# Critical Metals says it has ‘cracked’ eudialyte hurdle, plans $2.2B a year refinery in Romania Canonical Atlas analysis: https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/critical-metals-says-it-has-cracked-eudialyte-hurdle-plans-2-2b-a-year-refinery--e84b236c-5c08-4c45-961b-9fd7452056ec Original source: https://www.mining.com/critical-metals-says-it-has-cracked-eudialyte-hurdle-plans-2-2b-a-year-refinery-in-romania/ Publisher: miningcom Original announcement: 2026-09-16T23:58:24.000Z Analysis by Minestarters Atlas Atlas analysis published: 2026-09-17T00:18:37.880Z Atlas analysis updated: 2026-09-17T00:18:37.880Z - Company: Critical Metals - Ticker: CRML - Exchange: Unavailable - Region: Greenland - Primary commodity: Rare earth - Secondary commodities: Zirconium, Hafnium, Niobium, Tantalum, Silica - Document categories: Metallurgy, Other - Extracted: 2026-09-17 00:18:38 UTC Narrative sentiment: 0.80 · Bullish ## Minestarters Atlas summary Critical Metals has announced a patent-pending process that achieves >99% dissolution of eudialyte concentrate, overcoming a major metallurgical hurdle. The company plans to build a $2.2 billion-a-year refinery in Romania to process feedstock from its Tanbreez project in Greenland, targeting high-purity rare earth and critical metal products. Reasoning: The announcement details a major metallurgical breakthrough for eudialyte processing and a large-scale refinery plan with strong projected economics. - Positive factor: High recovery \(>99%\) of eudialyte concentrate - Positive factor: Significant byproduct revenue from SiO2 - Positive factor: Strong project economics \(55% IRR, $4.5B NPV10\) - Positive factor: Addresses major metallurgical hurdle \(silica gel formation\) - Negative factor: Projected refinery is in a different jurisdiction \(Romania\) than the resource \(Greenland\) - Negative factor: Projections are based on current modelling and subject to further metallurgical test work Facts used in scoring: 4 ## Classification and evidence **High Recovery** Polarity: positive Definition: Recovery at or above the exceptional band for the commodity and processing route. Why it applies: The process dissolves more than 99% of eudialyte concentrate. Evidence · text > dissolves more than 99% of eudialyte concentrate **Mill Route** Polarity: neutral Definition: Processing via mill or concentrator \(CIL, CIP, tank leach, flotation\). Why it applies: the document describes a flotation route \("concentrate"\) **Multi-Domain Tested** Polarity: positive Definition: Variability across ore domains \(oxide, transition, fresh\) has been addressed. Why it applies: 3 distinct composites were tested ## Extracted facts Stored fact records: 4. Some facts used in scoring do not have a stored record. ## Metallurgical Results (4) ### multistage, mixed-acid leach [Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/critical-metals-says-it-has-cracked-eudialyte-hurdle-plans-2-2b-a-year-refinery--e84b236c-5c08-4c45-961b-9fd7452056ec#fact-metallurgical-facts-0) Tanbreez · rare earth #### Identity - Project: Tanbreez - Commodity: rare earth - Region: greenland - Reported Region: Greenland - Ticker: CRML #### Test Work - Program Status: optimization - Test Type: multistage, mixed-acid leach - Processing Route: multistage, mixed-acid leach process operating at elevated temperatures, followed by cascading recovery steps - Sample: eudialyte concentrate from Tanbreez project #### Recovery - Recovery: 99 % #### Review - Needs Review: No - Historical: No #### Dates - Event date: 2026-09-16T00:00:00.000Z Reasoning: The reported recovery of >99% for eudialyte concentrate is exceptional for this complex mineralogy. - Positive factor: Extremely high recovery \(>99%\) Evidence · text > dissolves more than 99% of eudialyte concentrate from its Tanbreez project #### Tags used in scoring **Byproduct Commodity** Polarity: neutral Definition: The tested commodity is a byproduct rather than the primary economic driver. Why it applies: the release describes a byproduct credit ### Fact 2 [Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/critical-metals-says-it-has-cracked-eudialyte-hurdle-plans-2-2b-a-year-refinery--e84b236c-5c08-4c45-961b-9fd7452056ec#fact-metallurgical-facts-1) Tanbreez · hafnium #### Identity - Project: Tanbreez - Commodity: hafnium - Region: greenland - Reported Region: Greenland - Ticker: CRML #### Test Work - Program Status: scoping - Processing Route: established processing technologies - Sample: high-purity hafnium metal #### Review - Needs Review: No - Historical: No #### Dates - Event date: 2026-09-16T00:00:00.000Z Reasoning: Projected production volumes for hafnium metal. - Positive factor: Uses established processing technologies Evidence · text > produce approximately 50-70 tons per annum of high-purity hafnium metal #### Tags used in scoring **Byproduct Commodity** Polarity: neutral Definition: The tested commodity is a byproduct rather than the primary economic driver. Why it applies: the release describes a byproduct credit ### Fact 3 [Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/critical-metals-says-it-has-cracked-eudialyte-hurdle-plans-2-2b-a-year-refinery--e84b236c-5c08-4c45-961b-9fd7452056ec#fact-metallurgical-facts-2) Tanbreez · hafnium #### Identity - Project: Tanbreez - Commodity: hafnium - Region: greenland - Reported Region: Greenland - Ticker: CRML #### Test Work - Program Status: scoping - Processing Route: established processing technologies - Sample: high-purity hafnium chloride #### Review - Needs Review: No - Historical: No #### Dates - Event date: 2026-09-16T00:00:00.000Z Reasoning: Projected production volumes for hafnium chloride. Evidence · text > approximately 20-30 tons per annum of high-purity hafnium chloride #### Tags used in scoring **Byproduct Commodity** Polarity: neutral Definition: The tested commodity is a byproduct rather than the primary economic driver. Why it applies: the release describes a byproduct credit ### Fact 4 [Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/critical-metals-says-it-has-cracked-eudialyte-hurdle-plans-2-2b-a-year-refinery--e84b236c-5c08-4c45-961b-9fd7452056ec#fact-metallurgical-facts-3) Tanbreez · silica #### Identity - Project: Tanbreez - Commodity: silica - Region: greenland - Reported Region: Greenland - Ticker: CRML #### Test Work - Program Status: scoping - Processing Route: silicate recovery system - Sample: high purity SiO2 powder #### Review - Needs Review: No - Historical: No #### Dates - Event date: 2026-09-16T00:00:00.000Z Reasoning: Projected high-purity silica byproduct production. - Positive factor: Significant revenue contributor from waste stream Evidence · text > Projected by-products include 25,670 tons per year of high purity SiO2 powder #### Tags used in scoring **Byproduct Commodity** Polarity: neutral Definition: The tested commodity is a byproduct rather than the primary economic driver. Why it applies: the release describes a byproduct credit ## 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.