Nordique Critical Metals Reports Over 95% Rare-Earth Leaching and a Smaller Kwyjibo Plant

Nordique Critical Metals Inc. Reported rare-earth leaching efficiencies exceeding 95% for neodymium, dysprosium and yttrium in samples from its Kwyjibo Rare Earth project in Québec. The Montréal-based junior explorer and developer, listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, announced the bench-scale results on November 12, 2026, according to GlobeNewswire.

How the Kwyjibo Leaching Tests Worked

The bench-scale testing was conducted by L3 Process Development on Kwyjibo mineral concentrate. Nordique said the results show that a high proportion of the three elements can be extracted during the leaching stage. Leaching efficiency measures the share of specified elements transferred into solution and does not represent overall process recovery or recovery of finished rare-earth products.

Building on earlier metallurgical studies by Hazen Research and COREM, L3 and SMH Process Innovation developed a revised hydrometallurgical flowsheet. The design is intended to eliminate several processing stages included in the company's 2026 Preliminary Economic Assessment. Fewer stages could mean less equipment, lower energy requirements and reduced construction and operating costs.

The 2026 PEA assumed approximately 75% overall rare-earth recovery and outlined an after-tax net present value at an 8% discount rate of $1.40 billion, an after-tax internal rate of return of 35.4% and an estimated two-year payback period. L3 and SMH are evaluating the potential to raise overall recovery above 80%, a preliminary objective not included in the PEA economics.

A smaller plant could support targeted annual production exceeding 10,000 tonnes of rare-earth oxides. Nordique said preliminary engineering discussions indicate the simplified flowsheet could substantially reduce the hydrometallurgical plant's footprint and power requirements compared with the PEA design. The company has retained Arcadis to evaluate returning all processing residues underground as cemented paste backfill, a design intended to eliminate permanent surface tailings storage.

LKAB and Aclara Advance Rare-Earth Testing

LKAB began operational testing at its demonstration plant in Luleå on November 3, 2026, to validate extraction of rare earth elements and phosphorus from iron ore residuals, news.cision.com reported. The facility was built with a SEK 800 million investment.

Aclara Resources and Argonne National Laboratory completed a steady-state model of rare earth separation for Project Dynamo, PR Newswire reported on November 2, 2026. The model was validated with data from Aclara's demonstration plant.

Nordique's Q1 2027 Demonstration Plant

Nordique is working with L3 and SMH to prepare approximately 400 kg of nonmagnetic concentrate for a continuous rare-earth demonstration plant targeted to begin operations in Q1 2027. The program is intended to validate the revised flowsheet, evaluate extraction and separation stages, and generate operating data to advance Kwyjibo toward feasibility-level engineering. The 2026 PEA was filed on SEDAR+ on August 14, 2026.