Vital Metals (ASX:VML) has completed a Scoping Study for its Tardiff deposit in Canada, which shows the 100% owned project has a pre-tax net present value of US$776 million ($1.2 billion).
ERM Consultants Canada was commissioned to provide the study within guidelines and reporting standards established by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC).
The total capital cost for the Tardiff Project is estimated at US$291 million ($455 million), which is expected to be completed within 24 months. Payback from first production is expected to be 39 months.
Pre-production funding will be used to complete site clearing and preparation, a new camp, road works, infrastructure building, processing facility, electricity generation facilities, and capital equipment purchases.
The post-tax NPV is US$445 million (IRR of 25.5%) using an 8% discount rate over an 11-year life of mine. This is informed by a base case commodity price deck of US$90/kg of neodymium and praseodymium, US$1,322/kg for terbium and US$338/kg for dysprosium.
The breakeven price for NdPr using all other prices from the base case is US$33.68/ kg. To test the robustness of the project, the NPV for this study is also estimated using current market prices (circa US$60/kg for neodymium and praseodymium, US$881/kg for terbium and US$225/kg for dysprosium.
The pre-tax result is US$383 million (IRR of 22%), and post-tax US$176 (IRR of 15.8%) using an 8% discount rate over an 11-year life of mine.
The next steps aim to capture further economic upside by optimising rare earth elements and niobium recoveries, as well as lifting concentrate grades, and delivering higher payability for the economic commodities.
Located 100km east of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, Vital Metals says Tardiff has the potential to become a viable, long-term rare earths and niobium project that plays a key role in the critical minerals supply chain in Canada.
This Scoping Study evaluates development of a hard rock starter open pit that extracts only 15% of the total Tardiff mineral resource estimate of 192.7 million tonnes at 1.3% total rare earth oxide (TREO).
The adjacent 100% owned North T and South T deposits have not been included as part of the study.
The Tardiff project is owned by Nechalacho Resources Corporation, a Canadian-based company in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and a wholly owned subsidiary of Vital.
The Tardiff deposit is a near-surface light-rare-earth-elements-enriched mineralisation that has been defined to a depth of about 100m below surface.
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Vital
