Arafura Resources’ high-quality Nolans rare earth products validated by supply chain partners

By Deputy Chief EditorSeptember 18, 2020

131 1 minute read

Arafura Resources Ltds (ASX:ARU) final rare earth oxide (REO) products from the Nolans project flowsheet piloting program have been validated by supply chain partners across the globe, including Europe, China and Japan.

Three REO products prepared at ANSTO Minerals were the culmination of processing of 15 tonnes of representative ore feed from the Nolans Neodymium-Praseodymium (NdPr) Project in the Northern Territory.

Preparation of these products involved piloting of the projects beneficiation, phosphate extraction, phosphoric acid production, rare earth extraction, rare earth processing and rare earth separation process stages to produce final NdPr oxide, middle and heavy rare earth oxide and cerium oxide products.

Assist in offtake negotiations[hhmc]

Managing director Gavin Lockyer said: “We trust that providing high-quality samples will assist in formalising offtake agreements with potential customers.

“Many customers are becoming more active in assessing the ESG (environmental, social and governance) aspects of their supply chains and Arafura is able to provide certainty in this regard, including the responsible management of all process waste residues at site.”

REO and TREO specifications.

Marketing samples of NdPr oxide product were dispatched for testing by key partners within the metal, alloying and NdFeB magnet manufacturing supply chain in Europe, China and Japan for independent chemical analysis.

This was done to confirm they comply with the tight quality specifications mandated by end-user customers in the automotive, wind energy, acoustics and personal electronics sectors.

Arafura elected to enhance the cerium oxide product from a lower value cerium hydroxide product advanced in the projects definitive feasibility study, to a more marketable, higher purity product which has now been tested by leading users in Europe and China.