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LONDON - Cobra Resources plc (LSE:COBR) announced Thursday that recent metallurgical studies at its Boland Ionic Rare Earth Project in South Australia suggest further reductions in recovery costs are possible through natural acid generation in the mineralization.
The studies, conducted in collaboration with the Australian Nuclear Scientific Technology Organisation, demonstrated that high recovery rates of rare earth elements (REEs) can be maintained while using lower concentrations of lixiviant solutions than industry standards.
Testing showed recovery rates of 60% to 71% for neodymium and praseodymium, 68% to 78% for dysprosium and terbium, and 66% to 80% for samarium using ammonium sulfate solutions at pH 3 with varying molarities from 0.1 to 0.5.
Acid consumption tests revealed low usage rates of 1.95 kg/t of sulfuric acid at pH 4.5 and 6.7 kg/t at pH 3.0. Researchers observed that traces of pyrite in the Boland mineralization naturally generated acid during testing, potentially reducing the amount of external acid required for the in-situ recovery (ISR) process.
Cobra has begun a large-scale ISR column leach test using a 55kg composite sample from three drill holes across the project. This study, expected to take approximately 60 days, aims to evaluate recovery rates of individual REEs and produce material to support offtake negotiations.
The company stated that these findings could improve production economics by minimizing requirements for sulfuric acid, which it expects to be the greatest single operating cost for rare earth element recovery at the project.
The Boland Project contains ionic rare earth elements in a permeable horizon confined between layers of impermeable clay, which Cobra believes makes it amenable to ISR techniques similar to those used in uranium recovery in South Australia.
This announcement was based on a company press release statement.
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