Critica produces second big mixed rare earths product
Jacob Deysel, CEO of Critica Limited, said: “Producing a second high-grade MREO at 86% TREO from a different field within Jupiter is an important validation step for Critica. We see exactly what a scalable project should demonstrate: consistent, repeatable upgrading of four high-value Magnetic Rare Earths and Yttrium from the global source through enrichment and into the final product.”
While China still controls more than 90 percent of the global rare earths supply chain, the latest results appear to strengthen Jupiter’s position as a strategically important, scalable, Western-compatible rare earths development. In particular, the impressive rise in yttrium, a metal tightly controlled by Beijing, looks set to further strengthen Jupiter’s hand.
Critica’s metallurgical work is supported by significant technical power. The company’s 3,000-kilogram beneficiation pilot plant in Hanoi is being commissioned with the help of Vietnam’s Mineral and Environmental Science and Technology Center (GAVQ).
The company said it will help determine final product specifications for magnet rare earth elements, yttrium, gallium and other byproducts once the facility is operational. The results will then feed directly into a scoping study to be conducted in the first half of 2026.
Meanwhile, the government-backed Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) and Perth-based Minutech continue to run hydrometallurgy programs to fine-tune the enrichment process.
Meanwhile, the government-backed Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) is conducting extraction, leaching and recovery tests on upgraded Jupiter concentrates, bringing decades of expertise in rare earth chemistry and uranium-thorium management.
Additionally, Perth-based Minutech-AMML, one of Australia’s most experienced hydrometallurgical laboratories, is also involved in the mix, subjecting the concentrate to acid leaching, impurity removal and precipitation.
With two high-grade mixed rare earth products delivered from separate parts of the ore body, a pilot plant about to come online, and three specialist laboratories all converging on the same consistent results, Critica appears to be approaching a technically sound rare earths solution just when global markets are screaming for supply.
And with $8 million safely tucked away in a new capital raise (taking its war chest to nearly $12 million when the R&D discount drops), the company has the firepower to keep its foot down as Jupiter accelerates toward its next major milestones.
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