PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan has broken soil at the Browns Range rare earths project, marking the start of work at the pilot plant operation.
The proposed A$56-million pilot plant is a tenth of the scale of the full operation, and has a 60 000 t/y crushing beneficiation circuit, and 3 200 t/y hydrometallurgical plant, which will produce 590 t of total rare-earth oxide in a mixed rare-earth carbonate.
The first mixed rare-earth carbonate production is expected in mid-2018.
"This project provides vital economic development and employment opportunities to the Kimberley community, with 50 construction jobs and 45 ongoing operational positions.
"The project proponents have also applied for federal funding for a dedicated Aboriginal training centre at the mine site, to be run in partnership with Kununurra's Wunan Foundation,” McGowan said on Friday.
Northern Minerals MD and CEO George Bauk noted that action was ramping up at the Browns Hill project, with mining having started last month, and with contractors arriving on site to start preparation work at the processing plant modules under construction in China.
“At full-scale production, we expect the project will employ 250 staff on site, and we will be focused on providing direct employment and contract opportunities for locals.”
The pilot plant would be a stepping stone to the development of a full-scale A$329-million project, which has been modelled over an initial life of 11 years, and which would produce 585 00 t of high value heavy rare earths.