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Doug Bright
Eclipse Metals’ first-pass metallurgical tests at its Grønnedal rare earths project in southwest Greenland have delivered encouraging confirmation that the critical minerals are well suited to magnetic separation, suggesting the potential for efficient beneficiation.
Phase one wet, magnetic separation tests on composite samples showed impressive results, delivering between 78 and 86 per cent recovery.
More than 90 per cent of the contained iron moved into the magnetic material, with only three to four per cent ending up in the final non-magnetic tail.
Critically, the majority of the rare earth minerals were captured in the magnetic material during testing, indicating that more than 90 per cent of the rare earths can be captured in the upgraded product.
Head assays across the seven composites, sourced from a 2023 drilling and trenching program, registered consistent rare earths grades, with neodymium ranging between 533 and 1828 parts per million (ppm), coupled with solid praseodymium numbers.
The test work has identified two clearly different types of rock chemistry. One is a high-iron, low-silica zone with higher rare earth grades and iron levels of 14 to 50 per cent, while the other is a silica- and alumina-rich zone that usually carries lower rare earth grades.
The company says these different domains offer optionality for tailored processing, blending, and optimisation to maximise efficiency and grade stability. And while the results are still early, the work has done its job as a first-pass test by providing a strong technical base to guide the next phase of testing.
The mineralisation’s predictable magnetic responses suggest that staged separation could remove a large amount of waste material before hydrometallurgy, potentially streamlining the production path.
Eclipse is now pressing ahead on phase two work, with representative quarter-core from the 2025 diamond drilling program already in Perth.
That work will include grind optimisation, staged wet magnetic separation refinement and assays on selected size or chemical fractions. Mineralogical work will also be conducted to pin down the rare earths hosts and evaluate additional separation pathways.
Eclipse’s Grønnedal project sits within the company’s broader Greenland critical minerals portfolio and is only 10km north of the company’s historic Ivigtût cryolite mine, where initial work has revealed a smorgasbord of other elements.
The close proximity of the two unusual deposits and their broad mineral spread positions the company to capitalise on growing global demand for rare earths and other critical elements in clean energy, defence and high-tech applications.
The early metallurgical work signals a green light for Grønnedal, showcasing the project’s favourable processing characteristics that could fast-track Eclipse towards a scalable rare earths play in a Tier-1 jurisdiction.
With phase two representative testwork underway and more data inflow to come, Eclipse Metals remarkable duo of Greenland projects is building real momentum.
Results from phase two metallurgical tests look likely to put another layer of icing on the cake.
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