Axel REE has engaged SRK Consulting and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) to advance its flagship Caladão project in Minas Gerais, Brazil.
SRK will be responsible for the project’s maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) under the JORC 2012 code, while ANSTO will undertake metallurgical testing for rare earth elements (REE) and gallium.
“We are very pleased to see this important next step in the Caladão project’s development underway,” Axel REE managing director Fernando Tallarico said.
“We have so far achieved outstanding REE and gallium results across a potentially district scale system over 60km² and we are delighted to have globally recognised experts SRK and ANSTO on board to complete the maiden mineral resource estimate and metallurgical testing.”
SRK will focus its initial MRE on a 35km² high-grade mineralised zone in Area A, with plans to extend the estimate to a further 25km² in Area B.
Only 15 per cent of the 400km² Caladão project has been drilled, leaving significant scope for expansion.
The MRE will provide guidance for further infill and step-out drilling to boost resource confidence and identify potential extensions.
ANSTO will perform comprehensive metallurgical testing, including desorption response diagnostic testing to assess the extractability of ionically adsorbed REEs and gallium.
The company has experience across all facets of rare earth process flowsheets, including acid leaching, sulfation baking, caustic conversion, alkaline roasting, selective precipitation, impurity removal, solvent extraction, ion exchange, process water treatment (softening) and chemical concentrate production.
At Caladão, ANSTO will develop a processing flowsheet, focusing on desorption conditions, impurity removal, and rare earth carbonate precipitation.
The Caladão project is positioned as a potentially strategic source of gallium and REEs, particularly following China’s recent export ban on gallium, which has driven its value to over $250,000 per tonne.
If successful, the project could become one of the few combined REE and gallium resources in the world, with the potential to strengthen supply chains for critical minerals globally.
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