Key highlights

• Mount Ridley Mines has reported 96% vanadium recovery from a titanomagnetite sample using its patent-pending Selectro process.

• The result came from the second third-party feed test of the technology, announced to the ASX on 3 November.

• This update sets out what the result does not show and how the Grass Patch connection and funding fit in.

Mount Ridley Mines (ASX:MRD) has reported 96% vanadium recovery from a titanomagnetite sample using its wholly owned, patent-pending Selectro process. The result, announced to the ASX on 3 November, came from the second third-party feed test of the technology, meaning it was carried out on material from outside the company's own Grass Patch Project.

The test also recovered 49% of the titanium and 78% of the iron. On combined figures across two stages, recoveries were 95.5% vanadium, 48.6% titanium and 77.6% iron. The sample graded 1.30% vanadium pentoxide, 14.2% titanium dioxide and 52.3% iron.

How the two stages worked

In stage one, vanadium and iron were taken into solution preferentially over titanium. That left a titanium-rich residue grading 21.5% titanium dioxide, up from 14.2% in the head sample. Mount Ridley said solution loading was the key constraint on titanium recovery in this stage, because the solution became loaded with iron and vanadium.

The residue then went through a second Selectro leach using a fresh solution, in which titanium leached preferentially over iron. That lifted titanium recovery more than five times, from 9% to 48%, while recovering additional vanadium and iron. The company said there is scope to increase titanium recovery further under refined second-stage conditions.

Why this matters

Managing director and chief executive Allister Caird said titanomagnetite is the world's primary source of vanadium but has historically been processed for vanadium alone. Recovering vanadium while also bringing titanium and iron into solution, he said, could improve the Economics of titanomagnetite projects.

If that proves true at scale, the technology could be relevant to a number of deposits globally, which is why Mount Ridley is testing feeds beyond its own project. Technology licensing or partnerships could, in principle, become a source of value, although the company has not announced any commercial agreement.

What the result does not show

This is laboratory work on a single sample. It does not establish operating costs, reagent consumption, reagent recycling, product purity or how the process would perform continuously at larger scale. Recovering metals into solution is also only one step; producing saleable vanadium, titanium and iron products requires further processing.

The company says both stages use the same chemistry and techniques, which could simplify plant design. That claim will need to be tested in pilot work.

Grass Patch connection

Selectro was developed with Mount Ridley's Grass Patch Project in Western Australia in mind. The company was fast-tracking Grass Patch as its scandium and gallium potential grows. Applying the process to vanadium-bearing titanomagnetite broadens its potential use, but Grass Patch remains the company's core asset.

Funding and market

Vanadium is used mainly in steel alloys and in vanadium redox flow batteries, and its price has historically been volatile.

What to watch

Investors may watch for further third-party tests, any move to pilot-scale work, Patent progress and Grass Patch study results.

Technology stories need patience

Processing technologies often take years to move from laboratory results to commercial plants. Investors typically look for pilot plant data, independent engineering reviews and a first commercial partner before assigning significant value. Mount Ridley's decision to test third-party feeds is a way to build evidence, because it shows whether results hold across different materials. Each new test that confirms high recoveries strengthens the case; a test that fails would be equally informative. For now, the Selectro story rests on promising but early data.