European Resources (ASX:ERE) has signed an agreement with ANSTO Minerals to produce mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) samples from its Korsnas Project in Finland.
The stage two metallurgical program will advance purification and MREC production from the historical lanthanide concentrate stockpile at the rare earth elements (REE) project in western Finland.
ANSTO Minerals, the minerals business of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, will conduct initial small-scale MREC testwork targeted for completion in Q4 2026, followed by a larger bench-scale batch for product qualification and potential customer evaluation.
The program builds on stage one results reported in August 2026, which achieved 92% extraction of combined magnet rare earths from calcite-free Korsnas concentrate. Praseodymium extraction reached 94% and neodymium 92%, while total rare earths plus yttrium extraction rose from 86% to 93%.
Managing Director Jason Beckton says the next objective is to put a Korsnas MREC sample “in the hands of potential customers”.
“Producing and characterising that material would give us a firmer basis for product qualification and commercial discussions,” Beckton says.
The stage two program will develop impurity-removal and rare earth precipitation conditions in two sequential steps. First, ANSTO will use the extraction route established in stage one to generate a rare earth solution, remove impurities, and produce a small preliminary MREC sample.
Second, a larger batch will apply preferred conditions and additional purification, including uranium removal. Cerium-removal tests will also be undertaken to increase the relative proportion of magnet rare earths in the product.
The lanthanide concentrate stockpile was produced from the Korsnas hard-rock deposit during Outokumpu’s historical mining and processing operations between 1965 and 1972. The deposit has an inferred resource of 15.4 million tonnes at 1.00% total rare earth oxides.
The downstream ANSTO program complements beneficiation studies by the Geological Survey of Finland’s GTK Mintec facility and the University of Oulu under the EU-funded Rare Earth and Magnets Hub for a Resilient Europe program.
European Resources is an Australian mineral explorer focused on discovering and developing critical raw materials in Europe.
Write to Paula Fabe at Mining.com.au
Main image: European Resources
