Processing technologies give explorers more facets to work with

• Processing technology is giving explorers more ways to build an edge
• New methods can target lower energy and reagent use
• Some technologies could also open up new feed sources and revenue options

Junior resource explorers are typically one-trick ponies that make or break on the pointy end of the drill bit.

However, there are an increasing number of companies that have moved to secure a competitive edge by acquiring proprietary processing technologies that promise better performance or open up options for additional revenue.

A number of these technologies have the potential to reduce costs by cutting energy and reagent requirements, others offer improved processing performance or the ability to process unlikely sources of feed.

Whatever the case might be, they have the potential to deliver significant advantages for their respective companies.

Invert Graphite (ASX:IVG) is one company taking this route after acquiring RapidGraphite, the exclusive licence holder of the RapidPulse processing technology that was developed at Curtin University, in August 2026.

RapidPulse is a novel catalytic graphitisation process that uses a proprietary catalyst blend to rapidly convert feedstocks into battery-grade graphite.

In laboratory testing, the process has achieved graphitisation temperatures approaching 3000 degrees Celsius within seconds, compared with up to 30 days in conventional Acheson furnace production.

Testing has already proved the technology’s ability to process material from the company’s flagship Morogoro project in Tanzania with materially improved crystallinity and high purity in a single step without acid purification or the chemical washing required by conventional methods.

Managing director Andrew Lawson said the technology used significantly less energy compared to conventional technologies and achieved results quickly and cleanly.

The technology isn’t just applicable to the company’s project.

“We’re not reliant just on natural graphite, but we can look at synthetic graphite and potentially even licensing the technology to other existing synthetic graphite producers,” Lawson added.

“That gives us additional options and could become a potential revenue creator.”

Lawson also noted that while the tech was still very much in the development phase, the company had been approached by a couple of different companies interested in understanding its benefits.

Looking ahead, IVG will continue carrying out testing of its natural graphite on the pre-pilot furnace at Curtin over the next couple of months.

Success will lead to the company building a pilot plant to take testing to the next level.

During this time, the company will also carry out testing on turning non-graphitising materials into synthetic graphite.

“The primary aim is to turn our natural graphite product into battery-grade material, but if we can also test on non-graphitising materials and traditional feedstocks themselves and produce a more efficient outcome, then that’s certainly a benefit to us,” Lawson added.

Gaining optionality

Speaking more generally, Lawson noted that while it was entirely possible to be a successful explorer, acquiring processing technology gave companies more optionality.

“I think, absolutely, I think that to be just an explorer in this space, while certainly there have been some very successful explorers, we believe that acquiring technology gives us more optionality in terms of the way we go.

“We have a close connection with IperionX (ASX:IPX), which is a titanium processor listed on the ASX and NASDAQ, and they do a similar sort of thing.

“We take our lead from them as well, and we think that it just gives us a lot more options going forward.”

Here are some other companies that have processing technologies in their pockets.

Mount Ridley Mines (ASX:MRD)

Mount Ridley owns the proprietary, patent-pending closed-loop Selectro leach technology that was initially aimed at extracting rare earths, scandium and gallium.

First results reported in August on material sourced from the company’s Grass Patch project near Esperance, WA, found that Selectro outperformed a comparative hydrochloric acid baseline.

At that time, the process recovered 77-83% of heavy rare earths, 80% of scandium and around 56% of gallium from an unbeneficiated laboratory composite.

More recent testing in September lifted scandium recovery to 91.8% and heavy rare earth recovery to as much as 86% while using about half the previous reagent dose.

Since then, the company has applied the process with an adapted chemistry to a composite bauxite sample supplied by Australian Silica Quartz (ASX:ASQ) from the Darling Range project in WA.

Despite being a very different material from Mount Ridley’s Grass Patch project, the test extracted 92% of the aluminium and 97% of the iron while leaving a pH-neutral, silica-rich residue.

It also achieved an encouraging 95% gallium recovery.

Selectro operates below 100°C, compared with temperatures of roughly 145°C to more than 250°C used in the Bayer process to refine bauxite into alumina.

To protect its intellectual property, the company has filed separate patents covering its use in processing critical minerals and industrial metal feedstocks.

Mont Royal Resources (ASX:MRZ)

In a bit of departure from outright ownership of processing technology, Mont Royal has signed a joint study agreement with US-based Alta Resource Technologies.

This will seek to determine if the US company’s engineered protein separation technology can be applied to mixed rare earth carbonate produced from Mont Royal’s Ashram rare earths and fluorspar project in Canada to produce individual, high-purity rare earth oxides.

Alta’s platform uses engineered proteins designed to selectively bind targeted metal ions.

It previously demonstrated separation of permanent magnet rare earth oxides including neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium, as well as samarium, europium, gadolinium and yttrium, at greater than 99.5% purity and greater than 90% yield across other feedstocks.

For Mont Royal, it offers a potential path to capture more value from Ashram without having to build separation capability by itself.

Both companies will also assess a future commercial refining facility and longer-term partnership, potentially giving Mont Royal a route into a North American rare earth supply chain servicing permanent magnets, advanced technologies and defence applications.

Felix Gold (ASX:FXG)

Felix Gold has developed its own direct-smelt antimony processing flowsheet that was proven at pilot-plant scale in August.

The process takes ore sourced from the Treasure Creek project straight from hand sorting and coarse crushing to the furnace without grinding, flotation and concentration.

Ore was smelted and fumed to antimony trioxide with the antimony metal then cast to ingot.

This process is significantly shorter than conventional antimony flowsheets, while the successful pilot plant work de-risks refinery feasibility and confirms the design basis for the engineering work.

Nova Minerals (ASX:NVA)

Nova Minerals has noted that its Estelle antimony pilot processing plant in Alaska uses a proprietary cleaner hydrometallurgical processing method.

The plant is designed to treat stibnite-bearing material to produce a high-quality antimony trisulphide product that meets US military-grade specifications.

Nova developed the engineering and design plan using extensive metallurgical testwork and process flowsheet development.

Construction of its planned antimony processing and refinery operation at Port MacKenzie, Alaska, is underway.

Renascor Resources (ASX:RNU)

In early October, Renascor produced battery-grade spherical graphite from its demonstration plant in Adelaide, South Australia, that used its hydrofluoric acid-free purification process.

The 99.97% carbon PSG was produced during batch trials using third-party graphite to establish benchmarks for demonstration plant performance.

Renascor noted the ability of its integrated HF-free purification process to achieve battery-grade purity at demonstration scale.

A cost study reported in July found that the process has cost benefits over HF-based purification methods due to lower reagent use and the elimination of higher health, safety and environmental management costs.

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Invert Graphite, Mount Ridley Mines, Mont Royal Resources, Felix Gold, Nova Minerals and Renascor Resources are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.

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