Rainbow Rare Earths, an Africa-focused rare earths mining company, said it would develop an economic rare earth mineral extraction flowsheet for the Phalaborwa Project in South Africa.

The company, which is working with ANSTO Minerals, an Australian critical and strategic metals processer and US-based technology developer K-Technologies, aims to identify costs savings at the project.  

George Bennett, Rainbow Rare Earths' chief executive officer, said the tests had identified "several key opportunities" for capital and operating costs savings and supply chain development.

Bennet also stated that the flowsheet would help the company "realise the full value of Phalaborwa and develop a responsible, independent Western rare earths supply chain."

The announcement has come following "positive results" from an ongoing phased test work programme, which it said has provided "additionally optimisation opportunities to explore" which can "reduce both operating and capital costs."

Furthermore, the results offered the "potential to participate further downstream in the value chain and produce rare earth oxides with 99.5-99.9% purity," he said.