Critica advances Jupiter’s gallium and scandium recovery potential

Jupiter testwork opens two unpriced by-product pathways

Critica Limited (ASX:CRI) has produced its strongest gallium and scandium extraction results to date from the Jupiter rare earths project in Western Australia, with up to 91.9% of gallium and 84.7% of scandium transferred into solution. The company says the results advance potential recovery pathways for two critical minerals that are not included in Jupiter’s approximately A$2.0 billion after-tax NPV8 Scoping Study Base Case.

“Both projects sit in established Australian mining regions with exis ng infrastructure, in commodi es where global supply and processing remain concentrated in a small number…”

The improvement is most notable for gallium, where the best result compares with approximately 63% extraction previously reported. Five of seven tests produced gallium extraction above 84%, while scandium extraction exceeded 80% in four tests.

Extraction is not yet finished-product recovery

The headline percentages come from acid baking followed by water leaching. In that process, gallium and scandium moved into the pregnant leach solution alongside the rare earth elements. That is an important metallurgical step, but it is not the same as recovering saleable, separated products.

“Gallium and Scandium Recovery and Product Development Pathway.”

Preliminary resin adsorption work has begun, with gallium, scandium and rare earth elements all loading onto the resin. The co-loading is a technical complication as much as a positive signal: further work must establish selectivity, elution, separation, purification and product specifications before the by-product concept can be assessed commercially.

Resource contains substantial approximate metal inventories

Critica says Jupiter’s 160 million-tonne Indicated Resource contains approximately 6,400 tonnes of Ga₂O₃ and 7,200 tonnes of Sc₂O₃. Its much larger 1.5 billion-tonne Inferred Resource contains approximately 60,000 tonnes of Ga₂O₃ and 54,000 tonnes of Sc₂O₃, calculated from rounded tonnages and grades.

Those figures describe gallium and scandium contained within the existing resource, not separate standalone Mineral Resources. The higher-confidence portion of the resource was reported in the 160 Mt Indicated resource upgrade, while Jupiter’s A$2.0 billion Scoping Study modelled the rare earths development without assigning value to either by-product.

Next phase targets separation and economic evidence

Critica’s next steps are to complete gallium resin-loading and selectivity work, assess gallium separation and purification, progress downstream scandium recovery testing and integrate the results into Jupiter’s broader process flowsheet. The company describes the recovery pathway and potential value streams as aspirational and says it does not yet have reasonable grounds to believe they can be achieved.

That qualification matters. The work was performed on a metallurgical composite representing the iron-clay mineralisation type, and the announcement does not establish final recoveries, operating costs, capital requirements, product prices or commercial viability. Jupiter’s existing study economics therefore remain the relevant disclosed case until the next round of testwork supplies evidence that these metals can be separated and sold.