Latest issue of International Mining Project News available (February 12): There has been some big news in uranium and rare earth projects this issue. The updates on the prefeasibility study at Greenland Minerals and Energy’s Kvanefjeld project (southern Greenland), the processing plant agreement at Stan Energy Corp’s REE and Kutessay II mines (Kyrgz Republic) and the $450 million equity raising for Lynas’ Rare Earths project (Western Australia), given the increasing interest in rare earths, are all important. There is also news from Talvivaara Mining, which plans to recover uranium from its Talvivaara mine in Finland, modifying its production process to recover the uranium contained in the solution as yellow cake.
Greenland Minerals and Energy’s interim report from its prefeasibility study at its Kvanefjeld project in southern Greenland stated a processing rate of 10.8 Mt/y with conventional open-pit mining. It also showed a waste to ore strip ratio of 0.8:1 with a project life of 23 years. Construction is on course to commence in 2013 with production going ahead in 2015. A JORC compliant mineral resource estimate shows 4.79 Mt of rare earth oxides and 0.12 Mt of uranium oxide. Based on the study results, the company will accelerate further studies into mining operations at the project.
In the Kyrgz Republic, Stans Energy Corp has entered into an exclusive 12 month agreement with the Kyrgyz Chemical and Metallurgical Plant (KCMP) to option the processing plants that previously isolated and recovered each of the 15 rare earth elements (REEs) from the Kutessay II mine. The REE mine, Kutessay II and associated Kalesay beryllium deposit were recently acquired by Stans and are 100% owned by the company. During 1966 to 1991, KCMP produced 120 different rare-earth products, including oxides, pure metals and alloys at purities of up to 99.99%. During exploitation of the Kutessay II deposit (1958-91) 5.45 Mt of ore was mined producing 22,109 t of rare earth oxides (content in ore – 0.41%), 145,000 t of ore containing 3,300 t of rare earth minerals were written off and 1.88 Mt of ore containing 4,870 t of rare earth minerals were transferred from balance to below cutoff grade.
Lynas’ Rare Earths project in Western Australia will use the proceeds of the equity raising to complete Phase 1 of the project.This has enabled the company to lift the suspension of the project to complete construction and commissioning of both the concentration plant in Western Australia and the Advanced Materials Plant in Malaysia. Also, during the last quarter Lynas completed the acquisition of all of the rights of CSBP Ltd in relation to the mining leases located near the project at Mount Weld. The rights acquired by Lynas relate to the apatite at Mount Weld, which has a JORC Code compliant Indicated resource of 60.4 Mt at 19.2% P2O5 (10% P2O5 cutoff). Pilot plant demonstrations have shown that a concentrate suitable for phosphate fertiliser manufacture could be produced from this resource. However, Lynas will continue to focus on the development of rare earths from the Mount Weld tenements.
At Talvivaara, natural uranium is present in low concentrations in the orebody. In the mine’s bioheapleaching process, small concentrations of uranium leach into the process solution along with the company’s main products. The company is now investigating the potential to modify its production process so that the uranium contained in the solution can be used as yellow cake. In the company’s present production process, extremely small concentrations of uranium are deposited in an engineered gypsum pond intended for process precipitations. It plans to recover the uranium from its main leaching process by using a simple SX process which is widely applied to metals recovery. The company has drawn up tentative process plans in co-operation with Outotec and Norilsk Nickel.
There is also news in the iron ore and coal markets, with BHP Billiton approving $1.93 billion of capital expenditure to underpin the further accelerated growth of its Western Australia iron ore business. This investment represents early expenditure for the company’s Rapid Growth Project 6 (RGP6), which is expected to increase installed capacity in Western Australia to 240 Mt/y during 2013. The funding will allow early procurement of long lead time items and detailed engineering to continue the expansion of the inner harbour at Port Hedland, progress rail track duplication works and expand the Jimblebar mining operation.
Kangaroo Resources has commenced mining at its second Indonesian coal operation, the Mamahak coking coal project in East Kalimantan, six weeks after acquiring an 85% interest in the project. The operational team has now completed the removal of overburden and exposed up to 15,000 t of fresh coal for mining. Mining of this material is now underway. The company is targeting initial production of up to 30,000 t/month of coal from Mamahak. It acquired the project as part of a portfolio of Indonesian mining interests purchased from South Gobi Energy Resources in December 2009. The project includes a JORC compliant resource of 10.22 Mt of coking coal, extensive infrastructure capable of supporting up to 1.5 Mt/y of coal production, and a large 30,000 t coking coal stockpile ready for immediate shipping.
There is also news from Western Australia on results from BC Iron and Fortescue Metals’ Nullagine iron ore project, Toro Energy’s Wiluna uranium project, First Quantum Minerals’ newly acquired Ravensthorpe nickel operation, as well as many other project updates from around the world. To receive the full 45+ page report, subscriptions to this service can be registered and paid for on-line (SUBSCRIBE TO IM PROJECT NEWS BUTTON), or contact [email protected] for a free trial copy.
