Axel REE Validates Low-Cost ISR Development Pathway for Caladão’s Woolrich Deposit

Axel REE (ASX: AXL) has validated a low-acid, low-cost, in situ recovery (ISR) development pathway for its Caladão rare earth elements and gallium project in Brazil with column leach test work on ionic adsorption clay material from the project’s Woolrich deposit.

Dynamic ISR-analogue flow conditions using a mild magnesium sulphate solution recovered 560 parts per million soluble total rare earth oxides (TREO) and 39% magnet rare earth oxides (MREO), including a notable proportion of heavy rare earths dysprosium and terbium.

This exceeds the best results from static diagnostic test work the company conducted in April that returned soluble TREO results from 443ppm to 546ppm.

Very low impurities for aluminium (less than 2ppm), iron (less than 0.5ppm), thorium (less than 5.5ppm), and uranium (less than 4ppm) were reported, confirming the deposit’s amenability to simple downstream processing.

The ability to match and surpass diagnostic benchmarks under less aggressive chemistry while maintaining a high-value MREO basket and low impurities confirms that Woolrich's ionic clay rare earth material behaves as a genuine ISR-amenable system.

Field Exploratory Test Program

The column test results will be a key input to the design of a field exploratory test program, providing the hydraulic, kinetic, and solution-chemistry data needed to progress Woolrich toward low-impact, in-situ extraction at scale.

Axel regards the program as the next milestone on its development pathway for Caladão, with success positioning the company as a potential first-mover for commercial ISR rare earths extraction in Brazil.

Caladão currently hosts a combined inferred mineral resource estimate of 572 million tonnes at 1,506ppm TREO including an inferred 439Mt at 38ppm gallium across Areas A and B, making it one of the largest primary gallium inventories reported worldwide.

The Woolrich deposit within Area B hosts 128Mt at 1,013ppm TREO and 35.1ppm gallium.

‘Genuine Ionic Clay System’

Newly appointed managing director Dr Patience Mpofu said the test results were an important step forward for the company.

“This column program shows that Woolrich behaves as a genuine ionic-clay system under realistic flow conditions, recovering high-grade, magnet-rich rare earths while keeping impurities very low,” she said.

“Just as importantly, the work is now generating the operating data we need to design ISR field exploratory tests at Woolrich, moving Axel from laboratory validation toward field-scale, low-impact ISR development.”

Axel is planning to commence a second pair of columns once it has reviewed the initial leach performance and incorporated the data into the next-stage test design, allowing it to progressively optimise conditions ahead of field-scale trials.