Overview
Stage | Permitting |
Mine Type | Open Pit |
Commodities |
- Total Rare Earth Oxides
- P2O5
- Nd2O3+Pr6O11
|
Mining Method |
|
Processing |
|
Mine Life | 23 years (as of Jan 1, 2019) |
Arafura Resources will, in the next few years, become a long-term, secure supplier of neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) from its 100%-owned Nolans project. The project site is located 135 kilometres north along the Stuart Highway from the town of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, Australia. |
Latest News | Arafura’s Nolans project life jumps by a decade March 11, 2020 |
Deposit Type
- Vein / narrow vein
- Pegmatite
Summary:
The Nolans Bore deposit is spatially close to several tin and tantalum pegmatites, and REE-bearing carbonatite/alkaline complexes (Mud Tank and Mordor Igneous Complex). This mineral field of carbonatites, pegmatites, and other REE occurrences is in a region transacted by three major lineaments delineated by O’Driscoll, which include the north–northwest trending G2-gravity lineament that is considered to be spatially related to the Olympic Dam deposit and northwest-trending G3-gravity.
The mineralisation at the Nolans Bore deposit is hosted in a series of east-northeast trending, and steeply dipping to the northwest, fluorapatite veins and breccia zones. The granite-gneiss host has been strongly kaolinised due to weathering.
Huston et al. (in press) describe four styles of mineralisation: massive fluorapatite veins that typically contain 4–6% REE oxides and constitute most of the defined resource; very high-grade (7º–10% REE oxide) zones found in cheralite-bearing, apatite-poor kaolinitic zones outside of the veins; apatite allanite epidote zones hosted by calc-silicates; and low-grade stockwork zones in gneiss and kaolinitised rock adjacent to the veins and mylonite zones.
Summary:
Mining will be carried out using typical drill and blast operations, hydraulic excavator(s) and rear dump trucks. The strategic mining schedule is based on an average mining rate for the first seven years of 3.2 Mt per annum, average over the duration of mining of 7.6 Mt per annum, with a maximum rate of 11.2 Mt per annum. Ore from the run of mine (ROM) pad will be blended into road haulage trucks and trucked the 8.5 kilometres to the process plant for direct tipping into the crusher.
Source:
Summary:
Ore from the ROM pad will be transported approximately 8.5 kilometres south to the process plant. The design for the DFS includes the following areas:
• Comminution and Beneficiation – ROM ore will be crushed, milled and beneficiated using flotation to produce a concentrate, which will be fed into the extraction plant, and tailings, which will be sent to the Residue Storage Facility (RSF).
• Extraction Plant – Hydrometallurgical processing area which will consist of all the unit operations that separate the rare earths from gangue minerals and produce an MGA phosphoric acid byproduct, a cerium hydroxide product, and a rare earth chloride liquor which will be fed into the separation plant.
• Separation Plant – Solvent extraction facility and product handling area which will separate the final NdPr oxide product from the mid-heavy rare earth (SEG/HRE) carbonate product.
• Reagents – A general reagents handling and storage facility will be incorporated as well as a mod ........

Recoveries & Grades:
Commodity | Parameter | Avg. LOM |
Total Rare Earth Oxides
|
Recovery Rate, %
| ......  |
Total Rare Earth Oxides
|
Head Grade,
| 3 |
P2O5
|
Recovery Rate, %
| ......  |
P2O5
|
Head Grade, %
| 13.2 |
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Reserves at December 31, 2019:
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade |
Proven
|
4.3 Mt
|
Total Rare Earth Oxides
|
3.1 %
|
Proven
|
4.3 Mt
|
P2O5
|
13 %
|
Proven
|
4.3 Mt
|
Nd2O3+Pr6O11
|
26.1 %
|
Probable
|
14.9 Mt
|
Total Rare Earth Oxides
|
2.9 %
|
Probable
|
14.9 Mt
|
P2O5
|
13 %
|
Probable
|
14.9 Mt
|
Nd2O3+Pr6O11
|
26.5 %
|
Proven & Probable
|
19.2 Mt
|
Total Rare Earth Oxides
|
3 %
|
Proven & Probable
|
19.2 Mt
|
P2O5
|
13 %
|
Proven & Probable
|
19.2 Mt
|
Nd2O3+Pr6O11
|
26.4 %
|
Measured
|
4.9 Mt
|
Total Rare Earth Oxides
|
3.2 %
|
Measured
|
4.9 Mt
|
P2O5
|
13 %
|
Measured
|
4.9 Mt
|
Nd2O3+Pr6O11
|
26.1 %
|
Indicated
|
30 Mt
|
Total Rare Earth Oxides
|
2.7 %
|
Indicated
|
30 Mt
|
P2O5
|
12 %
|
Indicated
|
30 Mt
|
Nd2O3+Pr6O11
|
26.4 %
|
Inferred
|
21 Mt
|
Total Rare Earth Oxides
|
2.3 %
|
Inferred
|
21 Mt
|
P2O5
|
10 %
|
Inferred
|
21 Mt
|
Nd2O3+Pr6O11
|
26.5 %
|
Commodity Production Costs:
| Commodity | Units | 2019 |
Cash costs
|
Nd2O3+Pr6O11
|
USD
|
......
|
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2019 Study Costs and Valuation Metrics :
Metrics | Units | LOM Total |
Pre-Production capital costs
|
$M AUD
|
......
|
OP OpEx
|
$M AUD
|
......
|
Processing OpEx
|
$M AUD
|
148
|
Total OpEx
|
$M AUD
|
......
|
Net revenue (LOM)
|
$M AUD
|
......
|
EBITDA (LOM)
|
$M AUD
|
......
|
After-tax NPV @ 10%
|
$M AUD
|
......
|
After-tax IRR, %
|
$M AUD
|
......
|
After-tax payback period, years
|
|
......
|
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Mine Management:
Job Title | Name | Profile | Ref. Date |
.......................
|
.......................
|
|
Apr 28, 2020
|
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Corporate Filings & Presentations:
Document | Year |
...................................
|
2020
|
...................................
|
2019
|
...................................
|
2019
|
Annual Report
|
2017
|
Other
|
2010
|
- Subscription is required.
News:
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