Everest Metals (ASX:EMC), in partnership with Edith Cowan University, has been awarded $490,500 through the highly competitive Australia Economic Accelerator Ignite Round 2 program to fast-track the development of Australia's first commercial rubidium industry at its Mt Edon Critical Minerals Project in Western Australia.
Selected from 838 applications—only 14 in the resources sector—this 12-month grant will advance EMC’s proprietary direct rubidium extraction technology from laboratory-scale demonstration to near-operational prototype testing.
The project builds on prior achievements, including laboratory rubidium recoveries of up to 97%, a provisional patent, MRIWA funding, collaboration with CSIRO, and a world-class inferred mineral resource of 3.6 million tonnes at 0.22% Rb₂O.