# Mount Ridley lifts rare earth, scandium recoveries as trademarked Selectro cuts reagent dose Canonical Atlas analysis: https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/mount-ridley-lifts-rare-earth-scandium-recoveries-as-trademarked-selectro-cuts-r--64e30853-9226-44be-8944-7a561e2f0bb7 Original source: https://stockhead.com.au/resources/mount-ridley-lifts-rare-earth-scandium-recoveries-as-trademarked-selectro-cuts-reagent-dose/ Publisher: stockhead Original announcement: 2026-09-17T00:52:34.000Z Analysis by Minestarters Atlas Atlas analysis published: 2026-09-17T01:04:02.489Z Atlas analysis updated: 2026-09-17T01:04:02.489Z - 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 Narrative sentiment: 0.60 · Bullish ## Minestarters Atlas 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 factor: Significant increase in scandium recovery \(91.8%\) - Positive factor: Improved rare earth recoveries \(HREE 84%, LREE 77%\) - Positive factor: Halved reagent dose achieved - Positive factor: Proprietary Selectro process demonstrates cost-saving potential - Negative factor: Gallium recovery declined from 55.8% to 41.5% - Negative factor: Testing is still at laboratory scale Facts used in scoring: 6 ## Classification and evidence **High Recovery** Polarity: positive Definition: 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 Resource** Polarity: negative Definition: 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 Route** Polarity: neutral Definition: Processing via mill or concentrator \(CIL, CIP, tank leach, flotation\). Why it applies: the document describes a flotation route \("flotation"\) **Single Domain Only** Polarity: negative Definition: 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) ### inferred [Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/mount-ridley-lifts-rare-earth-scandium-recoveries-as-trademarked-selectro-cuts-r--64e30853-9226-44be-8944-7a561e2f0bb7#fact-resource-facts-4) Grass Patch · scandium #### 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 factor: World's largest publicly reported scandium JORC resource - Negative factor: 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 Resource** Polarity: negative Definition: Speculative category — limited drilling, geological continuity assumed but not confirmed. Cannot support economic studies alone. Why it applies: category is "inferred" **Cut-off Disclosed** Polarity: positive Definition: Cut-off grade used for resource reporting is clearly stated, enabling like-for-like comparison. Why it applies: cutoff\_grade is stated **JORC Compliant** Polarity: positive Definition: Resource estimate prepared in compliance with JORC Code \(Australia\) — high reporting standard. Why it applies: reporting\_standards includes jorc **No QP/CP Disclosure** Polarity: negative Definition: 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 ### inferred [Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/mount-ridley-lifts-rare-earth-scandium-recoveries-as-trademarked-selectro-cuts-r--64e30853-9226-44be-8944-7a561e2f0bb7#fact-resource-facts-5) Grass Patch · rare earth #### 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 factor: 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 Resource** Polarity: negative Definition: Speculative category — limited drilling, geological continuity assumed but not confirmed. Cannot support economic studies alone. Why it applies: category is "inferred" **Cut-off Disclosed** Polarity: positive Definition: Cut-off grade used for resource reporting is clearly stated, enabling like-for-like comparison. Why it applies: cutoff\_grade is stated **JORC Compliant** Polarity: positive Definition: Resource estimate prepared in compliance with JORC Code \(Australia\) — high reporting standard. Why it applies: reporting\_standards includes jorc **No QP/CP Disclosure** Polarity: negative Definition: 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) ### leach [Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/mount-ridley-lifts-rare-earth-scandium-recoveries-as-trademarked-selectro-cuts-r--64e30853-9226-44be-8944-7a561e2f0bb7#fact-metallurgical-facts-0) Grass Patch · scandium #### 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 factor: Program-high recovery of 91.8% Evidence · text > scandium recovery increased from 80% in Test 2 to 91.8% ### leach [Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/mount-ridley-lifts-rare-earth-scandium-recoveries-as-trademarked-selectro-cuts-r--64e30853-9226-44be-8944-7a561e2f0bb7#fact-metallurgical-facts-1) Grass Patch · rare earth #### 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 factor: Improved HREE recovery Evidence · text > lifted average heavy rare earth \(HREE\) and light rare earth \(LREE\) recoveries to 84% and 77% respectively ### leach [Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/mount-ridley-lifts-rare-earth-scandium-recoveries-as-trademarked-selectro-cuts-r--64e30853-9226-44be-8944-7a561e2f0bb7#fact-metallurgical-facts-2) Grass Patch · rare earth #### 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 factor: Improved LREE recovery Evidence · text > lifted average heavy rare earth \(HREE\) and light rare earth \(LREE\) recoveries to 84% and 77% respectively ### leach [Link to this fact](https://atlas-staging.minestarters.com/news/mount-ridley-lifts-rare-earth-scandium-recoveries-as-trademarked-selectro-cuts-r--64e30853-9226-44be-8944-7a561e2f0bb7#fact-metallurgical-facts-3) Grass Patch · gallium #### 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 factor: 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.