ABx Tasmanian rare earths heap leach: process and capex notes for mine planners
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on Australian Mining
30 Second Briefing
Early testwork at ABx Group’s Deep Leads ionic adsorption clay rare earths project in northern Tasmania indicates that low-acid, ambient-temperature heap leaching may be technically viable, offering a simpler alternative to conventional tank leach circuits. Column leach trials on bulk samples are being used to assess percolation, recovery and impurity deportment, with a focus on desorption of magnet rare earths such as neodymium and praseodymium. If scaled, the approach could reduce reagent consumption, cut capital tied up in agitated tanks, and suit shallow, free-dig clay deposits typical of the licence area.
Technical Brief
- Rare earths are dominantly adsorbed onto clay surfaces rather than locked in resistant primary minerals.
- Free-dig, soft clay profile reduces or eliminates drill-and-blast, favouring simple truck–shovel extraction.
- ABx is evaluating in-situ permeability and clay swelling behaviour to maintain heap percolation pathways.
- Process design must manage fine-particle migration and potential slumping in stacked clay heaps under rainfall.
Our Take
Rare earths pieces in our database often centre on hard-rock deposits in Western Australia and Queensland, so ABx Group’s work in northern Tasmania suggests a diversification of Australia’s rare earths footprint into clay- or weathered-style systems that can have different processing and environmental profiles.
Among the 785 Projects/Sustainability-tagged items, few combine rare earths with a Tasmanian setting, which likely means ABx’s Deep Leads project will be watched closely as a test case for how the state’s permitting and community expectations handle critical minerals developments.
With only 20 rare-earths keyword matches across 388 Mining stories, ABx Group is operating in a relatively small but strategically important niche in our coverage, where demonstration of lower-impact extraction routes can materially influence how financiers and offtakers view Australian supply options.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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