South Africa's Steenkampskraal and Mintek achieve lab-scale rare earth beneficiation, but commercial separation and scale-up remain the critical unproven steps.
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Mintek
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About Mintek
Mintek is South Africa’s national mineral research organization, headquartered in Randburg, Johannesburg. It is a state-owned entity that operates under the executive authority of the minister responsible for mineral resources, now the Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, and the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources assigned it to coordinate the development of South Africa’s Critical Minerals Strategy. Established in 1934, Mintek develops and commercializes minerals processing, extractive metallurgy and beneficiation technologies. In June 2026, Mintek and the Steenkampskraal monazite mine announced the production of high-purity mixed rare earth products at Mintek’s laboratory facilities; their joint release said the milestone positions South Africa as the first African country to produce rare earth products through a partnership between a mining company and a national research institution. Mintek is also working on recovery of rare earth elements, vanadium, gallium and germanium from discard coal and coal fly ash.
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