ASX Announcement — 19 August 2026
Mount Ridley Mines Limited (ASX: MRD; OTCID: MRDMF) has lodged a provisional patent application covering its proprietary Selectro™ leach process, held through subsidiary Mount Ridley Tech Pty Ltd.
The filing secures a priority date and gives the company a 12-month window to pursue patent protection in Australia and overseas. Mount Ridley said it retains full ownership of the intellectual property, which has been developed and refined over more than a decade.
Technology and ownership
- Selectro testwork has reported recoveries of up to 83% for heavy rare earths, 80% for scandium, approximately 72% for light rare earths and 56% for gallium.
- The gallium result compares with zero recovery from the HCl baseline under the same test conditions.
- No third party retains an ownership or co-ownership interest in the technology, according to the company.
Commercialisation pathway
Mount Ridley has initiated a bulk testwork program incorporating flotation and further Selectro optimisation. The work is expected to support processing-strategy and scoping-study inputs.
The provisional filing also provides a foundation for discussions with prospective study partners and third parties. Mount Ridley is considering several potential commercialisation routes, including deployment at Grass Patch, third-party licensing, or a combination of both.