REG - Rainbow Rare Earths - SX Adoption Yields 99.5% Pure Rare Earth Products

Rainbow Rare EarthsAnnouncement

25/11/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 8185I  Rainbow Rare Earths Limited  25 November 2025

25 November 2025

Rainbow Rare Earths Limited

("Rainbow" or "the Company")

LSE: RBW

 

Adoption of Industry-Standard Solvent Extraction for Rare Earth Separation
De-Risks Phalaborwa Project to produce Products of +99.5% Purity

 

Correction to SEG+ production figures

 

·    ANSTO pre-feasibility report confirms solvent extraction ("SX") as
the optimal rare earth oxide separation route for the project

·    SX, the leading technology for rare earth element ("REE") separation,
delivers oxides at +99.5% purity throughout the global industry

·    ANSTO confirms Rainbow's high-grade mixed rare earth product ("MREP")
will successfully produce separated NdPr oxide and the SEG+ Group at +99.5%
purity

·    The Company's technical analysis and economic benchmarking, based on
its internal expertise, determined that Phalaborwa remains a robust,
low-capital intensity project incorporating SX

·    The choice of SX as the final separation route allows for the
finalisation of the project flowsheet and subsequent completion of the
definitive feasibility study ("DFS"), with construction and first production
remaining planned for 2027 and 2028, respectively

·    CEO George Bennett and Technical Director Dave Dodd will be giving a
virtual presentation via London Stock Exchange SparkLive on Wednesday 26
November at 10am GMT - details are below or participants can register here
(https://sparklive.lseg.com/RainbowRareEarthsLtd/events/63e3b6a2-9ca3-4ab3-b5df-0d6ec0c3eca3/rainbow-rare-earths-decision-to-use-sx-separation-process)

·    The Company also today announces a correction to the annual
production figures for the ancillary REE that will make up its SEG+ mixed rare
earth product

 

NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT

Rainbow Rare Earths is pleased to announce an important de-risking step for
the Phalaborwa rare earths project in South Africa, with the determination of
the final route to separation. The unique Phalaborwa project encompasses the
recovery and separation of light, medium and heavy REE from phosphogypsum
stacks, a waste product from phosphoric acid production, meaning that many of
the costs, risks and long timescales associated with traditional mining
projects are eliminated.

 

ANSTO, Australia's world-renowned research and mineral testing institution,
was appointed to model a two-stage SX circuit required for the project to
produce separated NdPr oxide and SEG+ high purity mixed rare earth carbonate
("MREC") from the high-grade mixed rare earth product that the Company
successfully delivered from its in-house laboratory in Johannesburg.

ANSTO worked previously with Rainbow on the initial test work at Phalaborwa,
and as such are very familiar with the project, plus they have world-leading
expertise in SX test programmes and technology. Rainbow is working with METC
Engineering, to engineer this final separation route.

 

George Bennett, CEO, commented: "We are pleased to announce this important
de-risking step for Rainbow via the determination that SX offers the optimal
route to final separation for our proposed +99.5% purity products, being a
separated NdPr oxide and a SEG+ product, combining the full suite of medium
and heavy rare earths. The ability to design a small and efficient SX circuit
has been enabled via the successes we have achieved in optimising the
front-end  flowsheet, and we are confident that Phalaborwa will retain its
status as a low-capital intensity project."

 

Dave Dodd, Technical Director, commented: "SX is the industry standard for REE
separation and purity, and we have sought expert insight from Australia's
ANSTO, who have designed most of the SX circuits for new Western REE projects
in development. Our team has extensive experience with ANSTO, as we have
worked together historically as lead process engineers on numerous studies,
including the Lofdal, Ngualla and Songwe Hill rare earth projects, as well as
having designed and built various uranium projects together that also utilise
CIX and SX circuits in their design. We are very comfortable with these
technologies and are pleased to finalise the process design for Phalaborwa
which will allow for the timely completion of the Phalaborwa DFS."

 

London Stock Exchange SparkLive Virtual Presentation

Rainbow Rare Earths will give a live presentation relating to today's
announcement via the LSE's SparkLive platform on Wednesday 26 November at 10am
GMT.

 

To register for and access the SparkLive webcast please click on the following
link:

https://sparklive.lseg.com/RainbowRareEarthsLtd/events/63e3b6a2-9ca3-4ab3-b5df-0d6ec0c3eca3/rainbow-rare-earths-decision-to-use-sx-separation-process
(https://sparklive.lseg.com/RainbowRareEarthsLtd/events/63e3b6a2-9ca3-4ab3-b5df-0d6ec0c3eca3/rainbow-rare-earths-decision-to-use-sx-separation-process)

 

The presentation will be followed by a live Q&A session. Questions can be
pre-submitted via the SparkLive event page or at any time during the live
presentation via the "ask a question" button.

 

Decision on the optimal route for separation

As recently disclosed, Rainbow has been evaluating the optimal route to
separation of the high-grade mixed rare earth product successfully achieved
via Rainbow's pioneering IP to recover REE from phosphogypsum.

 

Previously, the Company had been focused on utilising continuous ion
chromatography ("CIC") as the separation method as envisaged in the project's
Preliminary Economic Assessment and the updated interim economic study
released in December 2024. However, the significant reduction in volumetric
flow to the separation circuit via the incorporation of a continuous ion
exchange ("CIX") circuit for impurity rejection, as well the cerium depletion
step, has been a major driver of project efficiency and made it feasible to
consider SX as a viable alternative.  Rainbow's success with impurity
rejection therefore allows for a simpler and more cost-effective SX circuit
than is the industry norm, given that traditional SX plants can be complex and
convoluted, requiring hundreds of different stages for separation.

 

The ANSTO pre-feasibility report confirms that the Phalaborwa process will
only require two small SX circuits; one for the NdPr separated oxide and one
for the SEG+ high purity MREC. The SX circuits will have a total of ca. 75
mixer settlers, which compares to traditional SX plants which often hold ca.
1,500 mixer settlers or more, confirming that Rainbow is maintaining a low
capital intensity for the project as a whole.

 

Whilst CIC remains a compelling method for REE separation, Rainbow has
determined that SX, as the industry standard, represents a faster de-risking
and commercially proven path to delivering Rainbow's proposed products and
enables faster progress to the next development milestone for Phalaborwa.

 

The choice of SX as the final separation route allows for the finalisation of
the project flowsheet and subsequent completion of the DFS. The project
timetable therefore remains on track to commence construction in 2027 and
first production in 2028. Whilst project development has taken longer than
originally anticipated, it is still a fast-track timeline in the context of
most mining and rare earth projects which can take up to 20 years or more from
discovery to first operations.

 

Correction to annual production figures for SEG+ REE

The Company notes that the annual production figures of the medium and heavy
REE that make up Phalaborwa's proposed SEG+ product were incorrectly stated in
the announcement dated 10 November 2025. This was due to figures being based
on extraction results from a single batch of gypsum not representative of the
JORC Resource.

 

The following table provides the correct estimated annual production figures:

 

            As stated in 10 November 2025 announcement  Corrected figures based on the JORC Resource

            (tpa)                                       (tpa)
 Sm(2)O(3)        258                                         244
 Eu(2)O(3)          51                                          50
 Gd(2)O(3)        241                                         180
 Tb(4)O(7)          19                                          20
 Dy(2)O(3)          50                                          60
 Y(2)O(3)         213                                        140
 Others                    -                                    24
 Total            832                                        718

 

As noted above, the production figures for Gd and Y were overstated; however,
this is offset by the fact that the production figure for Dy was understated.
Overall, the Company calculates that the full value of the SEG+ production at
mid-market European prices today assuming a payability of 70% is worth ca.
US$160 million per annum of revenue. This compares to the US$80 million in the
interim economic study published in December 2024, which is the expected
revenue for separated Dy and Tb at 100% payability.

 

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 the highest margin rare earth
project in development today outside of China.

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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