CSIRO Minerals Resources supports the Critical Minerals sector through the development of advanced processes and flow sheets for refining and generating value-added products from partner feedstocks. These work programs typically begin with bench-scale testing to validate and optimise the proposed process, followed by piloting to demonstrate scalability and operability. CSIRO has a strong history of operating pilot plant projects, with throughputs ranging from tens to thousands of kilograms, with supporting capability in various unit processes that include leaching, solid:liquid separation, purification and downstream processing to generate high purity value-added products. Examples of recent pilot scale operations include: • Nickel laterite leaching with nitric acid to produce MHP. • Processing of a titanium vanadium ore to generate saleable products of titanium, vanadium and magnetite. • Nickel purification to create battery grade nickel sulfate. • Solvent extraction purification process to produce battery grade manganese. • Graphite purification to produce battery grade material. • A pCAM production pilot plant to support the development of Australian pCAM manufacturing. These examples will highlight the need for pilot scale operations to demonstrate the feasibility of laboratory scale processes and de-risk at increased scale. For example, during the scale up of the nickel purification process several process issues emerged that were not identified during laboratory development. The team identified the causes, implemented operational changes, and resolved these issues during pilot plant operation. In one example, these process solutions were scaled up and incorporated into to a commercial production plant in Australia. These pilot plants demonstrate CSIRO’s capability to bridge the gap between laboratory research and commercial deployment. By identifying and resolving scale-up challenges, the operation of pilot plants helps de-risk new technologies, validate process robustness, and support the successful transition to full-scale operation for Australian and International partners.