Name of the Project
Phalaborwa rare earths project.

Location
Limpopo, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
London-listed Rainbow Rare Earths announced the signing of a binding agreement with Bosveld Phosphates for the co-development of the Phalaborwa rare earths project in November 2020.

On completion of a prefeasibility study (PFS), 70% of the project will be held by Rainbow and 30% by Bosveld, with a mechanism included to allow for Rainbow’s joint venture ownership to vary from 60% to 85%, depending on the results of the PFS.

Project Description
Rainbow Rare Earths and Bosveld Phosphates intend to jointly develop and process rare-earth elements (REEs) from the gypsum contained in two stacks at the project site.

The project comprises an estimated 35-million tonnes of gypsum, resulting from historical phosphate hard-rock mining and containing REEs, with an estimated average in situ grade of 0.6% total rare-earth oxides (TREOs) for about 210 000 t of TREOs, with neodymium and praseodymium expected to constitute about 30% of the TREOs basket.

The reprocessing of these gypsum stacks carries significant environmental benefits, as it will redeposit clean, benign gypsum, which then has the potential for further use in the building and fertiliser industries.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
Not stated.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Work has started on the preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for the Phalaborwa project.

Independent testwork conducted to date has confirmed that the phosphogypsum at Phalaborwa is amenable to direct leaching, with sulphuric acid for extraction of the contained rare earths. The resultant pregnant leach solution, after acid recovery, will be a suitable feedstock for purification and separation of the valuable rare earths.

The PEA will compare a conventional route to produce a Cerium-depleted mixed rare-earth carbonate versus an alternative flowsheet that bypasses the carbonate stage and delivers three higher-value products, comprising neodymium/praseodymium oxide, terbium oxide and dysprosium oxide.

The results will guide the direction for development of a prefeasibility study.

The scope of the PEA has been enlarged from the original plan to now include a downstream processing step, as an alternative to the original flowsheet, which will produce a mixed rare-earth carbonate. This is possible at Phalaborwa as the rare earths contained in the phosphogypsum are in a "cracked" chemical form.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
ANSTO Minerals (flowsheet process optimisation).

Contact Details for Project Information
Rainbow Rare Earths CEO George Bennett, cell +27 82 652 8526.