Namibia Critical Metals Inc. announce the successful completion of the pilot plant flotation test work for its "Lofdal 2B-4" heavy rare earth project. From October to December 2023, rigorous tests were conducted on a 5-ton representative bulk sample from the Lofdal Area 4 starter pit at SGS Lakefield. Based on preliminary data, the pilot plant program confirms the reproducibility of the grinding and flotation regime for the Lofdal flowsheet and the ability to scale-up the design with confirmation of engineering design criteria.

Through an extensive flotation optimization program conducted at SGS in 2023, several adjustments were undertaken to the flotation parameters developed in 2022. The applied optimization steps aimed at decreasing operating expenditures (OPEX) compared to the PEA "Lofdal 2B-4" and increasing recovery of the heavy rare earth mineral xenotime into the concentrate. Pilot-scale Flotation Tests in Fourth Quarter 2023: Flotation pilot plant test work was conducted at SGS Lakefield from October to November 2023.

The flotation flowsheet developed in 2022 by SGS formed the basis of the pilot plant tests. Several adjustments to the flotation parameters were undertaken based on the flotation optimisation program conducted at SGS in 2023. Among the optimization parameters are lower temperature flotation, lower collector dosages and usage of newly developed reagents with high concentrations of active ingredients.

The applied optimization parameters aimed to significantly decrease operating expenditures (OPEX) compared to the PEA "Lofdal 2B-4" and increase recovery of the heavy rare earth mineral xenotime into the concentrate. Continuous piloting tests were conducted on a 5-ton representative bulk sample from the Lofdal Area 4 starter pit. The tested material had slightly lower rare earth element grades than the samples used for the bench-scale test work in 2022 and 2023.

This is to reflect the potential to process the large amounts of slightly lower grade material referred to as "stockpile" in the PEA "Lofdal 2B-4" which would allow further increased throughput and life of mine. Based on preliminary data, the pilot plant program confirms the reproducibility of the grinding and flotation regime for the Lofdal flowsheet and the ability to scale-up the design with confirmation of engineering design criteria. The flotation tailings produced in the pilot runs provided material for solid/liquid separation testing including filtration to investigate opportunities for dry tailing deposition as well as slurry rheology testing for pumping a thickened tailing.

Final reporting from SGS Lakefield is expected in February 2024. The flotation pilot runs produced circa 100 kg of flotation concentrate, which is ready to facilitate effective scale up of the hydrometallurgical testing including acid bake and water leach followed by a thorough investigation into optimising downstream REE recovery steps to produce a mixed rare earth oxide product. This hydrometallurgical scale-up test is planned at SGS Lakefield in First Quarter 2024.