Name of the Project
Yangibana rare earths project.

Location
Upper Gascoyne region, Western Australia.

Project Owner/s
ASX-listed Hastings Technology Metals.

Project Description
The project includes the development of five openpit mines, groundwater abstraction, an on-site processing plant, tailings storage facilities, access and haul roads, as well as supporting infrastructure such as accommodation facilities, administration buildings and an airstrip.

The project proposes the construction of a beneficiation and hydrometallurgy processing plant, which will treat rare earths deposits, predominantly monazite, hosting high neodymium and praseodymium contents to produce a mixed rare earths carbonate that will be further refined into individual rare-earth oxides at processing plants overseas.

The one-million-tonne-a-year operation is expected to produce 15 000 t/y of mixed rare earths concentrate and about 8 850 t/y of total rare-earth oxides over 13 years.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has an after-tax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of A$549-million and an internal rate of return of 28%, with a payback of 2.6 years.

Capital Expenditure
The project’s cost was revised in March 2019 to $427-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
The federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) has finalised its environmental approval for the hydrometallurgical plant at the Yangibana project.

DAWE has given Hastings approval to proceed with constructing the Onslow rare earths plant at the Ashburton North Strategic Industrial Area (ANSIA), about 15 km south-west of the coastal town of Onslow.

The plant will perform the hydrometallurgical processing of rare-earth oxide concentrate from Yangibana into mixed rare -earth carbonate (MREC) containing high levels of neodymium and praseodymium concentrate.

Construction of the hydrometallurgical plant is expected to begin in 2022, after the completion of early works at Yangibana mine site and in line with Hastings’ target to produce its first MREC in early 2024.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
Wave International (project management and definitive feasibility study lead); Hastings Technology Metals, Widenbar and Associates (geology and resource evaluation); Southern Geoscience (geophysical Interpretation); Snowden Mining Industry Consultants (reserve estimation, mine planning and design, geotechnical); ATC Williams (tailings management); ALS, ANSTO, KYSPY Met, SGS Minerals (pilot plant and metallurgical testwork); Tetra Tech Proteus (process plant and metallurgical testwork, process plant design, as well as utilities and infrastructure); Wave International (infrastructure); Enperitus Radpro, JHI, Bennelongia, Ecoscape (environment); JDA (surface water hydrology); Groundwater Resource Management (groundwater hydrogeology); Trajectory (mine closure cost estimates); Tetra Tech Proteus and Wave International (capital and operating cost); Hastings Technology Metals, Argus Metals International (market analysis); and Qube Logistics (logistics study).

Contact Details for Project Information
Hastings Technology Metals, email info@hastingstechmetals.com.