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Heavy Rare Earths Limited (“HRE” or “the Company”) is pleased to report success in producing a mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) sample from rare earth mineralisation at its 100 per cent-owned Cowalinya project near Esperance in Western Australia.
- Cowalinya rare earth mineralisation supports development of conceptual downstream process flowsheet to mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC)
- MREC sample grading 51.8% TREO produced
- Potential commercial value of MREC enhanced by very high magnet rare earth composition of 31.2%
- Collection of 3 tonnes of mineralisation from Cowalinya in progress for upscaled process optimisation program
HRE Executive Director, Richard Brescianini, said, “We are pleased with the outcome of our initial attempt at designing and testing a downstream flowsheet to treat saprolite-hosted mineralisation from Cowalinya.
“The 51.8% TREO mixed rare earth carbonate result exceeded my expectation, and the high proportion of magnet rare earths of more than 31% attests to its potential for premium commercial value. Nonetheless we still have work to do to reduce impurities to levels that are necessary to demonstrate product marketability.
“Taken together with the positive metallurgical variability testwork results reported in March, we are sufficiently encouraged by today’s result to upscale our downstream program to produce an increased volume of mixed rare earth carbonate for market assessment. Collection of feed material for this program is underway.”
In previous phases of the metallurgical program, simple screening of 13 (mainly 5-metre) mineralised composites from 10 drill holes by Perth-based Strategic Metallurgy (“Strategic”) demonstrated a 2x rare earth upgrade to -25µm undersize representing 37.2% of the bulk saprolite feed mass (refer to ASX announcement 13 December 2022). Subsequent acid leaching of the undersize by Strategic extracted an average of 82.9% of the magnet rare earths, consuming 18.1 kg of 32% hydrochloric acid per tonne of undersize feed for preferred material types (refer to ASX announcement 12 July 2023).
These results allowed HRE to develop whole rock geochemical algorithms to select an additional 63 (mainly 6-metre) mineralised composites from 55 drill holes across the entire project area for an expanded program of sizing and diagnostic leach testing. This program delivered results consistent with earlier phases of the program and demonstrated relatively modest metallurgical variability across the Cowalinya resource with preferred material types, characterised by high leachability (>75%) of the payable magnet rare earths Pr, Nd, Tb and Dy and low consumption (<40 kilograms per tonne of undersize feed) of 32% hydrochloric acid, potentially occupying a sizeable extent of the currently defined resource (refer to ASX announcement 12 March 2024).
Separately, Strategic prepared a 1 kg blend of screened undersize leach feed from 4 of the 13 mineralised composites used in the original sizing and acid leaching sighter work, for the development of a conceptual downstream flowsheet to produce MREC. The sample blend had a TREO grade of 2,595 ppm and was subjected to a simple leach, purification and precipitation regime as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: MREC testwork flowsheet.
Without any optimisation, a high grade (51.8% TREO) MREC was produced containing a high proportion of the valuable magnet rare earths Pr, Nd, Tb and Dy representing 31.2% of the total rare earth content. A detailed analysis of the rare earth content in the leach feed and MREC solids is presented in Table 1.
Whilst the total impurity content at 8.4% (mainly iron, copper and sodium) is over specification for a commercial rare earth separation plant (typically below 5%), the Company emphasises that this was a ‘first pass’ concept program to demonstrate that MREC can be produced from the Cowalinya deposit.
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HRE:AU
Heavy Rare Earths
Overview
Demand for rare earth elements (REEs) is rapidly increasing. These minerals are necessary to manufacture permanent magnets, auto and fluid cracking catalysts, and are also used in emerging technologies. Much of the world’s REE comes from China, making countries investing in clean energy largely reliant on Chinese supply. However, Australia is quickly ramping up production and was the fourth-largest REE miner in 2021, providing the market with 22,000 tonnes. The country also has the fifth largest reserves globally, with 4 million tonnes.
Heavy Rare Earths Limited (ASX:HRE) is committed to supporting the transition to sustainable technologies by providing new sources of these critical minerals. HRE has 100 percent ownership of two REE projects in Australia. The flagship Cowalinya Project is located in the premier mining jurisdiction of Western Australia and has demonstrated potential for a significant rare earth resource with an ideal composition. The company raised AU$6 million in its IPO, indicating foundation investor confidence and funding campaigns to advance its assets.
The Cowalinya Project has a JORC-compliant inferred mineral resource of 28 million tonnes at 625 parts per million (ppm) total rare earth oxides (TREO). The resource has an ideal composition of 25 percent magnet REEs and 23 percent heavy REEs, and importantly also contains low concentrations of radioelements.
The company has also confirmed a substantial new body of rare earth mineralisation at Cowalinya. Assays from 215 holes from HRE’s 441-hole rare earth exploration and resource expansion drilling program in 2022 have revealed multiple high-grade REE intercepts (up to 7222 ppm TREO) and the project’s thickest mineralised intercept to date at 42 meters @ 790 ppm TREO from 12 meters in hole AC226 – within a substantial new Western Zone of rare earth mineralisation.
Heavy Rare Earths’ second project, Duke, is located in the Northern Territory and close to both road and rail. The Company plans to commence exploring the asset for heavy REE-enriched deposits similar to the Browns Range project in Western Australia in the middle of 2023.
A management team with extensive experience in the natural resources sector leads the company, with expertise in rare earth exploration and development, financial management and corporate administration. HRE’s leadership team creates confidence in its ability to bring new REEs to market to support the energy transition.
Company Highlights
- Heavy Rare Earths is an Australian exploration and development mining company focusing on rare earth assets to support the clean energy transition.
- The company has 100 percent mineral rights ownership of two assets in premier mining jurisdictions, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
- The flagship Cowalinya Project has a JORC-compliant inferred resource of 28 million tonnes at 625 ppm TREO with the highly sought-after composition of 25 percent magnet rare earths and 23 percent heavy rare earths.
- Heavy Rare Earths has confirmed a substantial new body of rare earth mineralisation at Cowalinya in 2023.
- An experienced management team leads Heavy Rare Earths with a range of expertise throughout the mining sector, including project management, corporate administration, and rare earth exploration and development.
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Rare Earth Elements in Western Australia and the Northern Territory