PERTH (miningweekly.com) – By-products from the Kvanefjeld rare earths project, in Greenland, could contribute as much as $60-million in revenue annually, ASX-listed Greenland Minerals said.
The company on Thursday pointed out that the Kvanefjeld deposit contained a large low-grade uranium resource, which could produce some 475 t/y at a cost of around $5-million.
Uranium sales are expected to contribute up to $45-million a year in revenues, representing a significant gross margin contributor, Greenland said.
Uranium production would also reduce the environmental impact of the project, and would contribute to the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions through power generation, the junior company said, adding that uranium recoveries would also reduce the volume of uranium disposed of in the tailings and residual radioactivity in the project area.
Meanwhile, the project is also expected to support some 6 000 t/y of zinc-in-concentrate production, which could generate a further $6-million a year in revenue, after allowing for treatment charges.
Furthermore, Kvanefjeld could also produce metallurgical grade fluorspar at a rate of 12 500 t/y, which would add approximately $4-million a year in revenues.
The project is expected to produce some 32 000 t/y of rare earth oxide at a processing rate of three-million tonnes a year, including 4 260 t/y for neodymium oxide, 1 420 t/y for praseodymium oxide and 270 t/y for dysprosium oxide.