NeoTerra Hits 85% Gallium Extraction at Monte Muambe

China controls more than 80% of the world’s refined gallium output. Since its 2023 export controls took effect, every non-Chinese project with a defined gallium resource and a plausible recovery route has become worth watching closely.

NeoTerra Group PLC (formerly Altona Rare Earths) has today published hydrometallurgical testwork results from its Monte Muambe project in Mozambique showing an 85% gallium extraction rate from acid leach tests at SGS Lakefield, alongside a pre-concentration result that doubles gallium grade before leaching begins. The results represent the most concrete technical step yet toward gallium recovery at the project.

What follows examines what the testwork actually demonstrates, how the two-stage flowsheet fits together, what the result means in the context of Western gallium supply security, and what milestones investors and supply chain analysts should track next.

What NeoTerra’s testwork results actually show

Acid leach tests conducted at SGS Lakefield recovered 85% of gallium into the leachate, with good selectivity against silica. For a carbonatite-hosted ore body where gallium recovery has never previously been demonstrated at this level, the number carries genuine technical weight.

Peer-reviewed hydrometallurgical recovery research has demonstrated acid leach extraction rates exceeding 90% for gallium from non-bauxite feedstocks in laboratory settings, providing a benchmark against which NeoTerra’s 85% figure from carbonatite ore can be assessed as technically credible for this stage of development.

NeoTerra has been explicit about the result’s limitations. The company framed these as early-stage tests and stated that further metallurgical work is required before commercial viability can be assessed.

NeoTerra has stated that further work is required before the commercial viability of gallium recovery at Monte Muambe can be determined.

The company, which rebranded from Altona Rare Earths prior to this announcement, remains at the resource-definition and metallurgical testwork stage. There is no feasibility study, no construction timeline, and no production. The 85% figure is a laboratory result, not an operating circuit metric, and the distinction matters for how investors should hold it.

The two-stage flowsheet: pre-concentration then leach

The 85% extraction rate is the second step in a two-stage candidate flowsheet. The first step is what makes the leach result economically interesting.

Pre-concentration: upgrading before leaching

Scout flotation tests on fluorspar ore revealed that gallium reports to first-stage tailings, where its concentration increases by approximately 100% relative to run-of-mine feed. Short-wave infra-red (SWIR) and x-ray transmission (XRT) technologies were used to establish the pre-concentration approach.

That enrichment step means the hydrometallurgical circuit receives upgraded material rather than raw ore, with direct implications for reagent costs and circuit sizing in any future flowsheet design.

Acid leach extraction

The enriched material then enters the acid leach stage, where SGS Lakefield’s testwork recovered the headline 85% of gallium with good silica rejection. The two stages together form the complete candidate flowsheet:

1. Flotation pre-concentration using SWIR and XRT technologies, approximately doubling gallium grade in first-stage tailings relative to run-of-mine feed.
2. Acid leach extraction at SGS Lakefield, recovering 85% of gallium into the leachate from the pre-concentrated material.

For a complex, carbonatite-hosted deposit, demonstrating both steps in sequence is what moves the project from conceptual gallium potential toward a defined recovery route.

Monte Muambe’s resource base and what makes gallium here unusual

Monte Muambe is not a speculative gallium play. It is a multi-commodity project with defined JORC-compliant resources across three commodities.

The multi-commodity structure is what gives the testwork results their economic context. In any future project economics, gallium revenue would layer on top of rare earth and fluorspar cash flows rather than needing to stand alone. That co-product dynamic significantly changes the viability conversation.

What makes Monte Muambe structurally unusual is the ore type itself. Conventional gallium production is almost entirely a byproduct of bauxite refining. A carbonatite-hosted gallium resource with an emerging metallurgical pathway is one of very few such projects globally, making it a fundamentally different supply source from the existing production base.

NeoTerra has indicated a resource expansion target of at least 50 Mt, contingent on sufficient metallurgical confidence to justify further drilling.

Why gallium supply security became a geopolitical priority

A bench-scale leach test at a development-stage project in Mozambique would not ordinarily warrant close attention. Gallium’s supply structure is what makes it different.

China controls above 80% of global refined gallium production, primarily as a byproduct of its aluminium industry.

Gallium is not the only critical material where Beijing has deployed export restrictions as a geopolitical weapon: tungsten pricing behaviour after China tightened its own export regime offers a comparable template for how supply concentration can be converted into strategic leverage against allied manufacturers.

When China implemented export controls on gallium in 2023, the concentration risk that had been a known vulnerability became an active constraint. The response was swift and coordinated. The US, EU, Japan, and South Korea have all formally designated gallium as a critical or strategic material, and allied governments are actively seeking alternative supply routes.

China’s supply control strategy extends well beyond gallium: Beijing has repeatedly signalled its willingness to use critical mineral exports as a foreign policy lever, warning allied-nation companies that stockpiling behaviour will itself trigger countermeasures.

The urgency stems from gallium’s end-use profile:

• Semiconductors: Gallium arsenide and gallium nitride are foundational materials in high-performance chip manufacturing.
• Defence electronics: Compound semiconductors using gallium are critical components in radar, electronic warfare, and missile guidance systems.
• 5G communications hardware: Gallium nitride enables the power amplifiers that 5G base stations require.

These are not applications with easy substitutes or idle spare capacity sitting outside China. The policy urgency is real, which is precisely why development-stage projects with defined resources and emerging metallurgical pathways attract supply chain attention years before any production is possible.

The USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries document that approximately 79% of US gallium consumption flows into gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, and gallium phosphide wafers for integrated circuits, optoelectronics, and high-speed telecommunications infrastructure including 5G, which is why supply disruption carries consequences well beyond any single industry.

What has to happen before this becomes a supply chain story, not just a project story

NeoTerra has cleared a real hurdle. Several larger ones remain before Monte Muambe could contribute to global gallium supply, and the sequencing is worth understanding clearly.

1. Pilot-scale metallurgical validation: The approximately 100% enrichment and 85% extraction must be replicated at higher throughputs with acceptable reagent consumption and operating costs. Pilot-scale testwork programs are anticipated in 2026-2027 and beyond.
2. Integrated multi-commodity flowsheet and economic studies: Formal scoping and prefeasibility studies need to include gallium as a defined co-product alongside rare earths and fluorspar, with capital and operating cost estimates attached.
3. Resource expansion drilling: NeoTerra’s target of at least 50 Mt is contingent on metallurgical confidence. Larger resources, combined with mine and plant designs, would be needed to forecast annual gallium output.
4. Offtake or partnership agreements: Government-backed entities or industrial buyers in allied jurisdictions would need to commit to offtake agreements or financing support, connecting Monte Muambe to broader critical mineral policy frameworks.

African critical minerals strategy has become a front line in the broader US-China competition for resource security, with Mozambique’s geographic position and existing Chinese infrastructure investment making Western-aligned projects in the region both commercially attractive and politically consequential.

Only after these steps, and eventual construction and ramp-up, could the project plausibly be described as a live contributor to Western gallium supply rather than a promising development-stage project.

The honest read for investors is that today’s result is materially positive at the project level: a defined two-stage flowsheet candidate where none existed before. At the portfolio and policy level, it is a signal to watch, not yet a basis for assuming new secure gallium volumes outside China.

A promising proof-of-concept in a market where proof-of-concept is no longer enough

NeoTerra’s 85% gallium extraction result, built on a pre-concentration step that doubles gallium grade before leaching, is genuinely meaningful. It advances Monte Muambe from conceptual gallium potential toward a defined recovery route from carbonatite ore, a pathway that very few projects globally can claim.

The geopolitical urgency around gallium is real, and that urgency is why this result will attract legitimate attention from supply chain analysts and critical mineral investors even at this early stage.

What determines whether Monte Muambe’s gallium story accelerates from here are specific, trackable milestones: detailed pilot-scale testwork results, resource expansion announcements, and any economic studies that formalise gallium as a co-product. Those are the disclosures worth watching.

For investors wanting to understand how allied-nation capital is positioning across development-stage critical mineral projects globally, our full explainer on critical minerals investment flows examines why European institutional capital is prioritising non-Chinese supply routes, the deal structures being used, and what those patterns imply for projects outside established mining jurisdictions.

This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Investors should conduct their own research and consult with financial professionals before making investment decisions. These statements regarding future project development are speculative and subject to change based on market developments and company performance.