Name of the Project
Ashram rare earths and fluorspar project.

Location
The Eldor property in Nunavik, northern Québec, Canada.

Project Owner/s
Critical minerals development and exploration company Mont Royal Resources.

Project Description
The project entails the development of a large-scale, integrated rare earths mining and processing operation based on the monazite-dominant Ashram deposit.

The deposit has indicated mineral resources of 73.2-million tonnes grading 1.89% total rare-earth oxides (TREO) and inferred resources of 131.1-million tonnes grading 1.91% TREO. Neodymium and praseodymium account for about 21% of the TREO. The resource also contains fluorspar averaging 6.6% in the indicated category and 4% in the inferred category; however, the updated preliminary economic assessment (PEA) base case does not include a fluorspar recovery circuit.

The PEA envisages a conventional openpit, truck-and-shovel operation using drill-and-blast mining on 10 m benches. The 30-year mine plan comprises about 53-million tonnes of mill feed, of which about 93% is sourced from indicated resources, at a low strip ratio of 0.4:1. The openpit will be developed in phases to prioritise higher-value material and will reach a final depth of about 240 m.

The base case uses only about 25% of the current global resource, leaving scope for a substantial extension of the operating life.

An on-site concentrator immediately north of the openpit will process about 4 900 dry tonnes a day, or 1.8-million tonnes a year, through crushing, grinding, flotation and dewatering. It is expected to produce about 190 t/d of concentrate grading about 30% rare-earth oxide (REO), at an average concentrator recovery of 63%. The filtered concentrate will be transported in containers to Saguenay for hydrometallurgical processing.

The Saguenay refinery will process about 69 500 t/y of concentrate using acid bake, water leach, solvent extraction, oxalate precipitation and metathesis to produce about 33 800 t/y of mixed rare-earth carbonate. Average production is estimated at 17 466 t/y of saleable REO, including 4 035 t/y of neodymium-praseodymium oxide, about 100 t/y of dysprosium-terbium oxide and 230 t/y of yttrium oxide. Life-of-mine saleable REO production is estimated at about 510 000 t.

Potential Job Creation
Mine-site administration and accommodation facilities are designed for a workforce of up to 200 people.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The PEA estimates an after-tax net present value (NPV), at an 8% real discount rate, of C$2.03-billion, an internal rate of return (IRR) of 22%, with a payback 3.9 years from the start of production. The pretax NPV is C$3.44-billion and the pretax IRR is 25.6%.

Capital Expenditure
Initial capital expenditure is estimated at C$1.23-billion, including a 30% contingency and excluding the proposed access road.

Planned Start/End Date
A prefeasibility study is targeted to start in the second half of 2026. The PEA assumes a two-year construction period, excluding road construction, followed by 30 years of production.

Latest Developments
None stated.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Altris Engineering (updated PEA); BBA, PLR Resources, DRA Americas, L3 Process Development, ASDR Canada, TALA Geotec and Norda Stelo (specialist contributors); and SGS Canada (mineral-processing testwork supporting the beneficiation flowsheet).

Contact Details for Project Information
Mont Royal Resources, email info@montroyalres.com.