Curtin–Victory rare earths partnership: geometallurgy insights for project teams
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on Australian Mining
30 Second Briefing
Curtin University and Victory Metals have formed an “industry–academia powerhouse” partnership to accelerate development of Victory’s rare earths project in Western Australia, combining Curtin’s Western Australian School of Mines expertise with the company’s exploration and processing plans. The collaboration will focus on metallurgical testwork, process flowsheet optimisation and resource characterisation to improve recovery of rare earth elements from the project’s ore. For mining engineers and metallurgists, the tie-up signals early integration of research-grade mineral processing and geometallurgy into project design rather than post-feasibility optimisation.
Technical Brief
- Partnership centres on Curtin’s WA School of Mines providing laboratory-scale metallurgical and geochemical testwork.
- Victory Metals will supply project drill core and bulk samples for systematic characterisation and bench-scale processing trials.
- Research methods are expected to include mineralogical analysis, leach testing and flowsheet variability studies across ore domains.
- Data generated will feed directly into Victory’s process design criteria, plant sizing assumptions and reagent selection.
- Curtin’s team will focus on refining separation and purification steps specific to the project’s rare earth mineralogy.
- Collaboration structure allows rapid iteration between lab results and Victory’s ongoing exploration and resource modelling.
- Outputs are intended for early-stage design and pilot-scale planning rather than full commercial plant optimisation.
Our Take
Victory Metals’ recent work at the North Stanmore rare earths project in Western Australia – including a resource upgrade via a new flotation flowsheet and confirmation of a hafnium by-product – suggests the Curtin University collaboration is likely to focus on optimising processing of clay-hosted and heavy rare earth elements rather than just exploration geology.
Curtin University already features in our mining coverage for advanced geochronology and mineral systems research (for zircon and lithium systems), so its involvement here signals that Victory Metals may gain access to higher-end analytical tools and modelling that can shorten testwork cycles and de-risk flowsheet design.
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.
Related Articles
Related Industries & Products
Mining
Geotechnical software solutions for mining operations including CMRR analysis, hydrogeological testing, and data management.
CMRR-io
Streamline coal mine roof stability assessments with our cloud-based CMRR software featuring automated calculations, multi-scenario analysis, and collaborative workflows.
HYDROGEO-io
Comprehensive hydrogeological testing platform for managing, analysing, and reporting on packer tests, lugeon values, and hydraulic conductivity assessments.
GEODB-io
Centralised geotechnical data management solution for storing, accessing, and analysing all your site investigation and material testing data.