Critica produces second big mixed rare earths product

Critica has planted another flag in the fast-moving hunt for non-China based rare earths, revealing a second high-grade mixed rare earths product (MREP) from its Jupiter project in Western Australia’ Mid West region.

The latest batch, which was drawn from an entirely different part of the clay-hosted rare earths resource to the first samples, returned an eye-catching 86 per cent total rare earths oxides (TREO) at a 68 per cent recovery, once the ore was upgraded.

Similar to the first pilot production, metallurgical tests showed the beneficiated Jupiter concentrate can be leached using simple, scalable hydrometallurgical methods to produce a clean, high-purity oxide product.

The company says it also proves the deposit is capable of repeating the same stunning results from different domains within the project area with almost clinical precision.

The latest MREP numbers line up almost perfectly with October’s standout results, which delivered 83.6 per cent TREO at a 68 per cent recovery rate. Notably the magnet rare earths such as neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium rocketed more than 40,000 to 60,000 per cent above their in-situ grades, while heavyweight yttrium has exploded more than 30,000 per cent, jumping from just 74 part per million (ppm) in the resource to more than 24,000ppm.

The Jupiter deposit, which sits within the company’s broader Brothers project, 50km west of the historic town of Mt Magnet, hosts Australia’s biggest and highest-grade clay-hosted magnet based rare earths resource, with a massive 640 million tonnes grading 490 parts per million (ppm) of the sought-after magnet rare earth oxides.

Critical to the future economics of the project, Jupiter also has an ultra-low uranium and thorium content and lies in a Tier-1 jurisdiction close to rare earths processing hubs such as Lynas Corporation’s Kalgoorlie operations, ports, rail and energy infrastructure.

The project is notably rich in high-value neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium oxides which are the lifeblood of industrial permanent magnets used in the manufacture of electric vehicles, renewable power generation, energy storage devices and defence technology applications.

Critica Limited chief executive officer Jacob Deysel Producing a second high-grade MREO at 86% TREO from a different domain within Jupiter is a major validation step for Critica. We are seeing exactly what a scalable project should demonstrate—consistent, repeatable upgrade of the four high-value Magnet Rare Earths and Yttrium from the global resource, through beneficiation, and into final product.

With China still controlling more than 90 per cent of the global downstream rare earths supply chain, the latest results appear to reinforce Jupiter’s standing as a strategically important, scalable, Western-aligned rare earths development. In particular, the impressive upgrade in yttrium - a metal tightly controlled by Beijing - only seems to strengthen Jupiter’s hand even further.

Critica’s metallurgical work is being backed by serious technical muscle. The company’s 3,000-kilogram beneficiation pilot plant in Hanoi is being commissioned with the help of Vietnam’s Centre of Science and Technology of Minerals and Environment (GAVQ).

Once up and running, the company says the facility will help lock in final product specifications for magnet rare earths, yttrium, gallium and other by-products. The results will then feed directly into a scoping study due in the first half of 2026.

Meanwhile, the government-backed Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and Perth-based Minutech are continuing to run hydrometallurgical programs to fine-tune the beneficiation process.

Meanwhile, the government-backed Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) is running extraction, leaching and recovery tests on upgraded Jupiter concentrates and brings decades of expertise in rare earth chemistry and uranium-thorium management.

Additionally, Perth-based Minutech-AMML- one of Australia’s most experienced hydrometallurgical laboratories, is also in the mix, putting the concentrate through acid leaching, impurity removal and precipitation.

With two high-grade mixed rare earths products now delivered from separate parts of the orebody, a pilot plant about to shift into gear and three specialist laboratories all converging on the same consistent results, Critica appears to be closing in on a technically robust, rare earths solution at exactly the moment global markets are crying out for supply.

And with $8 million safely banked from a fresh capital raise - pushing its war chest to nearly $12 million once the R&D rebate drops – the company has the firepower to keep its foot down as Jupiter accelerates toward its next major milestones.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au