This article is a sponsored feature from Mining.com.au partner Critica Limited. It is not financial advice. Talk to a registered financial expert before making investment decisions.
Critica (ASX:CRI) has a clear line of sight from resource to revenue, with the company’s new CEO accelerating the Jupiter Rare Earth Project towards production.
Jacob Deysel took the helm at Critica at the start of July and has spent the past three months rebadging the company from explorer to developer and fast tracking the critical technical programs.
Deysel is applying his nearly three decades of experience previously garnered from leadership roles with big names like Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), Kenmare Resources (LSE:KMR), Newmont (NYSE:NEM) and Uranium Energy Corp (NYSE:UEC).
“My background includes building, operating and turning around multi-metal assets for both majors and emerging developers,” Deysel tells Mining.com.au.
“I joined Critica because I saw a rare opportunity to take Australia’s largest clay-hosted magnet rare earth resource and turn it into a globally relevant development story.
“The scale and quality of Jupiter, combined with the early beneficiation breakthrough and low uranium and thorium advantage, provide the right foundations for success.”
Deysel believes the Jupiter Project, which is part of the broader Brothers Project in Western Australia, has the scale, simplicity and speed for a strong foundation to position Critica as a future supplier of high-value magnet rare earths.
“Since stepping into the CEO role, we have rebadged Critica from explorer to developer, refreshed our strategy and messaging, and are now accelerating the technical programs that matter — beneficiation, leach testwork, and MREC (mixed rare earth carbonate) production,” he says.
“These are the building blocks that give us a clear line of sight from resource to revenue and position Critica as Australia’s next rare earth developer.”
On the scale front, Jupiter hosts an inferred resource of 640 million tonnes @ 490 parts per million magnet rare earth oxide (MREO). This equates to about 310,000 tonnes of neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium – within a global resource of 1.8 billion tonnes.
This, according to Critica, makes it the largest clay-hosted MREO resource announced in Australia.
Neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium are in high demand because of their essentiality in the permanent magnets that help power electric vehicles, wind turbines, robotics, advanced medical equipment, and defence systems.
These four alone, out of the total 17 rare earth elements, account for roughly 80-90% of the value of rare earths projects.
Beneficiation breakthrough drives efficiency and grade uplift
The simplicity of the Jupiter Project stems from its geology enabling upfront beneficiation.
The project is clay-hosted, where the rare earths are more closely associated with the clay minerals. This means they do not behave like traditional ionic clays, where the rare earths are loosely bound to the clays and typically separated via direct leaching.
“Not all clay-hosted deposits can be beneficiated — there must be a clear match between geology and metallurgy,” Deysel explains.
“Not all clay-hosted deposits can be beneficiated — there must be a clear match between geology and metallurgy”
“At Jupiter, that match is present.”
Preliminary testwork on selected samples taken from the project shows around 95% mass rejection and over 800% grade uplift prior to leaching.
This means Critica can feed a smaller, higher-grade concentrate into hydrometallurgy, compared to its peers that are reliant on bulk direct leach.
The flow-on advantages of this are that Jupiter will be able to operate at scale using simpler circuits, less reagent, water and energy within a smaller processing footprint.
Deysel notes that this coupled with the low uranium and thorium levels positions Jupiter as a project with the potential for a cleaner, leaner development pathway than many clay-hosted peers.
“Jupiter contains exceptionally low uranium (4ppm) and thorium (32ppm) at the 2,200ppm TREO (total rare earth oxide) cut-off,” he says.
Low levels of uranium and thorium lower the permitting hurdles, reduce the transport and logistics costs and pave an easier path to market with strong customer demand for clean, low radiation feedstock.
Pilot program delivers concentrate for downstream testwork
Lastly, the project ticks the speed box because of the programs currently underway with Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Minutech and Vietnam’s Centre for Science and Technology of Mineral and Environment (GAVAQ) to deliver the first MREC.
Earlier in September, Critica approved and appointed GAVAQ in Hanoi to design, construct and operate a closed-circuit pilot-scale beneficiation plant.
The program will process a 3,000-kilogram run-of-mine bulk sample through a flowsheet incorporating magnetic separation and flotation to produce high-grade rare earth intermediate concentrate for downstream testwork and Scoping Study inputs.
The pilot will deliver bulk concentrate to ANSTO and Minutech for leach optimisation and hydrometallurgy work.
This milestone is intended to provide product samples for original equipment manufacturer (OEM) engagement and data inputs for pilot and Scoping Studies.
“Producing the first mixed rare earth product from Jupiter will be a major technical milestone. It demonstrates that upgraded Jupiter concentrates can be converted into a saleable rare earth product,” Deysel explains.
Critica is already building relationships with OEMs and has received strong interest, with talks set to continue throughout the product specification and testwork.
Barclays Research estimates global rare earth demand will surge six-fold by 2050, with magnet rare earths expected to witness a five-fold increase by 2024 due to the anticipated scale-up of EVs, wind turbines and other clean technologies.
China currently controls roughly 70% of mining and about 90% of refining, which creates structural vulnerability for western OEMs.
“Major manufacturers are contracting earlier in the value chain to secure traceable, ESG-compliant magnet supply,” Deysel says.
“From mine to magnet, our staged plan is designed to deliver scale, efficiency and strategic relevance.”
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Mining.com.au & Critica
