Victory Metals Ltd. has made a major technical breakthrough at its North Stanmore heavy rare earths project in Western Australia.
The company has successfully demonstrated a low-cost, high-efficiency pathway to recover some of the world’s most sought-after elements, dysprosium, terbium, and yttrium, without the need for the billion-dollar processing plants.
Recent metallurgical tests conducted at ALS Metallurgy in Balcatta revealed that the company’s flotation concentrate, which boasts a high-grade 5.9 per cent total rare earth oxide (TREO) profile, is exceptionally amenable to standard processing.
Unlike many rare earth projects that require high-pressure autoclaves or complex, energy-intensive acid-cracking kilns, Victory has achieved over 70 per cent extraction using simple agitated leach tanks at atmospheric pressure.
Victory Metals CEO Brendan Clark described the results as a game-changer for the company.
“These outstanding test results highlight that the concentrate at North Stanmore is truly something special,” Clark said.
“There is nothing like it in the western world, and we expect high demand as a result.
“The fact we can separate out the valuable elements without high temperatures and high acid consumption puts us at a significant advantage to peers.
“Our product can be shipped as general cargo with significant ratios of the rare earths that matter.”
The focus on yttrium is of particular importance. With the market currently controlled by China and prices in North America surpassing US$1,000 per kg, North Stanmore’s concentrate, which contains over 23 per cent yttrium, positions Victory as a potential future leader in the sector.
By opting for a conventional hydrometallurgical flowsheet using low-concentration hydrochloric acid, the company has significantly de-risked its path to production.
Victory plans on selling its heavy rare earth concentrate into the global market, resulting in low capital and operational expenditure and a unique heavy rare earth concentrate with negligible amounts of deleterious elements.
