Berkeley Energia Confirms Strong Lithium-Rubidium Recovery Potential at Conchas Project
Berkeley Energia (ASX: BKY) has announced strong results from preliminary metallurgical test work assessing the potential recovery of lithium and rubidium from the Conchas critical minerals project in Spain.
The company engaged SLR Consulting to conduct head sample characterisation, mineralogical analysis, gravity, flotation, and magnetic testing on representative samples obtained from three diamond core holes it drilled at the project in 2024.
Tests demonstrated recoveries of 78% lithium and 63% rubidium at acceptable grades for grind size material of less than 150 microns, while magnetic separation work on grind size material larger than 150µm but less than 300µm showed 77% of the lithium and 58% of the rubidium (stage recoveries) reporting to the magnetic product.
Positive Initial Assessment
Berkeley director Robert Behets said testing provided a positive initial assessment of the metallurgical characteristics of the Conchas multi-commodity mineralisation.
“This milestone follows two successful drilling campaigns that demonstrated the presence of shallow, thick zones of lithium-rubidium mineralisation, where the rubidium has fairly consistent grades,” he said.
SLR Consulting will embark on a second phase of testing focused on more detailed flotation work to optimise the rougher and cleaner flotation reagent schemes, optimisation of magnetic separation on coarse fractions, and mineral content variability testing to understand how variability affects beneficiation methods.
Berkeley will work towards 3D modelling of Conchas drilling data to refine the geological interpretation of the lithium-rubidium mineralisation ahead of resource estimation.
Critical Raw Material
Rubidium is a critical raw material with growing significance in advanced technology and industrial sectors including defence and military, aerospace, communications, biomedical, and renewable energy.
Its unique properties make it valuable for producing special crystals used in night vision equipment and fibre optic telecommunications systems, as well as precision timekeeping in the atomic clocks vital for global positioning systems, telecommunications, and space exploration.
Rubidium compounds play a key role in the production of specialty glasses, cutting-edge electronics, radiation detection devices, and medical imaging technologies, ensuring their relevance across multiple high-growth sectors.
The metal is also increasingly used in the development of high-energy-density batteries for EVs and renewable energy applications.