Our technologies
Our technologies
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Dissolution ('leaching') process
Our flagship dissolution process provides an alternative to the 'sulfuric acid route' for processing critical minerals. It uses a less toxic, recyclable solution to rapidly and directly dissolve ores, enabling much smaller/lower cost equipment. and eliminating the addition of over 3 tonnes of radioactive chemical sulphates to the environment for every ton of ore processed.
Technology readiness level: 4 (moving towards 6 post-pilot completion August 2026).
Intellectual property status: UK Patent granted: GB2604810, US Patent granted: 12553103. Patents pending in Australia and Canada.
Ownership: Held by Watts & Fisher Pty Ltd with no encumbrances.
The initial results of this work have been published after peer review. Results show 99% dissolution of up to 96 g/L light rare earths within 30-minutes.
Downstream process
Our downstream process has been designed to produce market grade mixed rare earth products from our patented leach solution. The unique properties of our leach solution allow us to use a simple set of protocols to purify the target elements with a simpler overall plant design and less chemical waste than conventional downstream purification processes.
Technology readiness level: 4 (moving towards 6 post-pilot completion August 2026).
Intellectual property status: Trade Secret
Ownership: Held by Watts & Fisher Pty Ltd with no encumbrances.
Initial development of this technology was completed with funding support from the Defense Logistics Agency (U.S.A.) under contract SP8000-21-P0012.
Acid recycling
Watts & Fisher have developed and tested a method to separate the target elements from concentrated acid to enable more efficient recycling of acids and reduce chemical costs.
Technology readiness level: 3-4
Intellectual property status: Trade Secret
Ownership: Held by Watts & Fisher Pty Ltd with no encumbrances.
Ore concentration
This is an early-stage technology using a chemical process to separate target minerals in the ore from waste minerals to reduce feed processing volumes. It is a potential alternative or complement to current methods of beneficiation. Upgrading of ores prior to leaching enables significant reductions in the size and cost of downstream processing equipment helping to improve project viability for low grade ores.
Technology readiness level: 2
Intellectual property status: Trade Secret
Ownership: Held by Watts & Fisher Pty Ltd with no encumbrances.
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