Krakatoa Resources Limited announced positive metallurgical and mineralogical results from a test work program completed at the Company's flagship
Tower REE Project ("Tower"), located in the north-western margins of the Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia. Following delivery of the maiden Mineral Resource Estimate of 101MT @ 840ppm TREO at Tower in late November, Krakatoa has completed another milestone achieving excellent metallurgical recoveries on the critical key rare earth elements Neodymium (Nd) and Praseodymium (Pr) of up to 64% and 61% respectively using simple extraction techniques. These initial recovery rates compare favourably with other globally significant clay hosted REE projects. The metallurgical and mineralogy test work was completed by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and importantly, the results from the program will be used by Krakatoa to optimise the extraction process options and develop a viable processing and production pathway at Tower. A mineralogical study was conducted by the ANSTO research facility in Sydney on two selected samples using QEMSCAN (quantitative evaluation of minerals by scanning electron microscopy) techniques. The two samples selected had similar REE composition and grades but variable metallurgical extraction reports. These samples were selected after the initial diagnostic metallurgical test work was complete. The QEMSCAN process included particle mineralogical analysis (PMA), mineral liberation and association analysis, chemical assay and comparison with chemical analysis data (using XRF-ICPMS) and manual SEM (scanning electron microscopic and X-ray microanalysis) and EDS (energy dispersive system) analysis. The resulting analysis provided encouraging results which indicated that clay is dominated by smectites with minor amounts of refractory minerals present. The small refractory mineral proportion is dominated by monazite, with the higher extractions aligning with the sample having less contained monazite. An additional REE-containing phase mineral, thought to be britholite, was also present in both samples. All the REE minerals and phases are typically less than 20 micron, which suggests simple beneficiation would provide an upgrade ore. Metallurgical testwork was undertaken on select 2021 drilled air core composite samples between the period of May to November 2022. The metallurgical testing was conducted in conjunction with the ANSTO research
facility in Sydney, which has extensive experience in rare earth metallurgical testing on samples from many deposits worldwide, including China.