Axel REE Limited has achieved up to 95% gallium extraction and 74% scandium extraction from independent metallurgical testwork on a composite sample from the Tiger Creek target at its flagship Caladão Project in Minas Gerais, Brazil.

The testwork program, completed by CORE Resources Pty Ltd, evaluated 18 batch leach tests across sulphuric acid and oxalic acid systems at atmospheric pressure. The composite sample, labelled COMP001, assayed 63ppm gallium, 10.6ppm scandium, and 199ppm total rare earth oxides, sitting above the wider Tiger Creek Inferred Mineral Resource grade of 85 million tonnes at 40ppm gallium and 1,050ppm total rare earth oxides.

The results mark a notable technical step up from previous programs. Earlier testwork achieved approximately 25% gallium extraction in July 2025 and about 50% in the January 2026 ANSTO program.

Testing demonstrated that multiple acid systems can achieve high extraction rates. Oxalic acid at 100 g/L and 90°C in test LT18 delivered the peak result of 95% gallium and 74% scandium extraction, alongside 39% total rare earth oxide extraction, with an oxalic acid consumption of 1,072 kilograms per tonne of dry feed. Meanwhile, sulphuric acid at 100 g/L and 90°C in test LT09 achieved 90% gallium and 70% scandium extraction at a consumption rate of 747 kilograms per tonne.

"Reaching 95% gallium extraction at Tiger Creek is a real step forward for our metallurgical program. We also achieved above 90% gallium extraction using two entirely different acid systems, with scandium extraction of up to 74%, so we are not locked into one chemistry at this stage."

"Global gallium supply is overwhelmingly produced as a by-product, principally from the processing of bauxite for alumina, making the identification of alternative gallium recovery pathways strategically important. Showing that gallium can be leached from Caladão material at these levels gives us something solid to build on."

— Patience Mpofu, Managing Director

The sighter tests also dissolved high levels of aluminium and iron, reaching up to 98% and 89% in the sulphuric acid test and 93% and 96% in the oxalic acid test. Because the current figures are unoptimised sighter tests, the next phase of work at CORE Resources will focus on reducing reagent consumption, improving selectivity against aluminium and iron, and establishing reliable methods for recovering gallium and scandium from the pregnant leach solution.

The metallurgical pathway is being evaluated separately from Axel's magnesium sulphate in situ recovery development program for ionic clay-hosted rare earths.

Read the full announcement: 95% Gallium, 74% Scandium Extraction Achieved at Tiger Creek