PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A preliminary feasibility study (PFS) into the Longonjo neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) project, in Angola, has found that the project could produce an average of 56 000 t/y of concentrate over a nine-year mine life.
ASX-listed Pensana Metals on Friday reported that the PFS was based on a two-phase development of a two-million-tonne-a-year operation.
For the first three years of operation, the project wold process 1.5-million tonnes a year of higher-grade resource, producing 60 000 t/y of concentrate, containing 4 600 t/y of NdPr and 20 700 t/y of rare earth oxides.
From the fourth year of operation, the front end of the plant would be expanded to process two-million tonnes a year, to maintain concentrate and NdPr production.
The Stage 1 operation would require a capital expenditure of $130.6-million, with the Stage 2 expansion requiring a further $12.5-million investment. The PFS estimated that the Longonjo project would generate total revenues of more than $1.9-billion and annual revenue of around $220-million, with the internal rate of return estimated at 101%, pre-tax and royalties.
“Our primary focus has been to take advantage of the world-class rail, port and power infrastructure and keep the capital costs low and generate strong early cash flows to ensure that the project can be readily financed,” said Pensana CEO Tim George.
“The mine will have a low carbon footprint and we are working with the local community to ensure that the investment will have a positive impact by creating jobs, opportunities for local businesses and investment in community projects.
George said that Pensana had now started detailed engineering studies, and was looking to advance the mine to start construction activities in early 2020.
Construction time for the project has been estimated at around 14 months.