Highlights

  • Mount Ridley Mines has reported high vanadium recovery from a titanomagnetite sample using its patent-pending Selectro leaching process.
  • A follow-up leach stage lifted titanium recovery from the residue, pointing to the potential to recover vanadium and titanium from a single feed.
  • The results come from testwork on a single sample, and the company is now discussing a possible demonstration plant with engineering groups.

Processing technology is becoming a key differentiator in Australia's critical minerals sector, where the ability to recover several valuable metals from a single feed can shape the Economics of a project. Mount Ridley Mines Ltd (ASX:MRD), an explorer advancing its Grass Patch Project in Western Australia, has reported results from its latest external feed test of its wholly owned, patent-pending Selectro process. This time the company tested titanomagnetite, a material traditionally processed for vanadium alone, and reported recovery of vanadium alongside titanium and iron. The update keeps Mount Ridley in view among Metal and Mining Stocks focused on vanadium, titanium and other critical minerals.

Testing Selectro on Titanomagnetite

Mount Ridley selected a titanomagnetite sample to test whether Selectro could recover vanadium and titanium together from the same feed. Titanomagnetite deposits are an important global source of vanadium, but conventional processing routes typically focus on recovering vanadium and leave much of the titanium unrecovered.

Managing Director Allister Caird said titanomagnetite has historically been processed for vanadium alone and that Selectro has the potential to unlock more value from this feed. The company views the test as a way to demonstrate the flexibility of its process across different material types.

The titanomagnetite sample carried meaningful vanadium, titanium and iron content, making it a suitable test of whether the process could separate these metals. Last month, the company filed an additional Patent application related to Selectro, coverage, and it has also reported gallium recovery testwork on bauxite from the Darling Range.

A Staged Leach Approach

In the initial stage, vanadium and iron went into solution preferentially over titanium, leaving behind a titanium-enriched residue. In the follow-up stage, the residue was leached with fresh solution, and titanium leached preferentially over iron, materially improving titanium recovery while also recovering additional vanadium and iron.

Across both stages, the company reported very high combined vanadium recovery, moderate titanium recovery and substantial iron recovery. Mount Ridley said both stages use the same chemistry and techniques, and that the process avoids the high-temperature salt roast normally used to liberate vanadium before leaching.

Why Avoiding the Salt Roast Matters

Conventional vanadium extraction from titanomagnetite often relies on roasting the material with salts at high temperature, an energy-intensive step. A process that avoids that roast could, in principle, reduce energy use and simplify the flowsheet, although Mount Ridley has not released costs or project economics to support that view.

The company also said the separate stages can produce solutions enriched in different metals, which may assist Downstream separation. It identified solution loading, where iron and vanadium build up in solution, as the key constraint on titanium recovery in the initial stage, and suggested titanium recovery could be pushed further under modified conditions.

Commercial Strategy and Next Steps

Titanomagnetite joins Grass Patch material and bauxite as feed types tested with Selectro. Mount Ridley plans to apply the process at its own Grass Patch Project and to license it to external parties, and it is in discussions with engineering groups about a possible demonstration plant for both external feeds and Grass Patch material.

A larger-scale Selectro test on bauxite is planned as the next step, aimed at demonstrating separation and purification and establishing a full pathway from mine to metal. The company has also linked its titanium work to a CSIRO programme assessing titanium-scandium alloys.

Licensing a processing technology can offer a pathway to Revenue that does not depend solely on developing a mine, but it requires robust testwork, intellectual property protection and partners willing to adopt the process at scale.

Caveats and Execution Risks

The results are based on testwork on a single titanomagnetite sample, and the scale of the test has not been described in the coverage reviewed. Laboratory outcomes do not necessarily translate to continuous commercial operations, where reagent consumption, recycling and impurity management become critical.

Titanium recovery remained incomplete, and further improvements have been suggested rather than demonstrated. The technology is patent-pending, demonstration plant discussions are at an early stage with no timeline provided, and no economic assessment has been released, so commercial viability remains to be established.

Broadening the Selectro Story

Mount Ridley's titanomagnetite test adds another feed type to its Selectro process, with strong vanadium recovery and partial titanium recovery reported without the conventional salt roast. The results are early-stage and based on a single sample, with scale-up and economics still to be proven. For Australian readers, the update reflects the growing focus on processing innovation within the ASX critical minerals segment, where multi-metal recovery is drawing attention from developers and Market Participants alike.