Apex Critical Metals Corp. has completed quantitative X-ray diffraction analysis on drill core samples from the Rift Rare Earth Project in southeastern Nebraska, confirming monazite and bastnaesite as the dominant rare earth element-bearing minerals across the property’s Trinity and Neo zones.

The mineralogical characterization was performed on representative reject samples from drillholes RIFT26-001A, RIFT26-002, RIFT26-003, and RIFT26-005A using powder X-ray diffraction with Rietveld refinement. The data demonstrates that the deposit’s rare earth mineralization is hosted predominantly within monazite and bastnaesite, the two source minerals that account for the majority of global rare earth oxide production.

“These mineralogical results are an important confirmation for the Rift Project and validate the historical literature. Monazite and bastnaesite are the same two minerals that underpin the majority of the world's existing REE supply chain. Seeing them as the dominant REE hosts at Rift, rather than a complex assemblage of less-understood phases, is a strong signal for the potential metallurgical simplicity of this deposit as we advance toward our inaugural mineral resource estimate.” — Sean Charland, CEO of Apex Critical Metals

Monazite and bastnaesite have well-established industrial operating histories at major carbonatite-type deposits such as Mountain Pass and Bayan Obo, providing standard processing flowsheets that reduce the technical risks typically associated with less-understood mineral species. The identification of this simple, two-mineral assemblage indicates that the material is amenable to conventional beneficiation techniques including gravity, magnetic, and flotation concentration.

The quantitative mineralogical data will directly inform preliminary metallurgical testwork. Apex has engaged SGS Geochemistry to conduct automated mineralogical analysis using a TESCAN Integrated Mineral Analyzer on select samples from the Trinity and Neo zones to characterize grain size distribution, individual mineral speciation, and the degree of liberation from host gangue minerals. Those results will guide the design of preliminary testwork scheduled to begin shortly at the SGS facility in Lakefield, Ontario.

Apex holds a 100% interest in the Rift project within the Elk Creek Carbonatite Complex. The ongoing 2026 exploration campaign has completed multiple drillholes, defining the shallow upper Trinity Zone and the deeper Neo Zone, with the company targeting an initial mineral resource estimate for the project in the first quarter of 2027.

Read the full announcement: Apex Confirms Favourable Monazite and Bastnaesite Mineralogy at the Rift Rare Earth Project