Rainbow Rare Earths Ltd (LSE:RBW, OTC:RBWRF) CEO George Bennett talked with Proactive's Stephen Gunnion about the company’s strong start to 2026, marked by the successful commissioning of its continuous pilot plant and a series of major project optimisations.
Bennett explained that running the pilot plant is a critical step in confirming the final design parameters for the project’s leach circuit, which will feed directly into the definitive feasibility study (DFS) due for completion later this year. The pilot work will also generate material needed to validate the solvent extraction process, which Bennett described as a major de-risking milestone for the project.
A key focus over the past 12 to 18 months has been front-end process optimisation, where around 85% of total capital expenditure is concentrated. Bennett highlighted that Rainbow Rare Earths has reduced leach stages from three to two, cut leach time from 32 hours to just eight hours, halved the number of belt filters, and lowered overall power and heating requirements. As he put it, “these optimisations have led to major savings in capex”, with the company still expecting total capital costs to remain around US$300–325 million, in line with figures published in December 2024.
The CEO also underlined the strategic advantage of Rainbow’s approach, which recovers rare earth elements from phosphate gypsum waste rather than traditional hard-rock mining. This eliminates mining, crushing and milling costs and results in one of the lowest capital intensities in the sector.
With rare earth prices rebounding and US backing already in place, Bennett said investors can expect multiple catalysts over the coming months, including project financing updates, completion of the DFS, and progress toward a final investment decision in late 2026, ahead of planned construction in 2027 and production in 2028.
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