Significant Progress in Rare Earths Project
Critica Limited has made a major advancement at its Jupiter rare earths project in Western Australia’s Mid West, following successful pilot beneficiation work conducted in Vietnam. This development has significantly upgraded the feed material, potentially reducing the scale and cost of downstream processing.
The company reported that its pilot plant improved the quality of the feed material by an impressive factor of fourteen, producing an intermediate concentrate with a grading of three per cent total rare earth oxides (TREO). The process successfully rejected 95 per cent of the original feed mass, concentrating the rare earth minerals into just five per cent of the mass. Notably, strong recoveries were maintained for key magnet rare earths, including neodymium at 74.5 per cent, dysprosium at 74.7 per cent, praseodymium at 69.3 per cent, and terbium at 65.9 per cent.
This latest work was carried out in Vietnam by GAVAQ, the Centre for Science and Technology of Minerals and Environment, using bulk sample material from Critica’s Jupiter project. According to Jacob Deysel, Chief Executive Officer of Critica Limited, “We are consistently concentrating magnet rare earths into a materially reduced processing stream while maintaining strong recoveries.”
Broader Processing Chain
The pilot work is part of a broader processing chain outlined by Critica last year. GAVAQ handles the beneficiation in Vietnam before the upgraded material moves to Australian groups ANSTO and Minutech for downstream hydrometallurgical and product testwork.
It is important to note that the three per cent figure refers to a concentrate produced at the initial beneficiation stage. This differs from Critica’s previously reported 58 per cent mixed rare earth carbonate and 97 per cent mixed rare earth oxide, which are downstream products with much higher purity after chemical treatment.
By concentrating the rare earths into just five per cent of the original feed mass, Critica can now see a clear path to lower projected operating costs, reduced capital intensity, and improved economics. These new results will be integrated into a scoping study currently underway with Sedgman, a major engineering and project delivery group owned by CIMIC.
Continued Optimisation and Future Steps
Jacob Deysel, CEO of Critica Limited, stated: “Following the previously reported beneficiation recovery improvements and recent advancements in high-purity MREO production, ongoing pilot plant optimisation is now delivering higher grade intermediate concentrate from the same feed material.”
This progress builds on Critica’s February announcement of a first commercial-quality mixed rare earth carbonate produced at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and its 18 May update, which unveiled a mixed rare earth oxide grading 97.1 per cent total rare earth oxides, with recoveries of up to 71 per cent.
Together, these results are beginning to outline a full mine-to-magnet development pathway. Pilot beneficiation work in Vietnam feeds directly into downstream processing studies in Australia as Jupiter steadily advances from lab-scale testwork toward a potential commercial development blueprint.
Ongoing Development and Potential Off-Takers
Critica states that additional bulk sample material is already being processed to support further refinements and downstream testwork, including final product samples for potential off-takers, in parallel with ongoing scoping study inputs.
If the company continues to upgrade concentrates and maintain strong recoveries, Jupiter may soon transition from promising lab and pilot testwork towards the more practical realm of mine development.
