# 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;

Canonical Atlas analysis: https://atlas-extractions.minestarters.com/news/valore-reports-positive-leaching-results-from-ongoing-metallurgical-program-for--96c677e6-f07b-4d84-9673-371d48145cb5

Original source: https://money.tmx.com/en/quote/VO/news/7334679181176905/valore-reports-positive-leaching-results-from-ongoing-metallurgical-program-for-

Publisher: tmx

Original announcement: 2026-03-26T11:00:00.000Z

Analysis by Minestarters Atlas

Atlas analysis published: Unknown date

Atlas analysis updated: Unknown date

- 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

Narrative sentiment: 0.70 · Bullish

## Minestarters Atlas 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 factor: High platinum and palladium recoveries from weathered material via bioleaching

- Positive factor: Strong palladium recovery from chromitite via caustic cracking

- Positive factor: Reproducible results with improved kinetics \(22 days vs 60 days\)

- Positive factor: Technical validation for processing pathways ahead of PEA

- Negative factor: Caustic cracking ineffective for weathered material \(low Pd recovery\)

- Negative factor: Test scale is currently laboratory/bench scale

Facts used in scoring: 6

## Classification and evidence

**Mill Route**

Polarity: neutral

Definition: 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 Route**

Polarity: neutral

Definition: 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 Tested**

Polarity: positive

Definition: 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)

### bioleaching

[Link to this fact](https://atlas-extractions.minestarters.com/news/valore-reports-positive-leaching-results-from-ongoing-metallurgical-program-for--96c677e6-f07b-4d84-9673-371d48145cb5#fact-metallurgical-facts-0)

Pedra Branca · platinum

#### 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 factor: High recovery

- Positive factor: Improved kinetics

Evidence · text

> Bioleaching prior to cyanidation achieved extractions of 72.88% Pt

### bioleaching

[Link to this fact](https://atlas-extractions.minestarters.com/news/valore-reports-positive-leaching-results-from-ongoing-metallurgical-program-for--96c677e6-f07b-4d84-9673-371d48145cb5#fact-metallurgical-facts-1)

Pedra Branca · palladium

#### 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 factor: High recovery

Evidence · text

> 74.07% Pd from weathered Esbarro deposit material

### caustic cracking

[Link to this fact](https://atlas-extractions.minestarters.com/news/valore-reports-positive-leaching-results-from-ongoing-metallurgical-program-for--96c677e6-f07b-4d84-9673-371d48145cb5#fact-metallurgical-facts-2)

Pedra Branca · platinum

#### 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 factor: Effective for high-grade chromitite

Evidence · text

> Caustic cracking followed by cyanidation achieved total extractions of 66.42% Pt

### caustic cracking

[Link to this fact](https://atlas-extractions.minestarters.com/news/valore-reports-positive-leaching-results-from-ongoing-metallurgical-program-for--96c677e6-f07b-4d84-9673-371d48145cb5#fact-metallurgical-facts-3)

Pedra Branca · palladium

#### 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 factor: Strong palladium recovery

Evidence · text

> 78.81% Pd, highlighting the potential for a dedicated processing route

### caustic cracking

[Link to this fact](https://atlas-extractions.minestarters.com/news/valore-reports-positive-leaching-results-from-ongoing-metallurgical-program-for--96c677e6-f07b-4d84-9673-371d48145cb5#fact-metallurgical-facts-4)

Pedra Branca · platinum

#### 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 factor: Limited effectiveness for weathered material

Evidence · text

> caustic pre-treatment applied to the weathered material yielded extractions of 69.88% Pt

### caustic cracking

[Link to this fact](https://atlas-extractions.minestarters.com/news/valore-reports-positive-leaching-results-from-ongoing-metallurgical-program-for--96c677e6-f07b-4d84-9673-371d48145cb5#fact-metallurgical-facts-5)

Pedra Branca · palladium

#### 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 factor: 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.