Critica (ASX:CRI) has an integrated pathway in motion at the Jupiter Rare Earths Project in Western Australia, after initial bulk metallurgical testwork results highlighted the project’s consistent upgrade potential.
The first results have shown that ore from Jupiter can consistently achieve 95% mass rejection with a six-to-10-fold grade uplift.
As a result, Critica says this validates its beneficiation approach on larger samples and provides the technical foundation for downstream testwork and development studies.
CEO Jacob Deysel says with the closed-circuit pilot now being built at the Centre for Science and Technology of Mineral and Environment (GAVAQ) in Vietnam, the company will focus on optimising recoveries and generating the concentrate needed for hydrometallurgical programs and mixed rare earth product specifications.
“Together with ANSTO and Minutech, Critica has beneficiation, hydrometallurgy and product chemistry advancing in parallel – all directed toward producing mixed rare earth products, which include both mixed rare earth carbonate and mixed rare earth oxide, setting the technical foundation for our Scoping Study and supporting future offtake agreement,” Deysel says.
GAVAQ is designing, constructing, and operating a pilot-scale plant for mixed rare earth carbonate from Jupiter, as reported by Mining.com.au. The plant will process a 3,000kg run-of-mine bulk sample sourced from the project using a magnetic separation and flotation flowsheet.
Critica’s latest program follows the dispatch of a 400kg bulk sample, as previously reported, and represents the first set of outcomes from open-circuit beneficiation trials. The scope will provide key data on tailings characteristics, process efficiency, and flowsheet economics.
The Jupiter Project, first discovered in late 2023, is part of the broader Brothers Project located in the Yalgoo region of Western Australia.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Critica
