Octava tests prove bioleaching is a winner for rare earths, lithium and vanadium

• CSIRO bioleaching achieves up to 68% recovery of rare earths from Octava Minerals’ Byro project
• Results confirm value of using bio-mining which is more environmentally friendly and energy efficient
• Success provides confidence for Octava to acquire 100% of the Byro project and proceed with maiden drilling

Special Report: Initial bioleaching research by the CSIRO of samples from Octava Minerals’ Byro critical minerals project in WA has returned excellent recoveries of rare earths, lithium and vanadium.

The testwork used microbial cultures to achieve recoveries of up to 68% neodymium, 67% praseodymium and 65% dysprosium – all elements used in the production of valuable permanent rare earth magnets.

It also achieved recoveries of up to 62% lithium, 43% vanadium and 80% terbium, key elements used in battery technology.

Octava Minerals (ASX:OCT) noted the results confirmed earlier successful bioleaching recovery rates achieved by European bio-mining consulting firm BiotaTec on Byro material.

It added the results indicated the leaching yields could be further improved and provided confidence for the company to exercise its option to acquire 100% of the Byro project subject to all necessary shareholder and regulatory approvals.

“This is a significant outcome for the Byro Project, with Australia’s National Science Agency achieving excellent bioleaching recoveries across a suite of critical minerals,” OCT managing director Bevan Wakelam said.

“CSIRO used microbes from their in-house culture collection to extract various critical elements under different bioleaching conditions.

“This work confirms the earlier successful bioleaching results achieved by our European Bio-Mining consultants, BiotaTec on the Byro material.

“Bio-mining has distinct sustainability and operational advantages over traditional extraction methods. It has reduced chemical use, potentially consumes up to 90% less energy than conventional production methods resulting in lower operating costs, being a simpler, more cost-effective process.”

Byro project

Byro is a polymetallic project in the Byro Plains of WA’s Gascoyne region, about 220km southeast of Carnarvon.

It has a Native Title agreement in place and is close to infrastructure such as a commercial port at Geraldton, power from a gas pipeline and future potential access to the WA State Government’s proposed green energy sites.

The target stratigraphy is the sedimentary Permian black shales and siltstones located within the Byro Sub-Basin of the Carnarvon Basin.

Black shales are a favourable host for bio-mining given their reduced nature and high sulphide content.

Using micro-organisms to extract metals significantly decreases the volume of chemicals required while enabling operations at ambient temperatures, which negates the need for large-scale consumption of fossil fuels.

This makes it far more environmentally friendly and cost-efficient compared with other processing methods that use hazardous chemicals and have a large CO2 footprint.

Watch: Octava achieves standout rare earths and lithium recovery

Looking ahead

Besides the move to exercise the Byro acquisition, OCT is also planning a maiden drill program targeting higher grade zones at Byro.

This will address the paucity of historical drilling at the project, which has only seen five holes over a strike distance of 25km.

Mineralisation appears continuous, with thick intervals intersected in all five holes, indicating a potentially large volume of in-situ metals.

The company is also in discussions for the next stage of bioleaching testwork.

This will seek to scale up testwork under various conditions to evaluate the potential for bioheap leaching of Byro material and improving recoveries and leaching performance.

This article was developed in collaboration with Octava 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.