Operation of the first of the Company’s Rare Earth Processing pilot plants – Phase 5 Rare Earth Purification and Precipitation – is now complete. This phase of piloting takes NdPr-rich rare earth sulphate material through purification and precipitation processes to produce rare earth hydroxide. The pilot ran continuously over a five-day period at ALS Metallurgical Services (ALS) facilities in Perth, processing feedstock from Arafura’s Acid Bake pilot plant (refer to ASX announcements 7 August and 30 August 2018).
Arafura process engineers closely monitored several important operational performance parameters over the duration of the pilot, including solid-liquid separation, reagent dosing, temperature profiles
and residence time across each unit operation of the process.
Rare earth hydroxide precipitate produced from the pilot will feed the Company’s Phase 6 (Rare Earth Dissolution and Evaporation) pilot plant. This is scheduled to commence at ALS within a week.
ALS enquiries
Hamid Sheriff, Group General Manager - Metallurgy Services
+61 8 9344 2416
Arafura enquiries
Gavin Lockyer, Managing Director
+61 8 6210 7666
