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Doug Bright
Critica Limited’s latest metallurgical testwork has produced a third mixed rare earth oxide from its Jupiter project in WA’s Mid West, materially improving product quality from previous tests.
In a result likely to strengthen the project’s development case, the latest work delivered a mixed rare earth oxide grading 97.1 per cent total rare earth oxide (TREO).
The testwork also achieved up to 71 per cent TREO recovery through the hydrometallurgical stage and up to 76 per cent magnet rare earth oxide (MagREO) recovery.
The improved result builds on the company’s earlier mixed rare earth oxide products from late October and early December last year, which graded 84 per cent and 86 per cent TREO, respectively. It suggests the company’s flowsheet is steadily moving in the right direction.
That progression is significant because only a month ago, Critica reported that Jupiter’s pilot beneficiation circuit had lifted TREO recovery to 71 per cent and MagREO recovery to 81 per cent at the front end of the process.
Today’s update shows the downstream chemistry is also improving, giving the market a clearer picture of an integrated pathway from ore through to a cleaner saleable product.
Higher total rare earth oxide content generally implies more contained rare earths and fewer impurities overall, which can improve product value and payability.
For Critica, the 97 per cent TREO result shows that Jupiter’s downstream processing pathway is still improving and provides the company with more support for its mine-to-magnet strategy.
Critica Ltd’s chief executive officer, Jacob Deysel, said: “Achieving ~97% total rare earth oxide in our third MREO marks a significant advancement in product quality and a clear demonstration that Jupiter can deliver a high-purity rare earth product through our hydrometallurgical flowsheet. Importantly, the magnet rare earth recoveries delivered in this testwork are at levels that support meaningful project economics, and these results will feed directly into the Scoping Study currently underway with Sedgman.”
It represents an important step as the company pushes Jupiter through a scoping study being led by Sedgman, the engineering group tasked with defining the project’s development pathway.
Critica is working to position the project as part of an alternative supply chain for electric vehicles, renewables, artificial intelligence infrastructure and defence markets, where China dominates much of the source and processing chain.
The company’s latest resource figures and potential by-products include a massive global inferred resource of 1.8 billion tonnes at 1700 parts per million (ppm) TREO, enclosing a high-grade core of 520 million tonnes averaging 2200 ppm TREO.
The resource includes a whopping 640 million tonnes at 490ppm magnet rare earths (MagREO), based on a 400ppm cut-off grade, for a total MagREO content of 682,000 tonnes of contained magnet rare earths. The deposit also hosts a maiden gallium resource of 70,100 tonnes at an average grade of 39ppm gallium oxide.
Critica is rapidly de-risking the project through extensive metallurgical testwork and ongoing resource upgrade drilling.
With its beneficiation and downstream testwork both edging higher, Jupiter is starting to look less like a laboratory experiment and more like a solid critical rare earths project with a clear road map.
If Critica can keep nudging its recovery and purity numbers higher, the market could soon begin paying closer attention.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
