REG - Rainbow Rare Earths - Update on Laboratory Test Work in South Africa

Rainbow Rare EarthsAnnouncement

03/06/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 1040L  Rainbow Rare Earths Limited  03 June 2025

 

3 June 2025

Rainbow Rare Earths Limited

("Rainbow" or "the Company")

LSE: RBW

 

Update on the Laboratory Test Work in South Africa

and the Trade-off Studies to optimise costs at Phalaborwa

·    Following the Interim Study released in December 2024, Rainbow
indicated to the market that the Company would be focused on:

o  Undertaking trade-off studies for the primary leaching circuit, which
represents ca. 80% of the expected total cost base for the project, to
minimise both operating and capital costs

o   Maximising rare earth recovery and impurity rejection in the initial
continuous ion exchange ("CIX") circuit

o    Definition of the optimal path to purification of the mixed rare earth
feed ahead of final separation

·    The Rainbow in-house laboratory in Johannesburg has now been running
for ca. three months and work is progressing well

·    The cost of carrying out this work in-house is significantly lower
than the equivalent cost in a third-party lab, also allowing for the faster
turnaround of assays and bench scale results

·    Rainbow will use the results of the trade-off studies and test work
to provide the optimal process flowsheet in order to finalise the definitive
feasibility study ("DFS")

 

News Announcement

Rainbow Rare Earths is pleased to announce an update on the Company's
laboratory test work and the trade-off studies that are being evaluated to
further optimise capital and operating costs for the Phalaborwa project.

George Bennett, CEO, commented: "We are very proud of the laboratory we have
built in Johannesburg which incorporates state-of-the-art equipment that
enables the performance of test work across the full Phalaborwa processing
flow sheet.  Establishing our own in-house facility allows for the execution
and analysis of this critical optimisation and separation test work at an
accelerated rate and at a much lower cost than using third party facilities.
We have identified the key priority focus areas for the test work, and I look
forward to announcing the results of the various stages of the ongoing
programme as these become available.

This optimisation work will further enhance the economic resilience of a
project that is already deemed to be one of the highest margin REE projects in
development today, according to Argus Media.  At a time when the world
urgently needs diversified REE supply, Phalaborwa is poised to be a strategic
source of all four magnet rare earths."

 

Laboratory Update

The Rainbow laboratory in Johannesburg has now been in operation for ca. three
months and is equipped with state-of-the-art technology that allows for the
performance of leaching, ion exchange, precipitation and separation test work
across the full Phalaborwa processing flowsheet.

Most importantly, the laboratory features a cutting-edge ICP-MS (Inductively
Coupled Plasma - Mass Spectrometer) for analysis of samples taken from test
work, which enables the immediate assay of grades ranging from low parts per
billion to high purity to be reported internally. This level of accuracy is
vital for the evaluation of the Company's separation test work. The laboratory
is equipped to automate test work where possible to ensure accurate and rapid
results.

Turnaround times for these tests are therefore considerably faster than the
typical 72 hours to three weeks experienced when using external providers.
This rapid turnaround ensures that test work can be continuously progressed in
a targeted and informed manner based on previous test results.

By carrying out the test and assay work at in-house facilities, the Company
has delivered significant savings compared to using third party providers and
expects to pay back the modest cost of building the laboratory within a few
months.

 

Following the Interim Study released in December 2024, test work and
associated work has been focused on:

1.    Undertaking trade-off studies for the leaching circuit to minimise
both operating and capital costs

2.    Maximising rare earth recovery and impurity rejection via CIX

3.    Definition of the optimal path to purification of the mixed rare
earth feed ahead of final separation

Further information on these key work programmes is as follows:

 

1.    Trade-off studies to optimise the leach circuit

 

The leach circuit is estimated to represent ca. 80% of the Phalaborwa
flowsheet and therefore offers the best opportunities for cost optimisation.
While Phalaborwa's capital and operating costs are already considerably lower
than the majority of the rare earth peer group, the work that was done during
the project's Interim Study identified areas where further test work and
trade-off studies have potential to reduce costs, making Phalaborwa even more
resilient in terms of its economics.

 

The key optimisation opportunities identified, which are expected to deliver
savings in power, reagent, labour and capital costs, are:

 

·    Replacing the three-stage 30˚c leaching circuit with a two-stage
higher temperature leach circuit with reduced residence times

·    Mechanical vs hydraulic reclamation of the phosphogypsum

·    On-site sulphuric acid plant vs acid supplied from a third party

·    The cost and supply resilience of third-party green energy vs Eskom
power supply

The Company intends to use the results of the trade-off studies to provide the
market with an update as to the potential impact on capital and operating
costs for the project ahead of the DFS publication.

 

 

2.    Maximising rare earth recovery and impurity rejection

The extensive piloting work carried out to date has established that the
production of a high grade, low impurity feed stream to the separation process
is key to achieving separated rare earth oxides of the desired purity level.

The development of the leaching process has successfully managed impurity
build-up in the leach solution to prevent the impact of impurities on the
extraction of rare earths from the phosphogypsum. The Company has seen the
benefits in using CIX as the primary process to recover the rare earths from
the leach solution, which is expected to successfully reduce impurities in an
efficient and cost-effective way, producing a low impurity feed stream for
separation.

A number of resins and eluants have been tested at bench scale to select the
configurations of the primary IX rare earth recovery circuit to be used for
pilot scale test work.

3.    Definition of the optimal path to final separation

Early testing is underway looking at key impurity levels from the primary CIX
and proven rejection techniques ahead of separation. For the separation test
work it is important that the leaching and recovery options are finalised to
ensure a representative feed. Ahead of the final purification results, early
ion chromatography separation tests are underway to establish rare earth
performance under various configurations. These tests are expected to
accelerate the development of the final recipe once the purification steps are
complete.

Rainbow looks forward to announcing progress on the various stages of the
ongoing test work in due course.

The Rainbow Rare Earths Curation Connect showcase can be found here: 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)

 

 

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

                                              Tara Vivian-Neal       rainbowrareearths@tavistock.co.uk (mailto:rainbowrareearths@tavistock.co.uk)
 Curation Connect          Investor platform  Calum Marris           +44 (0) 7828 327 829

                                                                     calum.marris@curationcorp.com (mailto:calum.marris@curationcorp.com)
 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/) and www.curationconnect.com
(http://www.curationconnect.com)

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