Name of the Project
Nolans neodymium-praseodymium project.

Location
Northern Territory, Australia.

Client
Arafura Resources.

Project Description
Nolans is one of the most advanced rare earths development projects globally. The Nolans Bore resource is rich in neodymium-praseodymium – the key rare earths used in high-strength permanent magnets.

The project has total mineral resources estimated at 56-million tonnes at 2.6% rare-earth oxides using a 1% cutoff grade.

The measured and indicated resources base has the potential to support mining and processing operations for at least 30 to 35 years at a design capacity of 14 000 t/y of total rare-earth oxides (TREO) equivalent.

Opencut mining will selectively target phosphate-rich material types, which comprise more than two-thirds of the deposit’s measured and indicated resource inventory. Arafura is planning to mine up to five-million tonnes a year to produce 650 000 t of run-of-mine ore as feed to a three-stage crushing circuit.

Crushed ore will initially be processed in a beneficiation plant that uses whole-of-ore flotation as the main unit of operation. Beneficiation reduces the mass for subsequent processing by about 50%.

The flotation concentrate will be pumped about 8 km through a slurry pipeline to an extraction plant.

Chemical processing at the extraction plant will use a phosphoric acid preleach process that leverages the phosphate-rich characteristics of the concentrate, resulting in the production of 110 000 t/y of merchant-grade (54%) phosphoric acid for sale to the fertiliser market.

Solid rare earth-bearing products from preleach will be subjected to several processes at the extraction plant, which involve baking, water leach, precipitation, dissolution and purification. Output from the extraction plant will be 16 450 t/y of a neodymium-praseodymium-rich rare-earth chloride intermediate product, and a lower-value cerium oxide product.

The rare-earth chloride intermediate product will be further refined at an offshore separation plant into neodymium-praseodymium oxide, lanthanum  oxide and a mixed middle-heavy rare-earth (SEG-HRE) carbonate. Production is estimated at 3 600 t/y of neodymium-praseodymium oxide, 2 660 t/y of lanthanum oxide and 660 t/y of SEG-HRE concentrate.

Arafura is assessing a site for the separation plant in the Saemangeum Free Economic Zone, in South Korea, in a potential joint venture with OCI Company.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an estimated net present value of A$2.045-billion after tax, with a 10% discount rate. It has an internal rate of return of 21.4% and an after-tax payback of capital in the fifth year of operation.

Value
Overall capital costs, including contingency, are estimated at A$1.43-billion.

Duration
Construction is expected to start in mid-2016 and production in early 2019.

Latest Developments
The federal government has approved the Nolans neodymium-praseodymium project for development.

The approval is the final step in the project’s environmental approvals process, after the Northern Territory government’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved it in December.

The federal environmental approval comes with several conditions pertaining to biodiversity, groundwater and radiation.

Arafura has said it will incorporate these conditions into the Northern Territory’s EPA conditions in the final mining management plan, which will be prepared during the second half of 2018.

“With territory and federal approvals in hand, Arafura is better placed to engage in meaningful discussions with potential strategic partners and other parties that may have an interest in assisting with funding and the development of the Nolans project,” Arafura MD Gavin Lockyer has said.

“Along with completing engineering studies, progressing project funding will be a priority for the company during 2018.”

Final project construction and operating approvals will be obtained once the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Resources issues a mining authorisation and approves the activities of the mining management plan.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Arafura Resources, tel +61 8 6210 7666, fax +61 8 9221 7966 or email media@arafuraresources.com.au.