Axel REE (ASX:AXL) has achieved up to 95% gallium and 74% scandium extraction during independent scoping leach test work on material from its Caladão Rare Earth Elements-Gallium Project in Brazil.
Brisbane-based CORE Resources completed 18 atmospheric batch tests on a composite from the Tiger Creek deposit using sulphuric and oxalic acids.
Oxalic acid produced the highest result, extracting 95% gallium and 74% scandium at 100 grams per litre and 90°C. Sulphuric acid under the same concentration and temperature extracted 90% gallium and 70% scandium.
Tiger Creek hosts an inferred mineral resource of 85 million tonnes (Mt) @ 40 parts per million (ppm) gallium and 1,050ppm total rare earth oxides (TREO), within Caladão’s wider 439Mt @ 38ppm gallium resource.
The tested composite assayed 63ppm gallium, above the wider resource grade. Axel cautions that the results should not be considered representative of the entire 439Mt resource.
Managing Director Patience Mpofu says achieving extraction above 90% with two acid systems gives Axel alternatives for further optimisation.
“Global gallium supply is overwhelmingly produced as a by-product, principally from the processing of bauxite for alumina, making the identification of alternative gallium recovery pathways strategically important,” Mpofu says.
The company says the highest-performing oxalic acid test consumed 1,072kg of acid per tonne of dry feed, while the sulphuric acid test consumed 747kg/t.
The same conditions also dissolved substantial aluminium and iron, limiting selectivity. Aluminium extraction reached 93–98%, while iron extraction ranged from 89–96%.
Axel says the tests were unoptimised and the recorded reagent consumption should not be considered indicative of a commercial process.
Gallium extraction has increased from about 25% in July 2025 and 50% in January 2026 to 90–95%. However, the programs used different composites and conditions and are not directly comparable.
The next phase will focus on lowering reagent consumption, improving selectivity, and recovering gallium and scandium from the leach solution. No flowsheet has been selected and no economic viability study has been completed.
Axel REE is a critical minerals explorer focused on the Caladão REE-Gallium and Caldas REE projects in Brazil.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Images: Axel REE
