Brazilian Rare Earths (ASX: BRE) Commissions Pilot Plant, Secures Stage II Funding

Brazilian Rare Earths has commissioned the first stage of its metallurgical pilot plant at Camaçari in Bahia. The facility has produced its first rare earth mineral concentrate.

The Stage I circuit will generate processing data for plant design, equipment selection and cost estimates. It provides a technical bridge between laboratory work and the proposed integrated mine-and-refinery development.

Partner Funding Supports Stage II

BRE has also secured R$6.4 million, or about A$1.7 million, for the second stage of the pilot program. The funding comes from SENAI CIMATEC and partner organisations.

The contribution is expected to cover about 59% of Stage II capital and operating costs. It lifts total co-funding for the Camaçari pilot facility to R$14.6 million, or roughly A$3.9 million.

The external funding reduces the amount BRE must contribute directly to the next phase of metallurgical development.

Pilot Program Moves Downstream

Stage I uses physical beneficiation to upgrade rare earth-bearing material into concentrate. Its configurable circuits can test ore from different parts of the Rocha da Rocha Province.

Further campaigns will target improved concentrate grades and recoveries. They will also produce feedstock for downstream testing and refine assumptions used in the pre-feasibility study.

Stage II will add hydrometallurgical extraction and separation capability.

Detailed design is underway, with equipment expected to arrive during the fourth quarter of 2026. Commissioning is scheduled for the second quarter of 2027.

The plant is intended to produce neodymium-praseodymium oxide, heavy rare earth concentrate and uranium yellowcake.

Those products would provide samples for customer qualification, technical testing and potential offtake discussions.

Carester Leads Separation Work

French rare earth specialist Carester will lead separation work across the pilot program and pre-feasibility study.

It will also support engineering, design and commissioning for BRE’s planned Camaçari refinery.

Carester is already BRE’s heavy rare earth concentrate offtake partner. Its binding 10-year agreement covers material containing up to 150 tonnes annually of dysprosium and terbium.

That concentrate is intended for Carester’s Caremag facility in France. It would be separated into products including dysprosium, terbium and yttrium oxides.

Co-Products Could Affect Project Economics

Stage II will examine recovery pathways for uranium, scandium, niobium, titanium and tantalum. Testing will use leach solutions and residues generated during the pilot campaign.

BRE’s August 2026 scoping study forecast costs of about US$21 per kilogram of NdPr equivalent. The company said this placed the project in the first quartile of Benchmark Mineral Intelligence’s forecast global rare earth cost curve.

That estimate excludes potential revenue credits from the additional strategic metals.

Uranium recovery and yellowcake production costs were included in the study, but no uranium revenue was assigned.

Technical Work Remains the Key Test

BRE will now optimise Stage I recoveries and concentrate grades through systematic variability testing.

The results will inform assessment of a potential accelerated pathway for exports of upgraded concentrate from Monte Alto. Further engineering and technical studies are required.

The scoping study remains preliminary and carries an intended accuracy range of about plus or minus 40%.

BRE provided no revised cost estimate, production target or updated global cost ranking. It has not assigned economic value to the proposed co-products or potential concentrate export pathway.