Nuinsco Resources Limited has launched an expanded metallurgical and mineralogical program at its Prairie Lake Critical Minerals Project in Ontario, targeting a phosphate concentrate grading above 30% P₂O₅ at a recovery rate exceeding 80%.

The test work follows positive results achieved in August 2026 at SGS Canada Inc. in Lakefield, confirming marketable-grade phosphate and rare earth element concentrates can be produced with negligible deleterious elements. This represents a materially higher target than early test work in March 2024, which produced 26% P₂O₅ at 76% recovery.

To evaluate how feed grade affects recoveries and quality, Nuinsco has delivered a sample drawn from a higher-grade subset of the 2026 Mineral Resource Estimate. This subset includes an Indicated resource of 3.54 million tonnes at 4.59% P₂O₅ and 2,204 g/t TREO, alongside an Inferred resource of 53.45 million tonnes at 5.11% P₂O₅ and 2,355 g/t TREO.

Operating in parallel, petrographic and mineralogical studies are underway at McGill University under Dr. Anthony Williams-Jones to map rare earth element-bearing mineralogy and support downstream processing decisions. Independent studies at Carleton University have shown that phosphate-bearing apatite from Prairie Lake carries a mean total rare earth element concentration of 13,157 ppm, placing the material at the upper end of the global range for apatite in carbonatite complexes.

“The recently completed metallurgical studies at SGS Lakefield produced positive results, demonstrating that an attractive grade of phosphate concentrates, with REEs, can be produced at acceptable rates of P₂O₅ recovery, with negligible deleterious element content. We considered it imperative to proceed immediately with further studies to expand our understanding of concentrate production from Prairie Lake mineralisation,” said Paul Jones, Nuinsco's Chief Executive Officer. “The presence of substantial higher-grade domains at Prairie Lake is an important factor in the Project's potential development, as is the low deleterious element content, which has implications for its use as feed for high-purity phosphoric acid production — acid that is used in applications such as LFP battery manufacturing.”

— Paul Jones, Chief Executive Officer

The current metallurgical phase forms part of ongoing technical evaluations at the Ontario asset. Nuinsco previously filed an initial mineral resource estimate for the project in July 2022, reporting an Inferred resource of 871.8 million tonnes and an Indicated resource of 15.6 million tonnes, and collaborated with McGill University researchers in November 2024 to evaluate niobium mineralization.

Read the full announcement: Nuinsco Follows-Up on Positive Metallurgical Results with an Expanded Program at the Prairie Lake Critical Minerals Project