Brazilian Critical Minerals hits whopping REE leaching grades at Ema

• Brazilian Critical Minerals’ ISR field trials impress with PLS grades reaching 7800ppm TREO 
• The company says results put the project on the path to production 
• Feasibility and permitting works are progressing with further optimisation efforts planned 

Special Report: The latest lab results from rare earths leached via in situ recovery from the first two pilot field trial areas at the Ema project in Brazil have returned grades up to 14 times higher than mineralised in-situ values. 

Brazilian Critical Minerals (ASX:BCM) believes the results put the asset on a path towards production, with feasibility studies underway, environmental permitting progressing, extensional resource drilling 25% complete and hydrogeological modelling in the works. 

The ISR results delivered pregnant leach solution (PLS) grades up to 7800ppm total rare earth oxide (TREO) while magnet rare earth oxides consistently represented about 42-45% of TREO across a 24-day leach period. 

Super high-grade magnet rare earth oxides grades peaked above 3500ppm, averaging 1151ppm and critical heavy rare earths including dysprosium and terbium exceeded 100ppm in places. 

Samarium concentrations also stood out, returning up to 397ppm averaged over 5% TREO, which BCM says is significant given samarium-cobalt magnets are the most widely used in defence and aerospace. 

ISR efficiency unlocked, propelling Ema to rare earth forefront 

BCM managing director Andrew Reid said hole H1-F6 delivered phenomenal ISR leaching results, beyond anything the company was expecting, which can only be described as world-class. 

“Over recent months, we have been astounded by the leaching efficiency and the continuation of exceptional TREO grades reported from the pregnant leach solution extracted from the field trials,” he said. 

“Today’s results are highly significant as they further validate previous outcomes, demonstrating the company’s ability to effectively upgrade and concentrate TREO grades through the ISR process which will now thrust the project to the forefront of the rare earths sector.

“The ability to upgrade 14x the in-situ mineralised grade is beyond comparison.

“More importantly, the strength of the magnet rare earth oxides has the potential to propel the Ema project to the next level, with leached grades exceeding 3500ppm,” he added. 

“As MREO represents around 90% of the project’s future revenue, the 42-45% composition achieved now underscores the strategic and economic significance of these results.” 

What’s coming up? 

About 1000 litres of PLS has been dispatched to ANSTO’s facilities in Sydney for processing.

Further process optimisation efforts are to be conducted as part of the bankable feasibility study. They include the key steps of impurity removal and rare earth precipitation leading to the production of a final mixed rare earth carbonate product. 

Most of the MREC to be produced has already been earmarked for delivery to potential serious offtakers for their analysis and assessment.

This article was developed in collaboration with Brazilian Critical Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. 

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.