Source : THE AGE NEWS
Osmond Resources has taken another important step toward unlocking value at its Orion EU critical minerals project in southern Spain, delivering strong early mineral processing results that point to a straightforward, industry-standard development pathway.
Preliminary metallurgical testwork on a 150kg composite sample from outcrop at Zone One in the project area has demonstrated the mineralisation is highly amenable to conventional heavy mineral sands processing.
Particularly encouraging outcomes were delivered for zircon and monazite – two critical commodities in strong demand across European supply chains.
Zircon was the clear standout, with testwork delivering about 97 per cent liberation and producing a combined concentrate grading just over 50 per cent zirconium dioxide at roughly 70 per cent recovery.
Importantly, the company believes there is clear scope to further upgrade this material, with upcoming scoping study work targeting a premium zircon concentrate grading at least 66 per cent zirconium dioxide – a benchmark in line with leading global producers.
Early monazite results have also delivered plenty of encouragement. Initial flotation testing produced a monazite-dominant concentrate grading 19.4 per cent total rare earth oxides (TREO), excluding yttrium, with recoveries in the area of 76 per cent from a simple magnetic separation process.
That recovery represents an increase of around twenty times the original sample head grade and positions Orion well against comparable hard‑rock monazite projects worldwide.
Although the trials were conducted on bulk-crushed ore without optimisation, the results are considered conservative.
While overall monazite recoveries are still being refined, Osmond is confident final recoveries will align with established global operations once additional processing stages are incorporated.
Meanwhile, testwork remains underway on titanium minerals, including rutile and ilmenite, with preliminary results expected in the coming months.
Looking ahead, Osmond is preparing to launch large-scale continuous beneficiation testing on a five-tonne bulk sample.
The company’s next phase of work will support flowsheet optimisation focused on producing high-value products while maintaining competitive recoveries. The outcomes will feed directly into the project’s upcoming scoping study in the second half of the year.
With processing risks beginning to fall away and multiple potential high-value products emerging from the flowsheet, Orion is steadily shaping up as a compelling European critical minerals opportunity.
And with larger-scale testwork about to get underway, Osmond’s Spanish processing story appears to be just getting started.
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