Greenland Minerals and Energy Ltd (GMEL) says “metallurgical developments that continue to enhance the Kvanefjeld multi-element project (rare earth elements, uranium, zinc). Kvanefjeld is recognised as one of the world’s largest resources of rare earth elements and uranium, and is favourably located near existing infrastructure in southern Greenland. In June 2011, GMEL announced that it had identified a means to effectively beneficiate the Kvanefjeld REE-U mineralisation using froth flotation. This method was then piloted successfully under continuous operation to produce bulk mineral concentrates (announced October, 2011). Hydro-metallurgical leach studies on the mineral concentrates have now been completed.

Key outcomes:

• Beneficiation through froth flotation has now been well-tested, and reveals industry-leading upgrade ratios from ore to mineral concentrate representing <15% of the original mass
• Leach studies on the mineral concentrates demonstrate that the REE-uranium bearing minerals are highly amenable to conventional acid leach/solvent extraction
• Mineral concentrates can be leached under atmospheric conditions to yield extractions of 90-95% for uranium and heavy REEs
• Favourable leach solution chemistry allows for the generation of both heavy and light rare earth products
• Major advances in beneficiation and atmospheric leaching allow for the development of an enhanced, efficient flowsheet utilising conventional methods with low technical risk
• Developments eliminate the need for whole-of-ore pressure leaching and significantly reduce the scale of leach circuits, leading to a substantial reduction in capital expenditure
• The company is looking to finalise its preferred flowsheet and development scenario through Q1 2012, before finalising pre-feasibility work on the Kvanefjeld project.