Home / Business and Economy / Barkly Rare Earths: 99% Extraction Breakthrough!
Barkly Rare Earths: 99% Extraction Breakthrough!
31 Aug
Summary
- Barkly Rare Earths achieved 99% MREO extraction in a single-stage test.
- This result is a significant improvement over previous 74% extraction rates.
- The test also removed 92% of phosphorus impurities early in the process.
Barkly Rare Earths has reported a significant advancement in rare earth processing, achieving a 99% extraction of magnet rare earth oxides (MREO) from a single-stage metallurgical test at its Northern Territory project. This breakthrough result, independently verified, marks a substantial improvement from the 74% extraction achieved in prior conventional tests.
The company also reported a 94% extraction of yttrium and successfully separated 92% of phosphorus impurities early in the process. Removing such impurities at this stage is a key technical achievement that can reduce the complexity and cost of later purification steps.
These high-value MREOs are critical components for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles and wind turbines. The Barkly project holds a substantial inferred mineral resource of 40 million tonnes at 710 ppm MREO. The company is currently undertaking a 10,000-metre drilling campaign to expand this resource.
Barkly Rare Earths, which listed on the ASX in January this year, is now focused on confirming the repeatability of its 99% extraction result at a larger scale and optimizing the process. This development occurs at a critical time for Western nations seeking to establish alternative rare earth supply chains outside of China's dominance.
