MRD: Selectro Delivers 92% Aluminium Recovery from Bauxite
Original announcement by asx on
- Company
- Mount Ridley Mines Limited
- Ticker
- MRD
- Exchange
- ASX
- Region
- Western Australia
- Primary commodity
- Aluminium
- Secondary commodities
- Iron ore
- Document categories
- Metallurgy
- Extracted
- 2026-10-14 23:16:50 UTC
Analysis by Minestarters Atlas
Atlas analysis published:
Minestarters Atlas analysis
Summary
Mount Ridley Mines reported successful first third-party testing of its Selectro™ process on a bauxite composite from the Darling Range, Western Australia. The test achieved 92% aluminium and 97% iron recovery, producing a pH-neutral, silica-rich residue instead of conventional caustic red mud.
Reasoning: The first third-party test of the Selectro™ process on bauxite yielded high recoveries and a more environmentally friendly residue, demonstrating significant technology expansion potential.
Positive factors
- High recovery of aluminium (92%) and iron (97%) on a first pass basis
- Demonstrates applicability of Selectro™ process beyond Grass Patch complex
- Produces a pH-neutral, silica-rich residue instead of caustic red mud
- Operates at significantly lower temperatures than the conventional Bayer process
Negative factors
- Chemistry has not yet been optimised for bauxite feed
- Results are on a first-pass basis
Facts used in scoring: 2
Classification and evidence
High Recoverypositive
Recovery at or above the exceptional band for the commodity and processing route.
Why it applies: Aluminium recovery of 91.9% and iron recovery of 96.7% are very high for a first-pass test.
Evidence · table
“91.9%”
Context: Aluminium (as Al2O3)
Bench Scale Onlynegative
Only preliminary bench tests completed — no locked-cycle or pilot work.
Why it applies: The test was conducted on a 1 kg composite sample, which is bench-scale.
Evidence · text
“single composite of approximately 1 kg”
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: 2. Some facts used in scoring do not have a stored record.
Metallurgical Results (2)
leachDarling Range bauxite project · aluminiumRecovery: 91.9 %Head Grade: 41.9Head Grade Unit: %View all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Darling Range bauxite project
- Commodity
- aluminium
- Region
- australia_wa
- Reported Region
- Western Australia
- Ticker
- MRD
Test Work
- Program Status
- preliminary
- Test Type
- leach
- Processing Route
- Selectro™ Process
- Sample
- composite bauxite sample from Darling Range bauxite project (Athena and Ceres prospects)
Recovery
- Recovery
- 91.9 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
- Head Grade
- 41.9
- Head Grade Unit
- %
Lab
- Laboratory
- ALS
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-10-14T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: High recovery achieved on first pass with a new feedstock.
Positive factors
- 91.9% recovery is strong for a first-pass, non-optimised test
Negative factors
- Chemistry not yet optimised for this specific feed
Evidence · table
“41.9%”
Context: Aluminium (as Al2O3)
Tags used in scoring
Byproduct Commodityneutral
The tested commodity is a byproduct rather than the primary economic driver.
Why it applies: the release describes a byproduct credit
leachDarling Range bauxite project · iron_oreRecovery: 96.7 %Head Grade: 13.6Head Grade Unit: %View all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Darling Range bauxite project
- Commodity
- iron_ore
- Region
- australia_wa
- Reported Region
- Western Australia
- Ticker
- MRD
Test Work
- Program Status
- preliminary
- Test Type
- leach
- Processing Route
- Selectro™ Process
- Sample
- composite bauxite sample from Darling Range bauxite project (Athena and Ceres prospects)
Recovery
- Recovery
- 96.7 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
- Head Grade
- 13.6
- Head Grade Unit
- %
Lab
- Laboratory
- ALS
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-10-14T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: Very high iron recovery demonstrated on first pass.
Positive factors
- 96.7% recovery of iron is exceptional
Evidence · table
“96.7%”
Context: Iron (as Fe2O3)
Tags used in scoring
Byproduct Commodityneutral
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.