PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Junior Northern Minerals has reported a more than 4.3-million kilogram increase in the mineral resource at its Browns Range heavy rare earths project, in Western Australia.
The company reported on Wednesday that the mineral resource at Browns Range now stood at 8.47-million tonnes, grading 0.62% rare earths for 52.37-million kilograms of rare earths.
MD George Bauk told shareholders that the upgrade in resource was an excellent result for the project, and a demonstration of the project’s future exploration potential.
“Our exploration results continue to exceed our expectations, and we have been successful in converting these results into defined resource. This resource upgrade shows continued growth of the Browns Range asset base with the inclusion of two new deposits: Cyclops and Banshee.”
Bauk noted that drilling at both deposits had been limited, and like all the Browns Range deposits, they remained open, indicating the opportunity to further expand the mineral resource estimate and increase the project’s mine life.
Northern Minerals was hoping for 2016 production to start at Browns Range, after a June prefeasibility study estimated that the project would have a net present value of A$446-million. The study was based on a conventional mining operation involving both opencut and underground operation, with the Browns Range expected to deliver about 279 000 kg/y of dysprosium, over a mine life of ten years.