ASX: RDM) completed a proof-of-concept impurity removal trial on ore from the company’s Sybella rare earth project near Mt Isa.
Red Metal declared the results of its first proof-of-concept impurity removal trial on the Sybella rare earth ore has resulted in a potentially saleable mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) product.
The MREC product comprised 48.7 per cent total rare earth oxides (TREO), of which the percentage of magnet rare earths (neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium oxides) was 39.5 per cent.
The company explained the result to be well above that of other REO projects expecting it should result in higher payability based on industry pricing mechanisms.
Red Metals’ first-pass MREC precipitation achieved high downstream recoveries of 93% neodymium, 94% praseodymium, 93% dysprosium and 93% terbium.
“Impurity removal and precipitation of a saleable product with minimal REO loss is an important hurdle to clear for both the Granite-Hosted Sybella and Ionic Clay-Hosted deposit types,” Red Metals managing director Rob Rutherford said in the company’s ASX announcement.
“As such, success with our first impurity removal attempt is a major step forward for the Sybella REO discovery as it shows the essential indicators are in place to cost effectively produce a quality MREC product.
“The company is very confident that our ongoing studies will confirm a process route that optimises REO recovery (increases revenue) while reducing the acid consumption rate and ensuring that impurities in the final product are satisfactorily minimised (lowering processing costs).
“Success with the studies would give confidence that a premium MREC product could be delivered with low operating costs.
“We look forward to announcing assay results from the over 8000 metres of step-out drilling recently completed across a 24 square kilometres area of the mineralised granite.”
