The Aley Carbonatite complex intrudes Cambrian to Ordovician sedimentary rocks of the Kechika (limestone), Skoki (dolomite to volcaniclastics) and Road River Group formations (clastic sedimentary rocks). The intrusion is ovoid in plan view with a diameter of approximately 2 km and surrounded by a fenite aureole up to 500 m thick that has previously been mapped as “amphibolite” (Pride, Cominco Ltd. , 1987) and “syenite” (Mäder, 1986). The intrusive contacts are parallel to bedding and lie at a uniform stratigraphic level near the base of the Kechika Formation. Three principal units within the carbonatite have been identified:

1) a volumetrically dominant fersmite- and pyrite-bearing dolomite-apatite carbonatite unit that forms the core of the sill;

2) a magnetite, pyrochlore, phlogopitebearing calcite-apatite carbonatite unit that forms the margins of the sill where it is in contact with the Kechika Formation;

3) a banded magnetite-apatite unit in the dolomite core.

The mining method planned is a conventional open pit with equipment sized and fleet requirements determined to meet the required production rate. The mining fleet required for the mine schedule detailed in this report includes (1) 15m3 bucket size diesel hydraulic shovel, (1) 14m3 bucket sized wheel loader, (1) rotary blast holedrill with 200mm bit size, (7) 91 tonne payload rigid frame haul trucks, plus ancillary and service equipment to support operations.

The detailed pit design is based on the LG pit shell identified in the sensitivity analysis. It is designed to conform to recommended pit slopes, takes into account equipment size and limits the vertical advance to 8 benches per year. The designed pit is subdivided into 2 phases, the first phase mining down the east ridge, the second phase mining the west and north ridges and down to the bottom of the pit. Using the 2 pit phases, a 24 year production schedule has been developed. For the final 4 years of the mill production under this plan, mining will have been completed from the pit and all mill feed will be from the stockpile.

The mine plan and production schedule were developed for a 10,000 tonne per day mill feed operation and results in a life of mine strip waste:ore ratio of 0.5 to 1.

The plant site location is approximately 2-3 km east of the pit location on a flat plateau.  Ore will be hauled from the pit location to a primary crusher located proximate to the concentrator.  Crushed ore is to be delivered to a live 10 thousand tonne capacity mill feed stockpile.   

The concentrator will consist of a crushing/grinding circuit to produce a 50um product for further treatment. The 50um product will undergo magnetic separation to remove magnetite, followed by pyrite flotation to remove the pyrite. The pyrite tails will be fed to a multistage niobium flotation circuit to produce final niobium concentrate.  The magnetite and pyrite will be combined with the niobium flotation waste tails and will be sent to the TSF embankment, located 2500m southeast (and down gradient) of the plant site location, by gravity. The niobium flotation stage will produce approximately 100 tonnes of niobium concentrate per day and the concentrate will be leached with acid and sodium hydroxide to remove impurities, then thickened and filtered to produce a low moisture content feedstock for the converter.

The converter will produce ferrous niobium (FeNb) using an aluminothermic reaction. The mineral processing system will result in a single shipped product stream in the form of FeNb, a single tailings stream from the flotation plant, and a refuse product from the converter.  The converter refuse will be deposited in the TSF.