Latest Pilot Plant News

Critica Limited has produced its first commercial-quality Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate at 58% TREO, confirming a refinery-aligned product pathway, while launching a major resource upgrade drilling program at its Jupiter Rare Earths Project in Western Australia.

Zinc Mines Ireland (ASX: ZMI) has acquired Dutch metals tech firm Meclex, integrating its proprietary low-temperature hydrometallurgical processes into ZMI’s Kildare zinc project. The move aims to unlock critical mineral value and reduce environmental impact in European zinc and battery recycling markets.

Neometals has secured A$7.9 million through a placement and launched a concurrent A$5.1 million entitlement offer to fund gold production at Barrambie and advance lithium exploration in Utah. The capital raise supports a near-term production joint venture and aggressive resource expansion.

Iondrive Limited has confirmed over 90% extraction of key rare earth elements neodymium and praseodymium from US commercial samples, exceeding prior economic assumptions and advancing its modular recycling technology toward commercial deployment.

Andromeda Metals has wrapped up the Early Works phase at its Great White Project, setting the stage for construction and trimming the equity funding needed for the next development stage to about $40 million.

Elevate Uranium announces a maiden Inferred Mineral Resource of 10.1 million pounds U3O8 at Namib IV, boosting the Koppies Project resource to 76.2 Mlb and Namibia’s total uranium inventory to 106.4 Mlb. The deposit remains open for expansion amid ongoing drilling and proprietary processing developments.

Critica Limited has achieved a significant breakthrough at its Jupiter Rare Earth Project, lifting magnet rare earth recovery to approximately 81% and total rare earth oxide recovery to around 71% through pilot plant optimisation. This advance strengthens the foundation for its ongoing scoping study and downstream processing plans.

Viking Mines has launched a field campaign at its Linka Tungsten Project targeting historical tailings and ore stockpiles as potential near-term, low-capital feed sources, complementing ongoing metallurgical advances and a planned June quarter drilling campaign amid record tungsten prices.

Pursuit Minerals has significantly extended the depth of its lithium brine exploration at the Mito tenement, Rio Grande Sur project, following advanced CSAMT data reprocessing. The company plans a three-hole drilling program to test these high-confidence targets, aiming to expand its resource base beyond the initial 5,000 tpa lithium carbonate production.

Alligator Energy Ltd has reported positive operational results from the first well pattern at its Samphire Uranium Project Field Recovery Trial, with uranium recovery exceeding 55% and reagent consumption aligning with expectations, validating key assumptions from its December 2023 Scoping Study.

American Rare Earths has outlined a three-stage pilot plant program combining Wyoming-based mineral processing with downstream refining in Canada, aiming to accelerate pre-production rare earth oxide output from its Halleck Creek Project.

Elevate Uranium Ltd has reinforced its U-pgrade™ Pilot Plant operations in Namibia with new management and process improvements, while revising its timeline for pilot plant results to August 2026. The company confirms previous bench-scale testwork remains valid despite the delay.