European Resources Ltd (ERE.AX) ANSTO Test Work Raises Korsnas Magnet REE Extraction to 92%
Sydney, Aug 19, 2026 AEST (ABN Newswire) - European Resources Limited (
ASX:ERE) (PRSPF:OTCMKTS) advises the second set of downstream hydrometallurgical results from ANSTO Minerals on historical lanthanide concentrate stockpiled at the Company's 100%-owned Korsnas rare earth elements (REE) project in western Finland.
Highlights
- ANSTO Minerals' bench-scale test work has increased combined magnet rare earth extraction from 83% in the direct bake test to 92% after calcite removal.
- Neodymium and Praseodymium (NdPr) extraction increased to 94% and 92%, respectively; total rare earths plus yttrium (TREY) extraction increased from 86% to 93%.
- Hydrochloric acid pre-leaching achieved close to complete calcite removal, lifting TREY grade from 2.3 wt% to 3.9 wt%, while rare earth losses were generally 0-2%.
- Heavy rare earth response improved materially: terbium extraction rose by 20 percentage points to 69%, dysprosium by 23 points to 66%, and yttrium by 32 points to 75%.
- The result identifies calcite control as a key flowsheet lever. Physical rejection of calcite, including assessment previously reported High Gradient Magnetic Separation (HGMS) beneficiation pathway, will be further tested.
- European Resources to continue ANSTO program through extraction optimisation, impurity removal and precipitation, with a clear pathway to producing a bench-scale mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) sample.
Managing Director comment - Jason Beckton
"ANSTO's latest work has lifted combined magnet rare earth extraction from 83% to 92% after calcite removal. This is a sequential flowsheet-development story: identify the constraint, test it and measure the uplift. The result is a clear advance, and we intend to keep pushing through impurity removal and precipitation towards a bench-scale MREC product which will demonstrate the potential of our emerging and growing Finland rare earths project."
Technical comment - Dr Mark Steemson, Consulting Metallurgist and Process Engineer
"The calcite-removal test upgraded TREY from 2.3% to 3.9% with low rare earth losses, and the subsequent bake delivered the expected extraction uplift, particularly for the heavy rare earths. The chemical test establishes the technical case for calcite control. We now need to optimise it and compare it with physical rejection options. Calcite is non-magnetic, so HGMS is a logical candidate to investigate and has demonstrated promise, but that specific calcite-rejection result remains to be confirmed."
Continued Flowsheet Development
The new work follows the Company's 8 July 2026 announcement of 83% combined magnet rare earth extraction from a direct acid-bake/water-leach test. ANSTO has now tested the effect of removing calcite before the same bake and water-leach sequence. The resulting uplift to 92% magnet rare earth extraction and 93% TREY extraction confirms that calcite control can materially improve downstream performance.
The work is part of a continuing program, not an isolated test. It links ANSTO's downstream hydrometallurgy with the upstream beneficiation work being undertaken in Finland through the European Union-funded REMHub program. The Company intends to progressively combine these results into an integrated process route and extend the downstream program to a bench-scale MREC product.
ANSTO Progress Report #2 - Calcite Removal and Acid Bake
ANSTO's Progress Report number 2, dated 14 August 2026, reports a bench-scale calcite-removal leach followed by acid bake and water leaching of the calcite-free feed. The test sequence was designed to determine whether removal of calcite would improve rare earth extraction, possibly by reducing formation of calcium sulphate phases that may trap rare earths or by increasing acid dose relative to acid consumers.
Calcite-Removal Test
The historical concentrate was leached with hydrochloric acid. Calcium extraction of 69% was interpreted by ANSTO as close to complete calcite removal. Phosphorus extraction was only 0.02%, indicating that apatite and monazite were not materially leached under these conditions.
The pre-leach increased TREY grade from 2.3 wt% in the as-received feed to 3.9 wt% in the calcite-free residue - a relative uplift of approximately 70% - while reported rare earth losses were generally 0-2% and at or close to analytical detection limits.
Acid Bake/Water-Leach Test on Calcite-Free Feed
The calcite-free residue was then tested under the same acid-bake and water-leach conditions used for the earlier direct-bake test: The results are bench-scale extraction results and are not plant recoveries or production forecasts.
Light rare earth extraction from calcite-free feed was high: lanthanum 96%, cerium 95%, praseodymium 94% and neodymium 92%. The improvement was most pronounced for the heavy rare earth indicators terbium, dysprosium and yttrium. ANSTO considers that reduced formation of gypsum (CaSO4) may have limited the trapping or adsorption of rare earths and made more acid available to attack rare earthbearing monazite. Further test work is required to confirm the mechanism.
Potential to Reduce Chemical Calcite Removal
The current result used hydrochloric acid to remove calcite and prove the effect of calcite control. ANSTO has recommended comparing chemical removal with physical separation methods, with the objective of minimising cost, maintaining high calcite rejection and low rare earth losses, and assessing potential acid recycle.
GTK-Mintec has already demonstrated that wet high-gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) can upgrade both allanite-dominant and apatite-monazite-dominant Korsnas hard-rock material. For reference, at 0.5 Tesla the previously reported HGMS tests achieved an 84% TREO head-grade upgrade at 85% TREO recovery for Type 1 allanite-dominant material and a 129% TREO head-grade upgrade at 74% TREO recovery for Type 2 apatite-monazite-dominant material (refer ASX announcement dated 7 April 2026).
As calcite is non-magnetic, the Company considers this established beneficiation pathway a logical non-chemical option to investigate for rejection of calcite ahead of hydrometallurgy. This will be evaluated on lanthanide concentrate samples as well as hard-rock material as a potential method to reduce calcite in Korsnas REE concentrates to both increase REE recoveries and reduce acid usage.
Pathway Towards Bench-Scale MREC Product
The ANSTO work has moved the downstream program from mineralogical interpretation, through direct extraction, to a demonstrated pre-treatment improvement. The next objective is to convert the emerging leach route into a purified rare earth solution and then precipitate a MREC sample. MREC is a standard intermediate product that can be supplied to downstream separation facilities for the production of individual rare earth products.
Next Steps
- Investigate pre-leach and alternative post-leach options aimed at approaching complete light and heavy rare earth extraction;
- Optimise calcite removal, including acid consumption, acid recycle, rare earth losses and comparison with physical separation options such as HGMS;
- Develop impurity-removal steps, with particular attention to aluminium, iron, silicon, uranium and thorium;
- Produce and characterise a bench-scale MREC sample from a purified rare earth-bearing solution; and
- Apply the preferred route to fresh concentrate generated from the REMHub hard-rock beneficiation program.
The latest metallurgical advance at Korsnas follows the Company's 21 July 2026 announcement that soil geochemistry confirmed a strong REE response over the known KR-316 mineralised corridor and identified a new undrilled eastern anomaly, further supporting the project's exploration potential.
Metallurgical development is progressing through complementary programs. ANSTO is evaluating downstream hydrometallurgical treatment of the historical lanthanide concentrate, while the REMHub program, involving GTK Mintec and the University of Oulu's Oulu Mining School, is evaluating upstream HGMS and flotation beneficiation of hard-rock material. The longer-term objective is to combine the preferred beneficiation and hydrometallurgical steps into a credible process route, with the aim of producing a mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) product.
Korsnas Mineral Resource Context
The 100%-owned Korsnas project has a previously reported Inferred Mineral Resource of 15.4 Mt at 1.00% TREO, using a lower reporting cut-off grade of 0.5% TREO (refer ASX announcement dated 16 April 2026). The Mineral Resource relates to hard-rock mineralisation and is separate from the historical lanthanide concentrate tested by ANSTO.
The Company confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the 16 April 2026 announcement and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the Mineral Resource estimate continue to apply and have not materially changed.
Background Information
ANSTO is a leading Australian government-owned research organisation with more than 50 years' experience in minerals processing and extractive metallurgy. Through its Minerals business unit, ANSTO has developed and optimised flowsheets for complex and critical-metal systems, including rare earth elements, supporting projects in Australia and internationally.
ANSTO's work spans mineralogical characterisation, beneficiation, hydrometallurgical test work and pilot-scale process development, with a focus on practical and technically robust processing solutions.
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About European Resources Ltd
European Resources (ASX:ERE) (OTCMKTS:PRSPF) is focused on discovery and development of its 100%-owned critical-minerals project at Korsnas in Finland and its base and precious metals projects in Slovakia. The Company is positioned to benefit from increasing European demand for secure, locally sourced critical minerals.
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