concentrates

For the transition, rare earths are needed like breathing: they are simply essential to make electric cars or wind turbines. However, rare earths have a master and mistress: China, the country that holds the bulk of the reserves and production, because almost as important as having a deposit in your domains is having the expensive industry necessary for its processing, a necessary requirement for its use. Europe has been looking for years to break that dependency and with its law Critical Raw Materials Act has put the turbo on: by 2030 it wants at least 10% of critical raw materials to come from the old continent. Then Jaén, an old acquaintance of the mining industry, appears. The Australian Osmond Resources Since 2024, it has been investigating a critical mineral deposit in the surroundings of Sierra Morena under the name of the Orión project and after obtain research permit of the Spanish Government, in just eight months it has gone from being a geological promise to becoming a the strongest candidate in the EU to produce rare earths domestically. Osmond’s discovery. In November 2025, Osmond communicated to the Australian Stock Exchange the results of the first relevant survey carried out in “Menipe”, an area of ​​up to 228 square kilometers between Aldeaquemada, Santisteban del Puerto, Castellar and Montzón: in an interval of just 1.5 meters and at a depth of 108 meters appeared concentrations of 15.92% titanium dioxide, 5.67% zirconium dioxide and 1.15% total rare earth oxides, with especially high values ​​in magnetic oxides, the most industrially valuable. Translated into mineralogy, this means 15.7% rutile, 9.8% zircon and 1.7% monazite. Four months later, collect Hora Jaén that the SGS Lakefield laboratories in Canada have validated that the processing of monazite from the deposit allows obtaining a concentrate with 19.4% of total rare earth oxides, after a process that eliminates worthless materials from the raw rock extracted. The zircon reaches a purity of 50.2% in the concentrate, with plans to exceed 66% in subsequent phases, which means reaching the premium category in the international market. Location of the deposit. Osmond Resources Why is it important. This first test leaves some striking numbers: the concentrations of titanium and zirconium are, according to the company itself, ‘globally competitive’. The processing of monazite reaches 19.4% of Total Rare Earth Oxides, of which a quarter corresponds to neodymium and praseodymium, the essential elements to manufacture the magnets for wind turbines and electric cars. Finding that quality and processing viability on European soil is simply unusual. Furthermore, unlike the majority of European critical minerals projects, which remain in extraction, Orión aims to cover the entire value chain: from the mine to the production of separated oxides ready for industry. This is differential in Europe. In the legal framework sponsored by the Critical Raw Materials Law and a mineral geopolitics dominated by China, Orion is much more than a mining project: it is exactly the type of asset that Europe needs to advance towards its technological sovereignty, of imperative need for the trade and industry of the old continent. Context. As we mentioned in the intro, the land is a historical site of mining in the Spanish state: the Linares-La Carolina region was during the 19th and 20th centuries one of the most important lead extraction areas in Europe and between the 50s and 70s there were already explorations in search of uranium, thorium and heavy minerals that were never exploited, partly due to the technical limitations of the time. This history has been essential in determining the target areas of the current program. At the regional level, Andalusia concentrates close to 90% of the value of Spanish metal mining and has a few research permits underway. That is to say, Orión is not an isolated case, it is the spearhead of a mining ecosystem that is being reactivated with European legislation stepping on the accelerator. Geology works in its favor, but everything else is missing. How have they done it. Osmond entered Spain by establishing Green Mineral Resources SL, its local subsidiary, and obtained the research permit published in the BOE in September 2025. The research plan has a duration of three years divided into progressive phases that start from the collection of historical information or the preparation of geological cartography to technically and economically evaluate the results. When the first surveys showed solid data in November 2025, the company communicated it to the Australian stock exchange and that was the trigger for everything. With the data on the table, agreements came quickly. In February 2026 signed with Técnicas Reunidasone of the largest Spanish engineering companies, to design and build what aspires to be the largest rare earth processing plant in Europe. In addition, they have partnered with other leading companies such as SGS Lakefield in Canada to expedite the project and give it the necessary packaging to attract European investors and organizations. Yes, but. As of today, the Orión project is in its infancy: there is no official resource estimate, no exploitation license, and no approved environmental impact assessment. The current permit only authorizes research and that does not guarantee anything. The case of Matamulas Ciudad Real is the best example: a site with high geological potential that generated great social rejection and that the Junta de Castilla-La Mancha has already blocked on three occasions. Likewise, there is a technical detail absent in the project communications: the monazite contains thorium and this is a radioactive element. While it is true that it is technically manageable, it involves waste with specific environmental and regulatory implications that will make social acceptance difficult when it is made known. He low initial investment model It focuses on concentrates to start, but the jump to separated oxides (where the interesting thing is) requires a complex, expensive and intensive hydrometallurgical plant. The potential is real and the data is solid, but the road to having an operational mine is long and full of mines. In Xataka | A mining company believes … Read more