Australian mining firms report advances in mineral processing technology

West Cobar Metals is conducting testing at its Salazar critical minerals project in Western Australia to optimize scandium recovery. Initial sizing tests performed by Australian Laboratory Services (ALS) in Perth indicate that material finer than 38 micrometres can concentrate 61% of the scandium within 51% of the sample mass, while reducing iron content to 33%. This process could potentially increase the scandium grade by approximately 20% above the composite feed grade and concentrate alumina in the fine fraction.

Separately, Mount Ridley Mines has reported successful third-party metallurgical testing of its patent-pending Selectro process. Using a bauxite sample from the Darling Range project, the process achieved a 91.9% recovery rate for aluminium and a 96.7% recovery rate for iron. The method operates at temperatures below 100 degrees Celsius, which is 50% cooler than the traditional Bayer process. Unlike conventional refining, which produces significant quantities of caustic red mud waste, the Selectro leach produces a small, pH-neutral residue representing only 25% of the original feed mass.