Name of the Project
Steenkampskraal rare earths mine project.

Location
The mine is located in the Western Cape, South Africa.

Client
Steenkampskraal Holdings (SHL).

Project Description
The Steenkampskraal mine is an existing mine that produced and exported a monazite concentrate during the 1950s and 1960s.

The mine is one of the highest-grade rare earths and thorium mines in the world, with average grades of 14.4% rare earths and 2.14% thorium.

The mine’s design has been developed to make optimum use of the existing underground infrastructure and is based on conventional stoping techniques, tramming the ore to the bottom of the incline shaft and hoisting the ore up the incline shaft. Production is targeted at 2 700 t/y of mixed rare-earth oxides.

About 30 000 t/y of ore will be mined and processed, after allowing for ore dilution during the mining process. At this rate of production, the project will have a mine life of about 25 years.

Potential Job Creation
About 200 jobs are expected to be created.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The net present value of the project is estimated at R1.201-million and the internal rate of return at 53.3%.

Value
The capital expenditure for the project is currently estimated at about R500-million.

Steenkampskraal Holdings will save about 80% in mine construction costs, as it will use most of the existing infrastructure at the mine.

Duration
Construction is expected to take about 12 months.

Latest Developments
SHL plans to proceed with a bankable feasibility study (BFS) at its Steenkampskraal rare earths mine, following the conclusion of a court case between SHL and contractor ERES Engineering Projects.

The High Court has rescinded the contracts between SHL and ERES and has dismissed ERES’ counter claim against SHL.

The judge has also ordered ERES to repay SHL a R2.5-million deposit.

ERES was contracted to complete rehabilitation and reinstatement of infrastructure services, as well as to provide bulk earthworks at the project in 2012, but a multilayered dispute arose between the parties and a trial started in May 2017.

SHL chairperson Trevor Blench has said that the litigation has made it difficult to raise finance and conclude a BFS.

The BFS will confirm the capital requirement for the construction of the mine, processing facilities and the operating cost for the duration of the mine build, which the company expects will take a year to complete.

SHL pre-emptively estimates a capital cost of R500-million, and an operating cost of $10/kg rof? are-earth oxide produced, including separation and purification.

Further, SHL estimates that the cost to produce mixed rate-earth carbonite, including mining, beneficiation and chemical separation of the rare earths from the thorium, will be about $3.50/kg, excluding separation and purification of the individual rare-earth oxides.

The weighted average basket price for rare-earth oxides is currently about $16/kg.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Steenkampskraal Holdings, tel +27 21 852 4998, fax +27 086 619 7330 or email info@steenkampskraal.com