Search Minerals Produces High Purity Mixed Rare Earth Oxide Product From the Pilot Plant Operation

Search Minerals (TSXV:SMY) (“Search” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the initial results from its pilot plant operation at SGS Laboratories in Lakefield, Ontario. The pilot plant project has been completed with some further results to be subsequently released.
After processing over 3.0 tonnes of material representative of the Foxtrot Deposit, the pilot plant testing has clearly demonstrated the ability to produce a high purity mixed rare earth oxide (REO) concentrate. In addition, the pilot plant testing has successfully demonstrated the ability to bring uranium, thorium, zinc, and iron levels below those thresholds expected by refineries that separate mixed REO concentrates into individual rare earth elements (REEs).
As quoted in the press release:

Greg Andrews, President and Chief Executive Officer of Search, states, “The results from the pilot plant testing conducted at SGS Laboratories in Lakefield, Ontario under the supervision of Search Vice-President of Metallurgy, Dr. David Dreisinger have exceeded expectations. The results help support a conclusion that our proprietary ‘Direct Extraction’ metallurgical process can produce a high purity mixed rare earth oxide. Furthermore, based on close attention to market forecasts, the process has been optimized to significantly increase recoveries for our key revenue elements, neodymium (Nd) and praseodymium (Pr).”

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