VHM Ltd, an Australian mineral sands and rare earths company working with ANSTO's Minerals team, has recently announced successful results for its flagship project, the Goschen Rare Earths and Minerals Sands Project.
The project, based in Victoria's northwest region, has a rare earth deposit of over 400,000 tonnes of total rare earth oxide, and will produce critical minerals as listed on the Australian critical minerals list.
Over the last 5 years, ANSTO's dedicated minerals team has closely worked with VHM in providing rare earth processing expertise to design and test a process for recovering rare earths. These include the critical light rare earths of Neodymium and Praseodymium, and the critical heavy rare earths of Dysprosium and Terbium.
The conventional sulphate bake pathway converts rare earth mineral concentrate to mixed rare earth carbonate through the process stages of water leaching and purification.
The latest results shared by VHM earlier this month outline the successful outcomes of its Pilot Hydromet Plant and the production of high quality Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate for the Goschen Project.
Acting General Manager for the Minerals Team at ANSTO, Dr Karin Soldenhoff, congratulated VHM on reaching this milestone in the Goschen Project.
"This project is another step forward in enhancing Australia's sovereignty in rare earth processing capacity and unlocking critical minerals supply chains for the benefit of the Australian economy."
Critical minerals, which include rare earth elements, are growing in global demand as a crucial component for the clean energy and renewable technologies market. They're used to manufacture key technologies that will assist Australia to transition to net zero emissions, such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, batteries, and energy-efficient technologies like LEDs.
