Cobra's Wudinna Keeps 91% of Recovery on 40% Less Reagent
Original announcement by cruxinvestor on
- Company
- Cobra Resources
- Ticker
- COBR
- Exchange
- Unavailable
- Region
- South Australia
- Primary commodity
- Rare earth
- Secondary commodities
- Uranium
- Document categories
- Metallurgy
- Extracted
- 2026-09-17 19:18:26 UTC
Analysis by Minestarters Atlas
Atlas analysis published:
Minestarters Atlas analysis
Summary
Cobra Resources has completed 24-hour desorption tests at its Wudinna rare earth project, establishing a measured recovery curve for the Boland and Head prospects. The results demonstrate that reducing ammonium sulfate concentration by 40% at Boland retains over 90% of the NdPr recovery, and even reagent-free acidified groundwater provides a significant recovery floor.
Reasoning: The desorption tests provide a quantified recovery envelope across varying reagent strengths and pH levels, significantly de-risking the technical aspect of the in situ recovery (ISR) method for the scoping study.
Positive factors
- Measured recovery curve established
- High recovery retention with reduced reagent concentration
- Significant reagent-free recovery baseline
- Bench-scale testing confirms ISR amenability
Negative factors
- Commercial reagent consumption not yet established
- Head prospect shows lower absolute recovery than Boland
- Uranium recovery highly sensitive to reagent removal
Facts used in scoring: 5
Classification and evidence
Bench Scale Onlynegative
Only preliminary bench tests completed — no locked-cycle or pilot work.
Why it applies: The document describes 'bench-scale testing' and '24-hour desorption tests' on composites, which are preliminary screening-level tests.
Evidence · text
“Bench-scale testing indicates the mineralization is amenable to ISR recovery techniques.”
Multi-Domain Testedpositive
Variability across ore domains (oxide, transition, fresh) has been addressed.
Why it applies: 2 distinct composites were tested
Extracted facts
Stored fact records: 5. Some facts used in scoring do not have a stored record.
Metallurgical Results (5)
desorption testsWudinna · neodymium and praseodymiumRecovery: 77 %Head Grade: 605Head Grade Unit: ppmView all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Wudinna
- Commodity
- neodymium and praseodymium
- Region
- australia_sa
- Reported Region
- South Australia
- Ticker
- COBR
Test Work
- Program Status
- preliminary
- Test Type
- desorption tests
- Processing Route
- in situ recovery (ISR)
- Sample
- Boland composite, 0.5 M AMSUL, pH 3
Recovery
- Recovery
- 77 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
- Head Grade
- 605
- Head Grade Unit
- ppm
Lab
- Laboratory
- ANSTO
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: Baseline high recovery for the prospect under matched conditions.
Positive factors
- High recovery at full strength
Evidence · text
“At pH 3, the Boland composite recovered 77% of its neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr)”
desorption testsWudinna · neodymium and praseodymiumRecovery: 70 %Head Grade: 605Head Grade Unit: ppmView all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Wudinna
- Commodity
- neodymium and praseodymium
- Region
- australia_sa
- Reported Region
- South Australia
- Ticker
- COBR
Test Work
- Program Status
- preliminary
- Test Type
- desorption tests
- Processing Route
- in situ recovery (ISR)
- Sample
- Boland composite, 0.3 M AMSUL, pH 3
Recovery
- Recovery
- 70 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
- Head Grade
- 605
- Head Grade Unit
- ppm
Lab
- Laboratory
- ANSTO
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: Demonstrates strong economic potential by maintaining ~91% of recovery with significantly less reagent.
Positive factors
- High recovery retention despite 40% reagent reduction
Evidence · text
“Moving to 0.3 M, a 40% reduction in reagent concentration, returned 70% NdPr”
desorption testsWudinna · neodymium and praseodymiumRecovery: 51 %Head Grade: 605Head Grade Unit: ppmView all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Wudinna
- Commodity
- neodymium and praseodymium
- Region
- australia_sa
- Reported Region
- South Australia
- Ticker
- COBR
Test Work
- Program Status
- preliminary
- Test Type
- desorption tests
- Processing Route
- in situ recovery (ISR)
- Sample
- Boland composite, reagent-free acidified groundwater, pH 3
Recovery
- Recovery
- 51 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
- Head Grade
- 605
- Head Grade Unit
- ppm
Lab
- Laboratory
- ANSTO
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: Establishes a baseline recovery level that reduces the absolute reagent requirement.
Positive factors
- Significant recovery floor without external reagent
Evidence · text
“acidified site groundwater with no added AMSUL still recovered 51% NdPr”
desorption testsWudinna · neodymium and praseodymiumRecovery: 40 %Head Grade: 706Head Grade Unit: ppmView all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Wudinna
- Commodity
- neodymium and praseodymium
- Region
- australia_sa
- Reported Region
- South Australia
- Ticker
- COBR
Test Work
- Program Status
- preliminary
- Test Type
- desorption tests
- Processing Route
- in situ recovery (ISR)
- Sample
- Head composite, 0.5 M AMSUL, pH 3
Recovery
- Recovery
- 40 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
- Head Grade
- 706
- Head Grade Unit
- ppm
Lab
- Laboratory
- ANSTO
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: Shows different metallurgical response at Head prospect compared to Boland.
Negative factors
- Lower absolute recovery compared to Boland
Evidence · text
“At 0.5 M and pH 3, the Head prospect recovered 40% NdPr”
desorption testsWudinna · uraniumRecovery: 29 %Head Grade: 605Head Grade Unit: ppmView all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Wudinna
- Commodity
- uranium
- Region
- australia_sa
- Reported Region
- South Australia
- Ticker
- COBR
Test Work
- Program Status
- preliminary
- Test Type
- desorption tests
- Processing Route
- in situ recovery (ISR)
- Sample
- Boland composite, 0.5 M AMSUL vs 0.0 M AMSUL, pH 3
Recovery
- Recovery
- 29 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
- Head Grade
- 605
- Head Grade Unit
- ppm
Lab
- Laboratory
- ANSTO
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: Uranium recovery drops significantly when reagent is removed, indicating a potential byproduct recovery risk.
Negative factors
- High sensitivity to reagent removal
Evidence · text
“reducing AMSUL from 0.5 M to 0.0 M reduced uranium recovery from 29% to 5%”
How Atlas produces this analysis
Minestarters Atlas uses automated extraction to summarize mining announcements, identify reported measurements, and classify supporting evidence. Sentiment reflects the extracted narrative and classification rules; it is an interpretation, not a reported measurement. Evidence quotes and context are provided where available. Missing data, low-confidence results, and review flags indicate limitations. Check the original publisher announcement before relying on an interpretation.