Ferro-Alloy Resources is evaluating the recovery of rare earth elements from its Balasausqandiq vanadium project in Kazakhstan under a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with California-based Maglut Heavy Industries.
The proposed process would recover rare earth materials from residual solutions left after vanadium extraction, potentially adding another revenue stream without materially changing the project’s core vanadium processing flowsheet.
Initial test work reported by Ferro-Alloy Resources achieved separation of all 16 rare earth elements identified in the tested material. The company also reported purities above 99% for economically important elements, including neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium and yttrium.
Average reported separation recovery was approximately 91.4%, providing a basis for further technical evaluation. However, additional testing, engineering, process optimisation and economic assessments are required before the proposed recovery process can be considered commercially viable.
The companies are assessing potential production capacity of up to 1,000 tonnes per year of mixed rare earth concentrate from the main project. They are also evaluating an intermediate-scale project with potential production of approximately 100 tonnes annually.
The proposed relationship with Maglut could provide a route into the US market for the recovered material. However, the memorandum is nonbinding, and definitive commercial agreements have yet to be concluded.
Ferro-Alloy Resources Ltd (LON:FAR) is developing the giant Balasausqandiq vanadium deposit in Kyzylordinskaya oblast of southern Kazakhstan. The ore at this deposit is unlike that of nearly all other primary vanadium deposits and is capable of being treated by a much lower cost process.
