ABx Group (ASX:ABX) will start work within “months, not years” of securing the green light from authorities for its Deep Leads Rare Earths Project in a pine plantation, 40km west of Launceston.
The company has already launched its project development stage after leach testing drill samples and discovering several new areas where ionic adsorption clay rare earths with high extraction exist.
ABx will continue to conduct in-house leach testing on drill samples, to better define the extent of ionic rare earths in its deposits. Its strategy is to start commercial production of a mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) as soon as possible, and these leach tests results are a valuable input to the engineering studies underway with external experts.
A JORC-compliant mineral resource of 89 million tonnes has been reported at its Deep Leads, Rubble Mound, and Wind Break deposits. Deposits contain 36 parts per million dysprosium and terbium which are touted to account for 4.3% of total rare earth oxides. This is reportedly the “highest proportion of any clay-hosted rare earth deposit in Australia and among the highest globally”.
The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation recently tested and found that some bulk samples at Deep Leads achieve extraction exceeding 80%, which is 10% more than ABx found.
ABx describes the discovery as “very rare”, especially in Australia. It predicts ionic rare earths extraction costs will be low and “significantly increase the commercial potential” of the project.
“My jaw dropped when I saw these leach test results. Our in-house assessment and knowledge gained from external experts indicate that ionic deposits are likely to be substantially lower on the cost curve than otherwise equivalent clay-hosted deposits,” CEO Mark Cooksey says.
The project has already secured a mining lease for quarrying close to the DL130 bauxite deposit, rail, infrastructure, grid hydropower and water. The mixed rare earth carbonate product will be distributed to rare earth separation plants via “Western supply chains”.
Talks are underway with potential offtake partners. ABx has already executed a new memorandum of understanding with Ucore Rare Metals (TSX-V:UCU), which is developing rare earth processing facilities in North America.
“We have a substantial extent of ionic clay rare earths in our Deep Leads deposit, which will enhance our ability to supply significant volumes of high-quality mixed rare earth carbonate into Western supply chains. We have progressed to the project development stage,” Cooksey says.
The company will next perform in-house leach testing on drill samples, to help determine the amount of ionic rare earths in deposits. It hopes to start commercially producing MREC “as soon as possible”.
ABx aims to establish Australia’s first ionic rare earths project, producing a premium MREC that is sold to rare earth separation plants.
Write to Richard Szabo at Mining.com.au
Images: ABx
