ASX-listed Brazilian Critical Minerals confirms in a bankable feasibility study (BFS) on the Ema rare earths project, in Brazil, the project's potential to be a long-life and economically resilient rare earths project.

Using data from an extensive three-month in-situ recovery field trial programme and the latest mineral resource estimate on the project - which was published in April - the BFS finds the project to have a net present value (NPV) after tax of $1.47-billion at base case rare earths prices of $108/kg of neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr), and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 105%.

These values can increase to $1.8-billion NPV and 124% IRR at the high price case scenario of $130/kg of NdPr.

The BFS incorporates detailed capital and operating cost estimates, while all other major technical and economic assumptions were established using first-principles calculations and benchmarking from comparable industry operations.

The payback period has been calculated at six months in the base case scenario and three months in the high price case scenario.

Stage 1 of the project's development will need $74-million of capital expenditure (capex), which includes a new $19-million carbon capture and storage system for Stage 1 and 2 production volumes, wellfield development costs and a 14.4% contingency.

Stage 2 of the project's development will require $27-million of capex.

The BFS estimates the Ema project to be able to operate at a C1 cost of $8.84/kg of total rare earth oxides over its 20-year lifetime. Average total rare earth oxide production is estimated at 5 500 t/y, while mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) production is estimated at 1 900 t/y.

The earnings potential is estimated at between $219-million and $271-million a year, depending on the price case scenario.

Brazilian Critical Minerals MD Andrew Reid says the BFS outlines robust project economics through a combination of low development capital, low operating costs, simplified processing flowsheets and the production of a premium MREC product from a long-life mineral resource. "The study highlights Ema’s potential to emerge as one of the Western world’s lowest-cost rare earth projects supplying downstream-compatible MREC product."