Harena Resources confirms high recoveries of critical magnet metals from Ampasindava
Harena Resources () has released metallurgical test results from its 75% owned Ampasindava rare earths project in Madagascar.
The work confirms that ionic clay-hosted rare earth elements (REEs) from Ampasindava - including the strategically critical magnet metals neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb) - can be recovered efficiently using low-impact heap leach processes such as salt water or standard ammonium sulphate solutions.
The main extraction work showed promising recovery rates, including 88% for Nd, 73% for Dy, 67% for yttrium (Y), 86% for lanthanum, with low levels of gangue, thorium (Th) and uranium (U) supporting a clean environmental profile.
Additional work by SGS Lakefield, using a pH 5 ammonium sulphate solution, delivered strong results, including 87% Nd, 88% Pr, 71% Dy, 75% Tb and 63% Y.
And an optimal column heap leach test which ran over 218 hours, demonstrated recoveries of 88% Nd, 86% Pr, 73% Dy, 79% Tb and 67% Y using ammonium sulphate at a pH of 4.
"While early days in the programme, the high rare earth recovery results achieved in the SGS Lakefield test work are very encouraging,” said Joe Belladonna, Harena’s managing director.
“This demonstrates that the process to be employed at Ampasindava will be environmentally and ecologically friendly. Furthermore, the low-risk process, simple reagents utilised and no requirement for a tailing storage facility should benefit the economic and technical viability of Ampasindava."
Separately, the company also announced that its name change from Citius Resources to Harena Resources was official.
View from Vox
The race to secure heavy rare earth feed stocks for defence and new energy applications is accelerating. Projects like Ampasindava, that can demonstrate both technical viability and alignment with Western supply chain priorities, are increasingly in focus. Proving that Ampasindava extraction of critical magnet metals is both viable and clean is an important step forward for the company.
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