Rainbow Rare Earths Ltd (LSE:RBW, OTC:RBWRF) CEO George Bennett talked with Proactive's Stephen Gunnion about the latest test work results at the company’s Phalaborwa rare earths project, highlighting a major technical milestone.
Bennett said the company has achieved a purified carbonate product with over 55% total rare earth oxides (TREO), compared to the industry standard of 42–44%. “This is a huge de-risk step for Rainbow,” he explained, noting that the result supports both capital and operating expenditure reductions.
The company used continuous ion exchange technology—commonly used in gold and uranium processing—resulting in a reduction of volumetric flow from 340 cubic metres per hour down to just 7 to 10. Bennett said this has significant implications for the scale and cost of downstream processing infrastructure.
The feed stream purity was also improved to 93%, above the 90% threshold, which is another key driver for reducing costs in the separation circuit.
Bennett reiterated that Phalaborwa has no mining, crushing, or milling costs, as the resource is derived from above-ground gypsum stacks, reducing the process starting point by two-thirds.
Looking ahead, Rainbow Rare Earths expects to release optimisation study results, final separation circuit data, and an initial feasibility study for its Uberaba project in Brazil over the next three months.
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