Partnering for Progress: Core Resources and the Red Metal Sybella Project

Core Resources’ collaboration with Red Metal Limited providing metallurgical test work for the promising Sybella Rare Earth Oxide (REO) Project in Queensland represents a significant advancement in unlocking the potential of rare earth elements, which are crucial for the progression of technology and green energy solutions.

Initial Phase 1 metallurgical test work has unveiled promising results, demonstrating that strong REO extraction with minimal impurity levels is achievable. This success comes from treating coarse, non-pulverised RC chip samples with low levels of sulphuric acid at room temperature. Such findings hint at straightforward mineral processing techniques, potentially leaning towards heap leach methods. The Sybella project stands out by mirroring many characteristics of Clay-Hosted Ionic deposits, yet without the problematic clay content, simplifying mineral processing and reducing costs.

Rob Rutherford, Managing Director of Red Metal, expressed his enthusiasm over these groundbreaking metallurgical outcomes. The results not only surpassed expectations but also solidified confidence in the feasibility of developing a heap-leachable REO ore project at Sybella.

Following the success of Phase 1, exploration programs have been accelerated to capitalise on the recognised potential for heap-leachable ore at Sybella. The project has now moved into Phase 2 metallurgical research, which includes comminution tests and size fraction leach tests on crushed core samples, alongside impurity extraction test work. These efforts are geared towards simulating a heap leach environment more accurately and generating optimised data for a preliminary economic model. The results from this phase of research are eagerly anticipated in the first quarter of 2024.

Read the full Red Metal press release here.

Core’s metallurgical testing labs provide comprehensive metallurgical solutions across various mineral processing and hydrometallurgy operations, including comminution, flotation, leaching, solvent extraction, electrowinning, ion exchange and crystallisation.

Read more about our metallurgical testing services and contact us for all your resource development needs.