Brazilian Critical Minerals Ltd (ASX: BCM), a mineral exploration company focused on discovering and developing world-class rare earth deposits, has announced the successful completion of an initial bench-scale test to enrich pregnant liquor solution (PLS) and extract major rare earth elements as high purity separated oxides. The test was conducted through the Rare Earth Technologies Inc (RETi) plant in Cincinnati, Ohio. This advancement marks a significant step in BCM’s strategy to maximise recoverable value and revenue potential from its rare earth projects.
The testing process, utilising RETi’s proprietary processing equipment and expertise, achieved a 200-fold upgrade in rare earth concentration, increasing from 930 ppm to 186,000 ppm (18.6%) TREO-Ce. This enrichment was achieved with 100% recovery of rare earth elements, concentrating all REEs into a small acid volume. Furthermore, the system cleanly separated all major rare earth oxides into individual products over a 24-minute cycle time, achieving a minimum purity of 99.9% for each oxide.
According to BCM’s Managing Director, Andrew Reid, the RETi bench-scale test indicated the technology is capable of achieving a substantial upgrade from feed to product, delivering cleanly separated rare earth oxides with minimal impurity carryover in a single processing route. RETi’s technology uses 100% environmentally safe, non-toxic solvents and proprietary column chemistry, designed to be cleaner and faster than traditional methods. Steve Levin, President & COO of RETI, noted the BCM PLS solution as an excellent candidate for RETI’s midstream rare earth processing solutions.
BCM plans further test work to determine potential scale, commercial applicability and independent validation in 2026. The company believes this process further enhances the already high ESG credentials of the Ema ISR project. BCM is currently engaging with regulators regarding permitting approvals and has commenced a bankable feasibility study due for completion in Q1 2026.
