Clean TeQ Water Limited (ASX: CNQ) has announced it has been awarded a contract by Sunrise Energy Metals Limited (ASX: SRL) to update key engineering elements of the Syerston Scandium Project in New South Wales, Australia. Clean TeQ Water is a global technology leader specialising in providing economic and environmentally sustainable solutions to address critical issues related to freshwater scarcity, mine tailings, and metal recovery. The A$665,160 contract involves updating and refining designs from the 2016 and 2025 feasibility studies, focusing on the continuous Resin-in-Pulp (cRIP) and refinery circuits, underpinned by MBIX (Moving Bed Ion Exchange) technology.
These updates will inform Sunrise’s Final Investment Decision (FID) and will form part of the broader investment readiness package. The work is scheduled to be completed within 16 weeks from commencement, with delivery expected in May 2026. The Syerston Scandium Project is known to host one of the world’s largest and highest-grade primary scandium resources.
Clean TeQ Water’s appointment reflects the long-standing technical collaboration between both companies and their expertise in critical metals recovery. While Sunrise retains exclusive rights to MBIX for scandium, nickel and cobalt, Clean TeQ Water applies the MBIX technology more broadly in water treatment, industrial processing, and emerging applications across uranium, rare earths and other high-value critical minerals.
According to Peter Voigt, CEO of Clean TeQ Water, the company is delighted to be working with Sunrise on this pivotal phase of the Syerston Scandium Project. He added that the increased scandium inventory underscores the project’s growing strategic relevance, and the contract exemplifies Clean TeQ’s core strengths in critical metals process design. The engineering work is already underway, and the contract is a binding engineering services agreement, not conditional on Sunrise reaching a Final Investment Decision.
