Mount Ridley lifts rare earth, scandium recoveries as trademarked Selectro cuts reagent dose
Original announcement by stockhead on
- Company
- Mount Ridley Mines
- Ticker
- MRD
- Exchange
- Unavailable
- Region
- Western Australia
- Primary commodity
- Rare earth
- Secondary commodities
- Scandium, Gallium
- Document categories
- Metallurgy, Resource update
- Extracted
- 2026-09-17 01:04:03 UTC
Analysis by Minestarters Atlas
Atlas analysis published:
Minestarters Atlas analysis
Summary
Mount Ridley Mines reported improved scandium and rare earth recoveries using its proprietary Selectro leach process on Grass Patch material. Notably, these improvements were achieved while halving the reagent dose compared to previous tests, although gallium recoveries decreased.
Reasoning: The metallurgical results show strong recovery improvements for scandium and rare earths while significantly reducing reagent consumption, though gallium recovery saw a decline.
Positive factors
- Significant increase in scandium recovery (91.8%)
- Improved rare earth recoveries (HREE 84%, LREE 77%)
- Halved reagent dose achieved
- Proprietary Selectro process demonstrates cost-saving potential
Negative factors
- Gallium recovery declined from 55.8% to 41.5%
- Testing is still at laboratory scale
Facts used in scoring: 6
Classification and evidence
High Recoverypositive
Recovery at or above the exceptional band for the commodity and processing route.
Why it applies: Scandium recovery of 91.8% is exceptional for the context.
Evidence · text
“scandium recovery increased from 80% in Test 2 to 91.8%”
Inferred Resourcenegative
Speculative category — limited drilling, geological continuity assumed but not confirmed. Cannot support economic studies alone.
Why it applies: The scandium and rare earth resources are stated as being in the inferred category.
Evidence · text
“holds an inferred scandium resource”
Mill Routeneutral
Processing via mill or concentrator (CIL, CIP, tank leach, flotation).
Why it applies: the document describes a flotation route ("flotation")
Single Domain Onlynegative
Testing limited to one composite or domain — representativeness not established.
Why it applies: only one composite was tested
Extracted facts
Stored fact records: 6. Some facts used in scoring do not have a stored record.
Resource Estimates (2)
inferredGrass Patch · scandiumTonnes: 946000000Grade: 50.1Grade Unit: ppmContained Metal: 47357Contained Unit: tView all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Grass Patch
- Commodity
- scandium
- Region
- australia_wa
- Reported Region
- Western Australia
- Ticker
- MRD
Resource scope
- Estimate type
- resource
- Reporting standards
- jorc
- Resource group id
- resource:daf921ec6cf6400f9b6d
Resource Data
- Category
- inferred
- Tonnes
- 946000000
- Grade
- 50.1
- Grade Unit
- ppm
- Contained Metal
- 47357
- Contained Unit
- t
- Cutoff Grade
- 25
- Cutoff Unit
- ppm
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: Large inferred scandium resource reported at Grass Patch.
Positive factors
- World's largest publicly reported scandium JORC resource
Negative factors
- 100% Inferred category
Evidence · text
“Grass Patch project currently holds an inferred scandium resource of 946Mt at 50.1ppm for 47,357t contained scandium at a 25ppm cut-off”
Tags used in scoring
Inferred Resourcenegative
Speculative category — limited drilling, geological continuity assumed but not confirmed. Cannot support economic studies alone.
Why it applies: category is "inferred"
Cut-off Disclosedpositive
Cut-off grade used for resource reporting is clearly stated, enabling like-for-like comparison.
Why it applies: cutoff_grade is stated
JORC Compliantpositive
Resource estimate prepared in compliance with JORC Code (Australia) — high reporting standard.
Why it applies: reporting_standards includes jorc
No QP/CP Disclosurenegative
No Qualified Person or Competent Person named — lower credibility for the estimate. A QP/CP should be a member of a recognized professional association with relevant experience.
Why it applies: no Qualified or Competent Person is named anywhere in the release
inferredGrass Patch · rare earthTonnes: 122546000Grade: 889Grade Unit: ppmContained Metal: 44610Contained Unit: tView all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Grass Patch
- Commodity
- rare earth
- Region
- australia_wa
- Reported Region
- Western Australia
- Ticker
- MRD
Resource scope
- Estimate type
- resource
- Reporting standards
- jorc
- Resource group id
- resource:c36c910522e002384174
Resource Data
- Category
- inferred
- Tonnes
- 122546000
- Grade
- 889
- Grade Unit
- ppm
- Contained Metal
- 44610
- Contained Unit
- t
- Cutoff Grade
- 300
- Cutoff Unit
- ppm TREO
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: Significant HREE-rich rare earth resource reported.
Negative factors
- 100% Inferred category
Evidence · text
“122.546Mt HREE-rich rare earth resource at 889ppm TREO, including 364ppm HREO and 44,610t contained HREO, at a 300ppm TREO cut-off”
Tags used in scoring
Inferred Resourcenegative
Speculative category — limited drilling, geological continuity assumed but not confirmed. Cannot support economic studies alone.
Why it applies: category is "inferred"
Cut-off Disclosedpositive
Cut-off grade used for resource reporting is clearly stated, enabling like-for-like comparison.
Why it applies: cutoff_grade is stated
JORC Compliantpositive
Resource estimate prepared in compliance with JORC Code (Australia) — high reporting standard.
Why it applies: reporting_standards includes jorc
No QP/CP Disclosurenegative
No Qualified Person or Competent Person named — lower credibility for the estimate. A QP/CP should be a member of a recognized professional association with relevant experience.
Why it applies: no Qualified or Competent Person is named anywhere in the release
Metallurgical Results (4)
leachGrass Patch · scandiumRecovery: 91.8 %View all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Grass Patch
- Commodity
- scandium
- Region
- australia_wa
- Reported Region
- Western Australia
- Ticker
- MRD
Test Work
- Program Status
- preliminary
- Test Type
- leach
- Processing Route
- Selectro leach process
- Sample
- Test 3 on unbeneficiated Grass Patch feed
Recovery
- Recovery
- 91.8 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: Scandium recovery increased significantly from 80% in Test 2 to 91.8% in Test 3.
Positive factors
- Program-high recovery of 91.8%
Evidence · text
“scandium recovery increased from 80% in Test 2 to 91.8%”
leachGrass Patch · rare earthRecovery: 84 %View all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Grass Patch
- Commodity
- rare earth
- Region
- australia_wa
- Reported Region
- Western Australia
- Ticker
- MRD
Test Work
- Program Status
- preliminary
- Test Type
- leach
- Processing Route
- Selectro leach process
- Sample
- Test 3 on unbeneficiated Grass Patch feed (HREE)
Recovery
- Recovery
- 84 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: HREE recoveries rose to 84% in Test 3.
Positive factors
- Improved HREE recovery
Evidence · text
“lifted average heavy rare earth (HREE) and light rare earth (LREE) recoveries to 84% and 77% respectively”
leachGrass Patch · rare earthRecovery: 77 %View all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Grass Patch
- Commodity
- rare earth
- Region
- australia_wa
- Reported Region
- Western Australia
- Ticker
- MRD
Test Work
- Program Status
- preliminary
- Test Type
- leach
- Processing Route
- Selectro leach process
- Sample
- Test 3 on unbeneficiated Grass Patch feed (LREE)
Recovery
- Recovery
- 77 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: LREE recoveries rose to 77% in Test 3.
Positive factors
- Improved LREE recovery
Evidence · text
“lifted average heavy rare earth (HREE) and light rare earth (LREE) recoveries to 84% and 77% respectively”
leachGrass Patch · galliumRecovery: 41.5 %View all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Grass Patch
- Commodity
- gallium
- Region
- australia_wa
- Reported Region
- Western Australia
- Ticker
- MRD
Test Work
- Program Status
- preliminary
- Test Type
- leach
- Processing Route
- Selectro leach process
- Sample
- Test 3 on unbeneficiated Grass Patch feed
Recovery
- Recovery
- 41.5 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: Gallium recovery saw a notable decline in the latest test.
Negative factors
- Recovery drop from 55.8% to 41.5%
Evidence · text
“gallium, which saw recoveries drop from 55.8% in Test 2 to about 41.5%”
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.