ValOre Reports Positive Leaching Results from Ongoing Metallurgical Program for Pedra Branca PGM Project, Brazil; 73% Platinum and 74% Palladium Achieved Extraction from Weathered Material and 66% Platinum and 79% Palladium from Chromitite;
Original announcement by tmx on
- Company
- ValOre Metals Corp.
- Ticker
- VO
- Exchange
- TSX
- Region
- Ceará State, Brazil
- Primary commodity
- Platinum
- Secondary commodities
- Palladium
- Document categories
- Metallurgy
- Extracted
- 2026-09-13 06:36:51 UTC
Analysis by Minestarters Atlas
Minestarters Atlas analysis
Summary
ValOre Metals Corp. reported positive metallurgical test results for its Pedra Branca PGM project in Brazil. Bioleaching achieved up to 73% platinum and 74% palladium recoveries from weathered material, while caustic cracking yielded 66% platinum and 79% palladium from chromitite material.
Reasoning: The results demonstrate successful metallurgical pathways for two distinct ore domains (weathered and chromitite), which is critical for the project's upcoming PEA.
Positive factors
- High platinum and palladium recoveries from weathered material via bioleaching
- Strong palladium recovery from chromitite via caustic cracking
- Reproducible results with improved kinetics (22 days vs 60 days)
- Technical validation for processing pathways ahead of PEA
Negative factors
- Caustic cracking ineffective for weathered material (low Pd recovery)
- Test scale is currently laboratory/bench scale
Facts used in scoring: 6
Classification and evidence
Mill Routeneutral
Processing via mill or concentrator (CIL, CIP, tank leach, flotation).
Why it applies: The tests involve bioleaching and caustic cracking followed by cyanidation, which are mill-based processing routes.
Evidence · text
“bioleaching and caustic pre-treatment followed by cyanidation”
Heap Leach Routeneutral
Processing via heap leach — lower CAPEX and OPEX, lower recovery expected.
Why it applies: the document describes a heap_leach route ("heap leach")
Multi-Domain Testedpositive
Variability across ore domains (oxide, transition, fresh) has been addressed.
Why it applies: 2 distinct composites were tested
Extracted facts
Stored fact records: 6. Some facts used in scoring do not have a stored record.
Metallurgical Results (6)
bioleachingPedra Branca · platinumRecovery: 72.88 %View all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Pedra Branca
- Commodity
- platinum
- Region
- brazil
- Reported Region
- Ceará State, Brazil
- Ticker
- VO
Test Work
- Program Status
- detailed
- Test Type
- bioleaching
- Processing Route
- bioleaching followed by cyanidation
- Sample
- weathered Esbarro deposit material, bioleaching pre-treatment followed by cyanidation
- Leach Time
- 528 hours
Recovery
- Recovery
- 72.88 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
Lab
- Laboratory
- University of Cape Town’s Department of Chemical Engineering (UCT)
- Consultant
- Lycopodium Ltd.
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-03-26T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: 72.88% Pt recovery is strong for a bioleach route on weathered material.
Positive factors
- High recovery
- Improved kinetics
Evidence · text
“Bioleaching prior to cyanidation achieved extractions of 72.88% Pt”
bioleachingPedra Branca · palladiumRecovery: 74.07 %View all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Pedra Branca
- Commodity
- palladium
- Region
- brazil
- Reported Region
- Ceará State, Brazil
- Ticker
- VO
Test Work
- Program Status
- detailed
- Test Type
- bioleaching
- Processing Route
- bioleaching followed by cyanidation
- Sample
- weathered Esbarro deposit material, bioleaching pre-treatment followed by cyanidation
- Leach Time
- 528 hours
Recovery
- Recovery
- 74.07 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
Lab
- Laboratory
- University of Cape Town’s Department of Chemical Engineering (UCT)
- Consultant
- Lycopodium Ltd.
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-03-26T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: 74.07% Pd recovery is strong for a bioleach route.
Positive factors
- High recovery
Evidence · text
“74.07% Pd from weathered Esbarro deposit material”
caustic crackingPedra Branca · platinumRecovery: 66.42 %View all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Pedra Branca
- Commodity
- platinum
- Region
- brazil
- Reported Region
- Ceará State, Brazil
- Ticker
- VO
Test Work
- Program Status
- detailed
- Test Type
- caustic cracking
- Processing Route
- caustic cracking followed by cyanidation
- Sample
- chromitite material, caustic cracking followed by cyanidation
Recovery
- Recovery
- 66.42 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
Lab
- Laboratory
- University of Cape Town’s Department of Chemical Engineering (UCT)
- Consultant
- Lycopodium Ltd.
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-03-26T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: 66.42% Pt recovery is a solid result for the caustic cracking route on chromitite.
Positive factors
- Effective for high-grade chromitite
Evidence · text
“Caustic cracking followed by cyanidation achieved total extractions of 66.42% Pt”
caustic crackingPedra Branca · palladiumRecovery: 78.81 %View all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Pedra Branca
- Commodity
- palladium
- Region
- brazil
- Reported Region
- Ceará State, Brazil
- Ticker
- VO
Test Work
- Program Status
- detailed
- Test Type
- caustic cracking
- Processing Route
- caustic cracking followed by cyanidation
- Sample
- chromitite material, caustic cracking followed by cyanidation
Recovery
- Recovery
- 78.81 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
Lab
- Laboratory
- University of Cape Town’s Department of Chemical Engineering (UCT)
- Consultant
- Lycopodium Ltd.
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-03-26T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: 78.81% Pd recovery is strong for this material/route combination.
Positive factors
- Strong palladium recovery
Evidence · text
“78.81% Pd, highlighting the potential for a dedicated processing route”
caustic crackingPedra Branca · platinumRecovery: 69.88 %View all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Pedra Branca
- Commodity
- platinum
- Region
- brazil
- Reported Region
- Ceará State, Brazil
- Ticker
- VO
Test Work
- Program Status
- detailed
- Test Type
- caustic cracking
- Processing Route
- caustic cracking
- Sample
- weathered material, caustic pre-treatment
Recovery
- Recovery
- 69.88 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
Lab
- Laboratory
- University of Cape Town’s Department of Chemical Engineering (UCT)
- Consultant
- Lycopodium Ltd.
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-03-26T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: Caustic pre-treatment yielded lower platinum recovery on weathered material compared to bioleaching.
Negative factors
- Limited effectiveness for weathered material
Evidence · text
“caustic pre-treatment applied to the weathered material yielded extractions of 69.88% Pt”
caustic crackingPedra Branca · palladiumRecovery: 12.81 %View all detailsHide details
Identity
- Project
- Pedra Branca
- Commodity
- palladium
- Region
- brazil
- Reported Region
- Ceará State, Brazil
- Ticker
- VO
Test Work
- Program Status
- detailed
- Test Type
- caustic cracking
- Processing Route
- caustic cracking
- Sample
- weathered material, caustic pre-treatment
Recovery
- Recovery
- 12.81 %
- Recovery Basis
- actual_test
Lab
- Laboratory
- University of Cape Town’s Department of Chemical Engineering (UCT)
- Consultant
- Lycopodium Ltd.
Review
- Needs Review
- No
- Historical
- No
Dates
- Event date
- 2026-03-26T00:00:00.000Z
Reasoning: 12.81% Pd recovery is extremely poor, confirming caustic cracking is unsuitable for weathered material.
Negative factors
- Very low palladium recovery
Evidence · text
“and 12.81% Pd, confirming its limited effectiveness for this material type”
How Atlas produces this analysis
Minestarters Atlas uses automated extraction to summarize mining announcements, identify reported measurements, and classify supporting evidence. Sentiment reflects the extracted narrative and classification rules; it is an interpretation, not a reported measurement. Evidence quotes and context are provided where available. Missing data, low-confidence results, and review flags indicate limitations. Check the original publisher announcement before relying on an interpretation.