REG - Rainbow Rare Earths - Pilot Plant Commences Operations in Johannesburg

Rainbow Rare EarthsAnnouncement

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RNS Number : 5874O  Rainbow Rare Earths Limited  13 January 2026

13 January 2026

Rainbow Rare Earths Limited

("Rainbow" or "the Company")

LSE: RBW

 

Pilot Plant Commences Operations in Johannesburg for Final Phase of Process
Test Work

 

·    This final phase of test work includes the primary flowsheet pilot
operations in Johannesburg and off-site solvent extraction ("SX") test work to
confirm the SX separation process to deliver separated neodymium and
praseodymium ("NdPr") oxide and the SEG+ Group (a mix of medium and heavy rare
earths) at >99.5% purity

·    Rainbow's pilot plant will operate the fully optimised Phalaborwa
leach circuit, feeding pregnant leach solution ("PLS") to a pilot scale
continuous ion exchange ("CIX") and impurity removal circuit developed using
Rainbow's intellectual property ("IP") and deliver the bulk feed sample for
off-site SX test work

·    The pilot plant will operate through H1 2026 and will produce data
that underpins the process design for the Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS")
and third-party validation for project finance

·    Outlook for rare earth element ("REE") market remains strong in 2026,
with the West remaining focused on developing alternative supply chains and
NdPr oxide pricing having recently risen to over US$100/kg

 

NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT

Rainbow Rare Earths announces that it has successfully built, commissioned and
commenced pilot scale operations as the final phase of process test work for
the Phalaborwa project in South Africa. This unique project will be the first
commercial recovery of REE from phosphogypsum, a waste product from phosphoric
acid production, which means that many of the costs, risks and long timescales
associated with traditional mining projects are eliminated.

 

The large-scale pilot operation will run the optimised primary flowsheet with
a leach process producing sufficient volumes of PLS to allow for optimisation
of the CIX and impurity removal processes, as well as delivering the bulk feed
sample for off-site SX test work. It will also provide the data that underpins
the DFS, including process flowsheet development, mass balance, equipment
sizing and capital and operating costs, and will be used as the basis for
third-party validation for project finance.

 

George Bennett, CEO, commented: "This new piloting operation is the final
phase of process test work for Phalaborwa, as it will demonstrate the project
flowsheet that has been considerably updated over the past 18 months via a
number of key optimisations. These efficiencies further reinforce the
project's position at the bottom of the industry cost curve to deliver
high-purity (>99.5%) separated NdPr oxide and SEG+ products. The pilot
operations are important to the finalisation of the DFS this year and ensure
the long-term success of the Phalaborwa project.

 

We are very proud of our technical team, which has commissioned this pilot
plant quickly and efficiently. We are looking forward to showing the operation
to investors and other market participants at the two site visits in early
February prior to the Mining Indaba conference.

 

The outlook for the REE market remains strong going into 2026, with pricing
for the light REE NdPr having effectively doubled since the lows of 2025 to
over US$100/kg, following the major price rises we have seen already for the
medium and heavy REE that are subject to Chinese export controls. Phalaborwa
is a unique project in that it will produce the full range of economically and
strategically important REE, which is why it has been backed by the US
International Development Finance Corporation as a key contributor to supply
chain resilience."

 

Johannesburg Pilot Plant

The pilot plant is operating at Rainbow's in-house laboratory premises located
at Mintek, South Africa's national mineral research organisation and one of
the world's leading technology organisations specialising in mineral
processing.

 

This operation is the second pilot plant to be run by Rainbow as the Company
has made significant progress over the last 18 months towards the finalisation
of the Phalaborwa flowsheet, which is expected to be the first project
globally to commercially produce REE from phosphogypsum.

 

Since the first pilot plant operation was concluded in mid-2024, there have
been a number of important changes and optimisations made to the Phalaborwa
flowsheet. As previously announced, Rainbow has achieved a significant
reduction in volumetric flow from the leach circuit to the separation circuit
via the incorporation of a CIX circuit for impurity rejection, as well as
subsequent impurity precipitation steps. These two steps have been a major
driver of project efficiency using Rainbow's IP and have enabled simpler and
more cost-effective SX circuits for separation than are the industry norm.

 

The leach process has been fully optimised via large-scale locked cycle tests
that have yielded several benefits, including:

·    the leach process has been reduced from three stages to two;

·    the residence time has been reduced from 32 hours to 8;

·    the number of filters has reduced from 14 x 180m(2) to 7 x 163m(2);
and

·    leach heating requirements are significantly reduced.

 

The above optimisations are all expected to positively impact capital and
operating costs.

 

The pilot plant will deliver the bulk feed sample for off-site SX test work.
This will allow Rainbow to finalise the product specifications for the planned
separated NdPr oxide and SEG+ products, which is an important component of
concluding offtake agreements for these in-demand products.

 

This final pilot campaign will continue through H1 2026 whilst the work to
finalise the DFS runs concurrently to enable the study to be completed this
year, as planned.

 

Phalaborwa laboratory and pilot plant site visit

Rainbow Rare Earths will be taking groups of investors and other market
participants to see its in-house laboratory and pilot plant operations on the
mornings of Friday 6 and Saturday 7 February 2026. Those interested in
attending should contact the Company using the contact details below.

 

 

 

For further information, please contact:

 

 Rainbow Rare Earths Ltd   Company  George Bennett         +27 (0) 82 652 8526

                                    Pete Gardner
                           IR       Cathy Malins           +44 (0) 7876 796 629

                                                           cathym@rainbowrareearths.com (mailto:cathym@rainbowrareearths.com)
 Tavistock Communications  PR/IR    Charles Vivian         +44 (0) 20 7920 3150

                                    Eliza Logan            rainbowrareearths@tavistock.co.uk (mailto:rainbowrareearths@tavistock.co.uk)
 Berenberg                 Broker   Matthew Armitt         +44 (0) 20 3207 7800

                                    Jennifer Lee

 Stifel                    Broker   Ashton Clanfield       +44 (0) 20 7710 7600

                                    Varun Talwar

 

Notes to Editors:

 

About Rainbow:

Rainbow Rare Earths aims to be a forerunner in the establishment of an
independent and ethical supply chain of the rare earth elements that are
driving the green energy transition. It is doing this successfully via
pioneering the first commercial recovery of rare earth elements from
phosphogypsum that occurs as the by-product of phosphoric acid production.
These projects eliminate the cost and risk of typical rare earth projects,
which involve mining and the production of a rare earth concentrate that must
be chemically cracked to form a mixed rare earth carbonate before further
downstream processing. As such, Rainbow's projects can be brought into
production quicker and at a lower cost than traditional hard rock mining
projects.

The Company is focused on the development of the Phalaborwa Project in South
Africa and the earlier stage Uberaba Project in Brazil. Rainbow's process will
deliver separated rare earth oxides through a single hydrometallurgical plant
on site, with a focus on the recovery of neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium
and terbium. These are critical components of the high-performance permanent
magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, defence and exciting new
markets such as robotics and advanced air mobility.

The Phalaborwa updated interim economic study released in December 2024 has
confirmed strong base line economics for the project, which has a base case
NPV(10) of US$611 million. Given Phalaborwa is a chemical processing
operation, with its resource sitting at surface in a chemically cracked form,
it has a much lower operating cost than traditional rare earth mining
projects, and it is therefore estimated to be one of the highest margin rare
earth projects in development today.

More information is available at www.rainbowrareearths.com
(http://www.rainbowrareearths.com/) or by visiting the Rainbow Rare Earths
Curation Showcase at: Curation Connect - Rainbow Rare Earths Showcase
(https://app.curationconnect.com/company/Rainbow-Rare-Earths-90903?utm_source=media&utm_campaign=media&utm_id=media)
or https://app.curationconnect.com/company/Rainbow-Rare-Earths-90903
(https://app.curationconnect.com/company/Rainbow-Rare-Earths-90903)

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