VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – The Namibian Environment Ministry has cleared TSX-V-listed project promotor Namibia Rare Earths’ (NRE’s) Lofdal heavy rare earth project for mining and processing operations and for a planned power and water line corridor, the company announced on Monday.

The Halifax, Nova Scotia-based company said the three-year environmental clearance certificates (ECCs) allow it to develop an 840 000 t/y openpit mining operation at Lofdal together with processing facilities, waste rock dumps and tailings storage facility to produce heavy rare earth concentrates at site.

NRE plans to build a 40 km long 66 kV overhead power line from the national power grid, with a parallel water pipeline to deliver power and water to site.

The certificates also allow the company to consider installing a supplemental photovoltaic solar power plant at site.

The proposed mining licence application remains pending.

NRE also announced that it has received conditional approval from the TSX-V exchange to acquire a portfolio of critical metals properties from Gecko Namibia. It is working to satisfy the conditions for final approval. Shares of NRE are currently halted from trading and it is expected that they will remain halted until the exchange has received and reviewed the required documentation regarding the property acquisition.

A 2014 preliminary economic assessment on the Lofdal project concluded that the project has the potential to produce an average of 1 500 t/y of separated rare earth oxides (REO), which would generate after tax cumulative cash flow of $259-million with a net present value, using a 10% discount rate, of $148-million and an internal rate of return
of 42%.

According to the PEA, there is considerable potential to expand the current mineral resource and
recommends that additional drilling be carried out to provide for an extended mine life in conjunction with
a six month prefeasibility study programme.