What is considered to be one the world’s highest-grade rare earths mines, Steenkampskraal, in South Africa, has received all the necessary regulatory approvals to complete construction and be in production in 12 to 18 months.

The mine’s infrastructure is currently 80% complete.

Steenkampskraal Holdings chairperson Trevor Blench says the mine’s water use licence, which was recently granted, had been the last remaining outstanding permit before mining could start.

Steenkampskraal had prepared a detailed analysis of the groundwater reserves, flows and replenishment rates around the mine. It drilled several boreholes and equipped these boreholes with generators, pumps and pipes to supply water for the mine.

The company then built a reverse osmosis plant to treat 20 000 ℓ/h of water, which is sufficient to meet the mine’s requirements.

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) had also granted Steenkampskraal a mining right, allowing the company to mine all the minerals in the 474 ha mining right area, except diamonds and oil, until 2030.

The right is renewable for ten or twenty years beyond 2030.

The mine’s mineral resource estimate confirms the presence of 605 000 t of ore at an average grade of 14.4% total rare earth oxides (TREO).

The neodymium grade, on its own, is 2.58%, the praseodymium grade is 0.74%, the dysprosium grade is 0.14% and the terbium grade is 0.03%.

Blench explains that the combined grade of these four rare earths that are used to make the magnets for electric motors is 3.49%, which is higher than the total rare earth grades of most other rare earth deposits.

The mineral resource estimate confirms the presence of 86 930 t of rare earths at the mine, including 15 600 t of neodymium, 4 450 t of praseodymium, 867 t of dysprosium and 182 t of terbium.

The planned production volume of 2 700 t/y of rare earths will include 480 t of neodymium, 138 t of praseodymium, 26 t of dysprosium and 5 t of terbium.

The DMRE had previously renewed Steenkampskraal’s prospecting right around the mine, for three years up to July 2022.

The prospecting right covers five properties across a 9 751 ha surface area, where the mine had identified 47 rare earth exploration targets since its exploration activities started in 2012.

Assay results from the company’s exploration work included four samples that returned TREO plus yttrium oxide grades greater than 1%, a sample grading 24.68% TREO plus yttrium oxide and one grading 55.02% TREO plus yttrium oxide, which ensures expansion potential of the mine.