Aldoro Resources Achieves 72% Rare Earth Extraction at Kameelburg, Namibia

Kameelburg Cracks the Code: Aldoro's Direct-Leach Breakthrough Reframes the Rare Earth Processing Playbook

Aldoro Resources (ASX: ARN) has delivered a landmark result from its Kameelburg Rare Earth and Strontium Project in Namibia, reporting up to ~72% Total Rare Earth Element (TREE) extraction and an exceptional greater than 99% strontium recovery from maiden hydrometallurgical testwork. Conducted by ALS Metallurgy Services in Perth, the Aldoro Resources Kameelburg rare earth direct leach results in Namibia represent the first systematic acid leach evaluation of Kameelburg mineralisation — and the findings carry significant implications for how this project is positioned relative to the global rare earth development landscape.

What makes these results genuinely distinctive is not just the recovery numbers themselves, but how they were achieved. The Kameelburg ore composite was leached directly using conventional atmospheric hydrochloric acid — without any prior flotation, magnetic separation, or thermal pre-treatment. In a sector where most major projects require multiple beneficiation stages before hydrometallurgical processing can even begin, this is an unusual and potentially valuable characteristic.

"These maiden metallurgical results represent a major de-risking milestone for Kameelburg and further reinforce the project's emergence as one of the world's most significant undeveloped rare earth and strontium systems."

— Quinn Li, Chairperson, Aldoro Resources

Key headline metrics at a glance:

• ~72% TREE extraction achieved cumulatively across leach and re-leach testwork
• >99% strontium extraction consistently across all five acid leach tests
• 1.28% TREE and 2.67% Sr confirmed as composite head grade via XRF analysis on a 91.27 kg drill core composite
• No beneficiation required prior to leaching — a meaningful differentiator from most peer projects
• Multiple optimisation pathways identified to improve recovery and reduce processing costs in subsequent phases

What Was Actually Tested — and How

The testwork was conducted on a composite sample designated "Kameelburg Comp A," drawn from 30 diamond drill core samples sourced from drill hole DD004D. The total sample mass was 91.27 kg, with individual core samples ranging from approximately 2.0 to 3.75 kg.

Sample preparation steps:

1. All 30 samples crushed to P₁₀₀: 3.35 mm and homogenised
2. Sub-sampled for elemental head analysis via XRF and fusion/ICP methods
3. Ground to P₈₀: 75 µm using a laboratory rod mill prior to leach testing
4. Deionised water used as process water for all acid leach tests

Five acid leach and re-leach tests were conducted under varying conditions at ambient temperature, 20% w/w solids, and 60–120-minute residence times. An indicative magnetic separation evaluation was also completed.

Head Grade: High-Grade Composite Confirmed

The elemental head analysis confirmed a high-grade sample consistent with the project's ancylite-carbonatite mineralisation:

Acid Leach Results: Test by Test

The notably lower TREE extraction of 22.3% in test HY21353 (10% HCl, primary only) was attributed to acid starvation, confirmed by a final pH of approximately 3.9. The subsequent re-leach stage in HY21411 and HY21419 recovered substantially more TREE, validating that available acid quantity — not mineral amenability — was the limiting factor.

Furthermore, strontium and calcium reported very strong extraction across all test configurations, with calcium recovery exceeding 94% in all primary leach tests and surpassing 99% cumulatively.

Understanding Direct Leachability — Why It Matters for Investors

For investors less familiar with rare earth processing, one concept stands out as central to understanding the significance of the Aldoro Resources Kameelburg rare earth direct leach results in Namibia: direct acid leachability.

Most rare earth minerals — including the monazite, bastnäsite, and xenotime that dominate many major global projects — are chemically stable and resistant to dissolution. Extracting the rare earth elements from these minerals typically requires two distinct and costly processing stages:

1. Beneficiation: A physical upgrading step (flotation, magnetic separation, or gravity concentration) that separates the REE-bearing mineral from surrounding waste rock (gangue) to produce a higher-grade mineral concentrate. This requires dedicated plant infrastructure, reagents, and energy.

2. Hydrometallurgical cracking: A chemically aggressive step — such as a sulphuric acid bake at high temperatures, a sulphation roast, or a caustic conversion — that breaks down the refractory mineral structure to make rare earth elements accessible to leaching. This is typically the most energy-intensive and reagent-intensive step in a rare earth processing flowsheet.

Ancylite — the rare earth-bearing mineral at Kameelburg — is a hydrous strontium-cerium-lanthanum carbonate that is reported as readily soluble in acids. The maiden testwork has now demonstrated that this mineral can be leached directly using atmospheric hydrochloric acid at ambient temperature, from run-of-mine style mineralisation, without requiring either of the two stages above.

Why Does This Matter?

If validated through further testwork and engineering studies, direct leachability has the potential to reduce both capital costs (no beneficiation plant required) and operating costs (no high-temperature cracking circuit) of a Kameelburg processing facility. It also has the potential to simplify the overall process flowsheet and shorten development timelines relative to comparable projects — though these are early-stage indications requiring further validation.

Glossary of relevant terms:

• TREE / TREO: Total Rare Earth Elements / Total Rare Earth Oxides — the combined weight of all rare earth elements in a sample, expressed as a percentage
• HCl leach: Hydrochloric acid leach — dissolving target metals into solution using hydrochloric acid
• Ancylite: A rare earth and strontium-bearing carbonate mineral; the primary REE host at Kameelburg
• Beneficiation: Physical processing steps to upgrade ore grade ahead of chemical extraction
• P₈₀: The particle size at which 80% of material passes through a given screen, used to characterise grind fineness
• WHIMS: Wet High-Intensity Magnetic Separation — a magnetic beneficiation technique

How Kameelburg Compares: A Sector-Wide Processing Contrast

The table below illustrates how Kameelburg's processing approach differs from most Australian-listed rare earth development peers:

On TREE recovery, the ~72% cumulative extraction achieved compares materially favourably with the 42.7% recovery rate reported for the Ngualla rare earth project in Tanzania. Critically, Kameelburg's result was achieved from unbeneficiated whole-rock ore under non-optimised, ambient-temperature conditions.

Note: Comparisons are presented for general context only. Material differences in mineralogy, ore grade, tonnage, project maturity, jurisdiction, and commercial position exist between Kameelburg and each comparable project referenced.

A Multi-Product System: Rare Earths Paired With World-Scale Strontium

One dimension that the Aldoro Resources Kameelburg rare earth direct leach results in Namibia make significantly more tangible is the strontium opportunity. The >99% strontium extraction achieved consistently across all five tests, combined with a 2.67% Sr head grade, demonstrates that strontium is highly amenable to the same leach circuit being developed for rare earths.

Aldoro has previously announced that Kameelburg hosts what the company describes as the world's largest reported strontium resource. The maiden metallurgical programme now confirms that strontium can be extracted from the ore with exceptional efficiency, laying the groundwork for a dedicated strontium product stream as a co-product alongside rare earth outputs.

Why strontium matters:

• Strontium carbonate is a commercially traded commodity used in electronics, ceramics, pyrotechnics, and specialty glass
• A co-product revenue stream from strontium has the potential to materially improve project economics and reduce the effective cost of rare earth production
• The dual-product nature of Kameelburg differentiates it from most pure-play rare earth development projects

The announcement also highlights Kameelburg's magnet rare earth exposure, with neodymium (Nd) and praseodymium (Pr) — collectively referred to as NdPr — as components of the REE basket. NdPr is a primary input for rare earth permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, and defence applications.

The Optimisation Roadmap: Where Next?

Aldoro has outlined a clearly structured next-phase metallurgical programme targeting improved TREE recovery and reduced processing input costs. The programme is designed to build toward a process flowsheet suitable for scoping-level economic studies.

Improving TREE Recovery

1. Mineralogical characterisation (QEMSCAN / MLA) — Identify which minerals are retaining residual rare earths after leaching; preliminary indicators point to a refractory phosphate or niobate fraction
2. Elevated temperature leach testwork — All testwork to date conducted at ambient temperature; industry experience suggests leaching at 60–90°C can substantially improve dissolution kinetics
3. Finer grind and extended residence time — Evaluate grind sizes below P₈₀ 75 µm and longer leach durations
4. Residue treatment trials — Assess sulphate-bake or caustic-conversion approaches for any acid-resistant mineral fraction

Reducing Processing Input Costs

1. Pre-concentration testwork (flotation and gravity) — Rejecting gangue carbonates before leaching is identified as the largest single opportunity to reduce reagent cost per unit of rare earth produced
2. Counter-current leach configuration — Sequential leaching using partly spent acid on fresh feed to reduce overall acid consumption
3. Acid management and regeneration evaluation — Hydrochloric acid regeneration via pyrohydrolysis is technically established at commercial scale; economics to be assessed alongside future scoping studies
4. Iron and impurity management — Bench-scale iron precipitation and removal testwork to support downstream flowsheet definition
5. Strontium recovery flowsheet development — Dedicated strontium product stream evaluation as a co-product
6. Detailed magnetic separation programme — Proper Davis tube / WHIMS evaluation to assess beneficiation potential

Why Investors Should Watch This Closely

The Aldoro Resources Kameelburg rare earth direct leach results in Namibia have moved the project through a pivotal early-stage de-risking step. Before this announcement, the project had established a significant resource base and compelling geology. The maiden metallurgical testwork now adds a third pillar: confirmation that the ore can be processed using a well-understood, commercially established technology.

The investment case rests on several reinforcing factors:

• Processing simplicity advantage: Direct leachability from run-of-mine style ore — without prior beneficiation or high-temperature cracking — is a characteristic shared by very few rare earth development projects globally and has the potential to translate into meaningful capital and operating cost advantages, pending further validation
• Dual-commodity revenue base: The combination of high-grade strontium (>99% extraction) and rare earths from a single leach circuit creates a multi-product opportunity that most rare earth developers do not have
• Strong baseline for improvement: The ~72% TREE recovery was achieved under non-optimised, ambient-temperature conditions, with multiple clearly defined levers available to improve this figure
• Scale of the resource: Aldoro has noted that Kameelburg has more than 596 million tonnes already defined with stated growth potential remaining — providing a large geological canvas against which improved metallurgy can be applied
• Magnet rare earth exposure: NdPr content in the REE basket positions Kameelburg to participate in rare earth permanent magnet supply chains at a time of ongoing structural supply attention in that market
• Established technology platform: Hydrochloric acid leaching is a commercially proven technology used by major rare earth operators, reducing process development risk compared with projects requiring novel or proprietary flowsheets

Key Takeaway:
Aldoro Resources has demonstrated that Kameelburg ore can be leached directly with conventional atmospheric hydrochloric acid — achieving up to ~72% TREE recovery and >99% strontium extraction without prior beneficiation. These maiden results, achieved under non-optimised conditions, establish a strong processing baseline for a project that combines world-scale strontium, meaningful rare earth grades, and a potentially simplified processing route. With a structured optimisation programme now underway, the next 12 months of metallurgical development could be transformative for the Kameelburg investment case.

All technical information in this article is sourced from Aldoro Resources' ASX announcement dated 5 June 2026, based on metallurgical testwork conducted by ALS Metallurgy Services (Report No. A27570-B). All project comparisons are for general context only; material differences in mineralogy, grade, tonnage, project maturity, and commercial position exist between Kameelburg and referenced peer projects. Results presented are from initial laboratory-scale testwork; further testwork and engineering studies are required before definitive process economics can be established.

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