Australia and Japan Elevate Critical Minerals Cooperation Amid Sybella Rare Earths Project Advances

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently elevated critical minerals cooperation between Australia and Japan, aligning with ongoing developments in rare earths projects like Sybella. 8 billion tonnes.

Red Metal Limited is pursuing a mining and processing pathway for Sybella that employs coarse crushing, mild leach conditions, and a simplified downstream clean-up, the company stated. Red Metal Limited has prioritised the Sybella project, with drilling focused on higher-grade areas and metallurgical work aimed at developing a low-capital cost pathway.

The company is targeting mine studies and pre-feasibility work for Sybella in 2026, Red Metal Limited said.

Red Metal Limited is attempting to demonstrate that Sybella can be mined and processed using heap leaching at scale rather than an expensive plant with heavy upfront grinding. Earlier ion exchange resin trials by Red Metal Limited concentrated rare earths from pregnant leach liquor while stripping out iron and aluminium, the company stated.

Red Metal Limited's ion exchange approach delivered a nine-fold enrichment of total rare earth oxides and lifted recovery of mixed rare earth carbonate from 93 per cent to 99 per cent.

7 per cent total rare earth oxides, with a high proportion of magnet and heavy rare earth oxides, the company said. Red Metal Limited expects the column leach program on Sybella to deliver results in the first quarter of 2026, the company stated.