Rio Tinto Group (ASX:RIO) is investing CA$7.6 million in an industrial demonstration project to assess the integration of an ore sorting technology at its Lac Tio mine in Quebec, according to a Friday statement by the mining giant.
The government of Quebec will contribute CA$2.5 million to this initiative through its Support Program for the Scale-up of Mineral Processing or Primary Transformation for Critical and Strategic Minerals.
The technology seeks to sort ore directly at the source, based on the titanium and scandium content, even at low grades, the company said.
The technology will allow for the assessment of potential optimizations of the ore pre-treatment process at the firm's plant, improve mineral resource management, and explore options for accessing parts of the deposit that were previously considered unprofitable.
It could also reduce the amount of material transported between the mine and Rio Tinto Iron and Titanium Quebec Operations' metallurgical and critical minerals complex.
The first phase of the project will focus on engineering, the commissioning of the ore sorting circuit, and technological validation, the company said. In the second phase in 2026, additional equipment will be integrated to automate the process and produce multiple batches of enriched ore.
Rio Tinto' shares shed about 1% in recent Friday trade.
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