Temas Takes RCL From Strong Recoveries Toward First High-Purity Products
Temas Resources and SAGA Metals have begun an eight-week optimisation program aimed at turning strong laboratory recoveries into a defined processing flowsheet and first high-purity titanium, vanadium and iron products. A successful stage could lead to a C$650,000-C$750,000 mini-pilot, although that funding remains subject to technical results and SAGA approval.
- Stage 2 bench-scale optimisation underway for SAGA’s Radar mineralisation
- Stage 1 recoveries reached 90.8% titanium, 97.4% vanadium and 91.5% iron
- Program will test downstream solvent extraction and produce initial product samples
- Potential C$650,000-C$750,000 mini-pilot remains subject to approval
- Work is intended to support future PEA/PFS-level evaluation and pilot testing
RCL Moves From Recovery Tests to Flowsheet Design
Temas Resources Corp. (ASX:TIO) has moved its Regenerative Chloride Leach technology into a more consequential test: defining how the process should operate, rather than simply showing that it can extract metals. The company and SAGA Metals Corp. have commenced Stage 2 of their work on SAGA’s Radar titanium-vanadium-iron mineralisation, with the eight-week program targeting an optimised flowsheet and the first high-purity product samples.
The starting point is strong but still laboratory-scale. Stage 1 produced recoveries of up to 90.8% for titanium, 97.4% for vanadium and 91.5% for iron across three feed materials: run-of-mine massive oxide, vanadium-titanium magnetite concentrate and ilmenite concentrate. An independent technical review concluded that the validation objectives had been met and recommended proceeding to detailed bench optimisation.
Eight Weeks to Select the Preferred Feed
Stage 2 begins with side-by-side testing of two run-of-mine massive oxide samples. Temas will compare extraction, reagent use, leach kinetics, solution quality, residue characteristics, grinding requirements and overall process performance before carrying the better-performing material into detailed optimisation.
The work will then adjust hydrochloric acid and magnesium chloride concentrations, temperature, oxidation-reduction potential, retention time, solids concentration and particle size. The aim is to establish reproducible conditions that preserve high extraction while improving reagent efficiency and solution quality. That distinction matters: a recovery figure is a useful technical signal, but it is not yet a commercial process design.
Solvent Extraction to Produce First Metal Samples
The downstream circuit is the program’s clearest bridge toward commercial evaluation. Temas plans to test solvent extraction, scrubbing and stripping conditions for iron, titanium and vanadium, while developing McCabe-Thiele isotherms to establish preliminary operating parameters.
The optimised leaching work is intended to generate enough pregnant leach solution for that circuit and recover initial samples of high-purity titanium dioxide, vanadium and iron. Those samples should provide a more practical test of the technology than recovery percentages alone, although the announcement does not disclose product specifications, costs or economic returns.
Potential Mini-Pilot Carries a C$750,000 Upside
Stage 2 is explicitly gated. Its first phase is expected to deliver comparative leaching results, optimised leach and solvent extraction conditions, feed selection and a recommendation on readiness for mini-pilot testing. If that phase is completed successfully and SAGA approves the next step, a 10-week mini-pilot could generate approximately C$650,000-C$750,000 in revenue for Temas.
That prospective revenue is not contracted production or a guaranteed payment. The final scope and budget would be set after optimisation, and the pilot itself remains conditional on technical success and approval. The proposed work would nevertheless generate continuous operating data, process design criteria, product samples and the initial basis for capital and operating cost estimates.
The Next Test Is Scale, Not Just Chemistry
Temas says the program is being designed to support SAGA’s progression toward preliminary and prefeasibility-level evaluation, as well as future 500-1,000 kilogram pilot-scale testing. The company’s broader commercial case rests on proving that RCL can be repeated across third-party mineral projects and then deployed through licensing, partnerships or joint ventures.
For now, the important unanswered issue is whether the strong Stage 1 recoveries survive optimisation and downstream separation in a form that can be engineered and costed. The next meaningful evidence will come from the preferred feed selection, product purity, solvent extraction performance and the decision on whether SAGA is prepared to fund the mini-pilot.
Bottom Line?
Stage 2 gives Temas a defined route from encouraging recoveries to product samples and pilot criteria, but the commercial case still depends on reproducibility, purity and the economics that have yet to be tested.
Questions in the middle?
- Will optimisation maintain Stage 1 recovery rates while reducing reagent use and improving solution quality?
- What purity and consistency will the first titanium, vanadium and iron product samples achieve?
- Will SAGA approve the proposed mini-pilot once the Stage 2 scope, costs and technical results are established?
