Special report: Brazilian Critical Minerals is moving to the next step in the evolution of the Ema rare earths project in Brazil after being granted a water use permit by the Amazonas state Environmental Protection Institute (IPAAM).
The two-year permit supports a field pilot trial to assess the in-situ permeability of the clay profile hosting the rare earths along with hydraulic modelling to assess the residual chemistry of the leached profile post rare earth extraction.
It allows Brazilian Critical Minerals (ASX:BCM) to pump water at the site and paves the way for the gathering of key information for the next study phase.
To date, BCM has completed numerous field slug tests and laboratory column tests within Brazil and at the Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation (ANSTO) in Sydney.
These tests show there is a degree of permeability within the weathered clays that allows solution flow and the ability to ionically recover rare earths into solution.
BCM has engaged WSP Brazil to supervise the field trial and purchase all residual materials and equipment required.
This entails the purchase of technical-specific equipment, field set-up and independent operation of the in-situ trial, which will run for several months.
The trial will also include extensive final washing of the weathered profile to provide key information for the environmental permitting process.
“We are very thankful to IPAAM and pleased to have received this permit which now allows us to fully test, in-situ, the permeability of the clays which will in course determine the rate of extraction of the rare earths that we can expect,” BCM managing director Andrew Reid said.
Testing of material from the Ema project at ANSTO recently delivered recoveries beyond those of the recent scoping study.
The 943Mt at 716ppm TREO ionic adsorbed clay (IAC) rare earth elements project boasts 90% of its basket of metals in magnet rare earth oxides, high value commodities used in EV motors, wind turbines, air conditioners and defence applications.
The scoping study showed the project could produce close to 100,000t of rare earths over 20 years with life of mine costs of US$6.15/kg TREO and US$16.95/kg NdPr – making the US$55m development the cheapest rare earths mine to build and run globally.
While metallurgical recoveries were already averaging 68% MREO, representing some of the highest for these types of deposits anywhere in the world, the results with ANSTO delivered 74% MREO recovery and 62% (TREO + Y) recovery.
The results boosted BCM’s confidence in being able to replicate these lab tests in the field with the pilot trial.
“This phase of work is hugely important to inform our next study phase, in being able to design the detailed rare earth extraction system based on clay conditions and in-situ data,” Reid said.
All wellfield drill holes have been completed and final procurement of items is being finalised prior to the start of the field trial.
The field trial is set to start in Q2, 2025.
In a previous instalment of the Explorers Podcast, host Barry FitzGerald spoke with BCM managing director Andrew Reid about the company’s scoping study on its Ema project in Brazil, highlighting ultra-low capital and operating costs.
This article was developed in collaboration with Brazilian Critical Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
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