Vital Metals Limited report that results from the first feed of the dense media separation (DMS) unit at its Saskatoon rare earths extraction facility in Saskatchewan, Canada, is comparable to the TREO grade achieved from laboratory metallurgical testwork in its first run. Results show the DMS plant Sinks achieved comparable grades to those seen in testwork, with 43.7% total rare earth oxide (TREO) achieved from the DMS Cyclone at Saskatoon, compared to 44.6% TREO achieved in laboratory conditions at SGS. The DMS unit also achieved 75.2% recovery in its first run for a single pass, processing 2,300kg of concentrate mined at Vital's Nechalacho rare earth project (North T zone), sorted onsite and then crushed at the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) facility adjacent to Vital's Saskatoon plant.

With the concentrate grade reaching the target, the plant will now undergo some adjustments and ultimately further trials will be conducted that involve taking the tails (floats) from the 1st pass and subjecting it to a second scavenging step to try and increase the recovery further, whilst maintaining the combined sinks concentrate grade >40% TREO. Vital's sample processed was crushed to -2mm, with material -2mm and greater than 0.5mm being fed to the DMS cyclone at SG of 2.7, which was slightly lower than the target SG of 2.85, providing opportunities for further optimisation. The -0.5mm material will be processed through shaking tables as part of the overall commissioning process.

Vital will use results from the DMS unit's first run to finetune its Saskatoon operations. Vital will incrementally commission the remaining circuits of the process flow sheet over the coming months, with plans to produce a 2.5-tonne rare earth carbonate sample for offtake partner REEtec Ag as the next step of product qualification. This approach will focus on producing product at specification, minimising off-spec production and waste, prior to the commencement of production ramp-up.

Vital's Saskatoon plant will have initial throughput capacity of 1,000 tonnes/year of rare earth oxide (REO) excluding cerium, which is equivalent to 470t NdPr/year, increasing to 2,000 tonnes/year REO excluding cerium, equivalent to 940t NdPr/year, in Stage 2.