{"id":123089,"title":"Altona Rare Earths (LON:REE) Reveals Major Fluorspar Breakthrough on-site","publisher":"Share Talk","author":"sharetalk","published":"2025-05-29T15:33:29+00:00","modified":"2025-05-29T15:33:29+00:00","canonical_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/altona-rare-earths-lonree-reveals-major-fluorspar-breakthrough-on-site/","markdown_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/altona-rare-earths-lonree-reveals-major-fluorspar-breakthrough-on-site.md","json_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/altona-rare-earths-lonree-reveals-major-fluorspar-breakthrough-on-site.json","category":"Exclusive Interviews","categories":["Exclusive Interviews","Mining"],"tags":["Africa","Altona Rare Earths","Botswana","Cedric Simonet","COPPER","fluorspar mine","Iron Ore Copper Gold","Kabompo","Kitumba","Monte Muambe","Mozambique","REE","Simon Charles","Zambia"],"featured_image":"https://i0.wp.com/www.share-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GsCoMKxWQAIiB3Y.webp?fit=1200%2C675&quality=80&ssl=1","format":"news","language":"en-GB","content":"Join StockBox as we speak with [Cedric Simonet, CEO of Altona Rare Earths](https://www.share-talk.com/altona-rare-earths-lonree-monte-muambe-fluorspar-project-update/), reporting directly from the Monte Muambe site.\n\nCedric shares a major update on the company’s fluorspar breakthrough, revealing that recent metallurgical testing has achieved 93.62% CaF₂ concentrate, bringing Altona closer to producing high-value acid-grade fluorspar.\n\nHe also explains how gallium anomalies led to new fluorspar outcrop discoveries, expanding the project’s scope from 15,000 to potentially 50,000 tons/year over a 12-year life.\n\nWith on-site analysis, trenching, and drilling underway, Cedric outlines the next steps toward a JORC-compliant resource, refined flow sheet, and scoping study.\n\n**Highlights**\n\n·    Initial flotation tests of fluorspar ore samples resulted in a concentrate at 93.62% CaF2, with impurities reduced to acceptable or near-acceptable levels for hydrofluoric acid production\n\n·   These results indicate that the fluorspar at Monte Muambe is more suitable for the development of acid-spar which is used in the production of hydrofluoric acid. This is a higher value product than the met-spar (used primarily as a flux in the steel industry) previously envisaged\n\n·    Altona will now advance its metallurgical testing program aimed at generating a flowsheet for an acid-spar production plant as well as product samples for evaluation by potential off-takers\n\n·    Ground proofing of gallium anomalies led to the discovery of new high-grade fluorspar outcrops, which could lead to higher resource estimates subject to further study\n\n·    Project development scope revised to reflect acid-spar production operation at a greater production capacity than originally anticipated\n\n**Cedric Simonet, CEO of Altona, commented: **“I am very pleased with the latest developments for the Monte Muambe fluorspar project, which result in an updated scope including a higher-value product (acid-spar) and a higher-production capacity objective.\n\n“Work towards the development of a possible fluorspar mining operation at Monte Muambe will continue in parallel with the prefeasibility study for rare earths, and with on-going exploration for gallium, thus multiplying the opportunities to create value from this asset.”"}