Name of the Project
Yangibana rare earths project.

Location
Upper Gascoyne region, Western Australia.

Project Owner/s
ASX-listed Hastings Technology Metals.

Project Description
The project includes the development of five openpit mines, groundwater abstraction, an on-site processing plant, tailings storage facilities, access and haul roads, as well as supporting infrastructure such as accommodation facilities, administration buildings and an airstrip.

The project proposes the construction of a beneficiation and hydrometallurgy processing plant, which will treat rare earths deposits, predominantly monazite, hosting high neodymium and praseodymium contents to produce a mixed rare earths carbonate that will be further refined into individual rare-earth oxides at processing plants overseas.

The one-million-tonne-a-year operation is expected to produce 15 000 t/y of mixed rare earths concentrate and about 8 850 t/y of total rare-earth oxides over 13 years.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of A$549-million and an internal rate of return of 28%, with a payback of 2.6 years.

Capital Expenditure
The project’s cost was revised in March 2019 to $427-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Project construction is scheduled to start in mid-2022, ahead of a 24-month construction period.

Latest Developments
The Northern Australian Infrastructure Fund (NAIF) has approved a A$140-million investment in the construction of the Yangibana rare earths project.

The NAIF loan will form part of a A$300-million to A$400-million debt financing required for the construction of the project, which will create up to 750 jobs, more than A$1.25-billion in public benefit and support Australia’s growing critical minerals sector.
 
The commitment by NAIF will enable Hastings to finalise the funding requirements for Yangibana’s development and progress to full-scale construction throughout 2022, with the objective of delivering first production by 2024.

Hastings is finalising the funding arrangements that will enable the board to make a final investment decision in the coming months.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Wave International (project management and definitive feasibility study lead); Hastings Technology Metals, Widenbar and Associates (geology and resource evaluation); Southern Geoscience (geophysical Interpretation); Snowden Mining Industry Consultants (reserve estimation, mine planning and design, geotechnical); ATC Williams (tailings management); ALS, ANSTO, KYSPY Met, SGS Minerals (pilot plant and metallurgical testwork); Tetra Tech Proteus (process plant and metallurgical testwork, process plant design, as well as utilities and infrastructure); Wave International (infrastructure); Enperitus Radpro, JHI, Bennelongia, Ecoscape (environment); JDA (surface water hydrology); Groundwater Resource Management (groundwater hydrogeology); Trajectory (mine closure cost estimates); Tetra Tech Proteus and Wave International (capital and operating cost); Hastings Technology Metals, Argus Metals International (market analysis); and Qube Logistics (logistics study).

Contact Details for Project Information
Hastings Technology Metals, email info@hastingstechmetals.com.