Everest Metals (ASX:EMC) has filed a provisional patent application for direct rubidium extraction at the Mt Edon Critical Minerals Project in Western Australia.
The patent application helps the company secure intellectual property rights for its rubidium recovery process method, which Everest Metals says represents an improvement over existing rubidium recovery methods.
To ensure thorough evaluation, Everest Metals engaged patent attorney firm Integrated IP to review the new process, including undertaking a subject matter search. Following this review, Integrated IP confirmed the lodgement of the application with IP Australia.
CEO Mark Caruso says submitting the patent for the process flowsheet marks an important milestone for Mt Edon.
“This achievement of a viable process flowsheet to extract rubidium paves the way for progressing commercial and operating engineering studies as well as continuing discussions with potential offtake partners,” Caruso says.
Everest Metals, which has a market capitalisation of $35.8 million, is now planning an engineering Scoping Study to focus on the project’s capex and opex, as well as a purification process.
The purification process plans to transition tests from a batch mode approach to a bench scale setup. This change will assist to optimise process parameters.
Everest Metals notes these optimisations will contribute to the development of a comprehensive and effective purification process for future applications.
The Mt Edon Project is located 5km southwest of Paynes Find in the Mid West region of Western Australia.
Rubidium is a critical raw material for various high-tech applications, including developing new energy conversion technologies and communication technologies. Some of the key applications include defence and military, aerospace, and electronic devices.
Everest Metals is a Western Australian resources company focused on gold, silver, base metals, and critical minerals in tier one jurisdictions.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Everest Metals
