European Resources (ASX:ERE) reports ANSTO Minerals has increased combined magnet rare earth extraction from 83% to 92% after calcite removal at its Korsnäs Project in Finland.
Bench‑scale testwork achieved neodymium and praseodymium extraction of 92% and 94% respectively, while total rare earths plus yttrium (TREY) extraction increased from 86% to 93%.
ANSTO’s hydrochloric acid pre‑leaching achieved near‑complete calcite removal, lifting TREY grade from 2.30 wt% (weight percent) to 3.90 wt% with rare earth losses generally between zero and 2%.
Heavy rare earth response improved materially, with terbium extraction rising 20 percentage points to 69%, dysprosium by 23 points to 66%, and yttrium by 32 points to 75%.
Managing Director Jason Beckton says the result demonstrates a clear advance in flowsheet development.
“ANSTO’s latest work has lifted combined magnet rare earth extraction from 83% to 92% after calcite removal. This is a sequential flowsheet-development story: identify the constraint, test it and measure the uplift,” Beckton says.
“The result is a clear advance, and we intend to keep pushing through impurity removal and precipitation towards a bench-scale mixed rare earth carbonate product which will demonstrate the potential of our emerging and growing Finland rare earths project.”
The company plans to continue the ANSTO program through extraction optimisation, impurity removal, and precipitation, aiming to produce a bench‑scale mixed rare earth carbonate sample.
The Korsnäs Project hosts an inferred mineral resource of 15.4 million tonnes at 1% total rare earth oxide using a 0.50% lower cut‑off grade.
European Resources is an Australian explorer focused on critical minerals, with a portfolio that includes the Jokikangas and Saarenkyla rare earth projects in Finland and multiple gold, silver, copper, and cobalt projects in Slovakia.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: European Resources
