Cobra Resources PLC on Monday said it has achieved high recoveries at its Boland project in South Australia, following the completion of an in situ recovery bench scale study.

The mining company with operations in South Australia said the study has confirmed that in situ recovery is a suitable mining technique to use at the Boland project, supporting the company’s goal to commercialise the ionic rare earths project.

Total rare earth oxide recoveries increased to 56% from 50%; valuable magnet rare earth oxides recoveries rose to 57% from 48%, and strategic heavy rare earth oxides recoveries grew to 50% from 43%.

The study also reported low levels of impurities, alongside low levels of acid consumption.

Chief Executive Officer Rupert Verco said: ‘These further improvements in recoveries validate the potential low cost of production that Boland could deliver and, in the context of rare earth projects, achieving 57% [magnet rare earth oxides] recoveries from a high grade, 0.5% [total rare earth oxide], sample at such a benign acidity is a fantastic result. In addition, achieving these recoveries through a process that eliminates physical mining and clay treatment is truly exceptional.

‘Follow-up impurity removal tests will advance the development of our flowsheet. We anticipate that the results of this work will be available in four to five weeks, where expect to demonstrate the value of Boland in the form of a saleable product.

‘We are taking a strategic approach to demonstrating the significance of our opportunity, carefully de-risking the project at every step along the commercialisation pathway. We aim to demonstrate a simple, low-cost process for impurity removal to produce a high-purity product, well-weighted with heavy rare earths of crucial importance to modern technology and the global energy transition.’

Shares in Cobra Resources were up 8.3% at 1.30 pence each in London on Monday morning.

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