Aldoro Resources has produced a mixed rare earth carbonate sample containing 39.6% total rare earth elements and a separate strontium carbonate sample with 79.2% purity at its Kameelburg project in Namibia, following independent metallurgical testing in South Africa.
The company announced on 9 November 2026 that CM Solutions Metlab in Johannesburg had validated its proposed processing method, which extracts rare earth elements and strontium directly from mineralised rock without conventional flotation processing or high-temperature acid treatment.
The process uses dilute hydrochloric acid at ambient temperature and pressure, with a leaching period of approximately two hours.
Aldoro said the results demonstrated a potential processing route that could eliminate flotation recovery losses and reduce capital and operating costs associated with conventional concentration and high-temperature processing facilities.
The mixed rare earth carbonate sample contained 39.6% total rare earth elements, equivalent to 47.5% total rare earth oxides on an as-dried basis. Rare earth oxides accounted for 85.3% of measured metal oxides in the sample.
Combined uranium and thorium concentrations were measured at 3.7 grams per tonne.
The separate strontium carbonate sample achieved 79.2% purity, providing evidence that the proposed process could produce two mineral products from Kameelburg’s carbonatite mineralisation.
The testing also showed that Aldoro could reduce hydrochloric acid dosage by between 37% and 47% compared with its initial processing method.
Acid dosage fell to approximately 400 kilograms per tonne of material in the master composite sample and 339 kilograms per tonne in the non-magnetic feed.
Under these conditions, strontium extraction remained between 92.7% and 94.4%, while single-pass recovery of neodymium and praseodymium was approximately 54% to 55%.
Separate baseline tests achieved strontium extraction of up to 99% and rare earth extraction of approximately 74%. Additional processing increased cumulative rare earth recovery to more than 89%.
The company also reported that magnetic separation retained approximately 97% to 98% of the key rare earth elements and strontium in the material intended for leaching.
Testing identified a potential niobium-enriched magnetite by-product containing between 47.4% and 50.6% iron, although further evaluation is required to determine its commercial potential.
Aldoro chairperson Quinn Li said the results represented an important development milestone.
“These results represent another major milestone in Kameelburg’s transition from a large-scale mineral resource towards a development project.”
Li said the testing had demonstrated the company’s proposed processing route from mineralised rock to physical rare earth and strontium carbonate products.
The company will now concentrate on increasing mixed rare earth carbonate purity beyond 90%, improving overall rare earth recovery and refining the strontium product.
The results will be incorporated into the Kameelburg scoping study, which Aldoro said is nearing completion.
The company also plans further pilot-scale testing, product qualification and engineering studies.
The latest results remain laboratory-scale findings. Commercial-scale processing performance and the associated cost savings have yet to be demonstrated.
