PERTH (miningweekly.com) – A scoping study into ASX-listed Crossland Uranium Mine’s Charley Creek rare earths project, in the Northern Territory, has confirmed it as one of the lowest capital cost rare-earth projects in the world, with a viable timeline for development.
The scoping study estimated that a capital injection of A$156-million would be required to fund the construction of the 20-year project. During the first to fifth year of operation, the Charley Creek project would deliver between 8-million and 12-million tons a year of ore, increasing throughput to some 20-million tons a year by year six.
The expansion of throughput during year six of operations would coincide with an expected decrease in head grade, Crossland said. Capital cost for the incremental expansion has been estimated at A$40-million.
Yearly production was estimated at some 3 645 t/y of rare-earth oxides. Crossland noted that the project could generate an average yearly revenue of some A$154-million.
The scoping study projected that the project would have a net present value of some A$301-million and an internal rate of return of 39.4%.
Crossland said on Monday that the capital cost for the Charley Creek project was significantly lower than similar projects in the rest of Australia, or in Canada and South Africa, owing to the style of the deposit. Processing of the ore would require simple gravity, electrostatic and magnetic processes, Crossland said, which were widely used throughout the mineral sands industry.
The Charley Creek project was scheduled to enter its construction phase in 2015, with Crossland launching a feasibility study immediately. Definition drilling would also be undertaken to identify initial high-grade starter pits, and increase the confidence levels of the current resource.
Pilot plant testwork for the rare-earth-oxide refinery flow sheet would start in the second half of this year to confirm the overall flow sheet, and an environmental-impact assessment was currently in progress.