SMM Daily: Rare Earth Prices Surge Amid Tight Supply, Trading Activity Lags

Foreign media reported on August 31 that listed enterprise Mont Royal Resources signed a joint research agreement with US-based Alta Resource Technologies to evaluate the technical pathway for processing mixed rare earth carbonate produced from the Ashram project in Quebec into separated high-purity rare earth oxides. The two parties will assess the feasibility of building a commercial refining facility, and the agreement is Step-1 toward a potential joint venture to support the long-term production of rare earth oxides for permanent magnets and high-tech applications in North America.

Defense Metals (TSXV: DEFN) has achieved results from its resource conversion drilling at the Wicheeda rare earth project in British Columbia, with the strongest intercept being 65 meters thick and a total rare earth oxide (TREO) grade of approximately 3%.

PhosCo reported that beneficiation tests at its Gassat phosphate ore project in Tunisia showed that phosphate concentrates can achieve a grade of 34% through a simple single-stage flotation process, with a recovery rate of 73.5-77.8%. The company will conduct verification on multiple deposits at the Gassat project.