The Kipawa deposit is presently considered open both laterally and at depth, though to various degrees.

The association of radioactive mineralization with rare elements in the vicinity of the Kipawa Complex is likely to represent a polymetallic deposit type of rare elements (Zr, Y, Nb, Be, U, Th, Ta, REE and Ga) associated with peralkaline syenite occurrences.

Rare earth-yttrium-zirconium mineralization at the Kipawa deposit is contained in medium grained silicates disseminated in meso to mafic syenites and impure marbles (up to 20% per volume). Grains are distinct and generally well crystallized.

Three minerals are presently considered as an economical source of rare earths on the Kipawa deposit, namely eudialyte (a sodic silicate), yttro-titanite/mosandrite (titanite silicate) and britholite (calcic silico-phosphate) for rare-earth-yttrium. Minor apatite (a phosphate) is also present in places, furnishing some of the light rare earths. Vlasovite/gittinsite (sodic and calcic silicates) and eudialite (sodic silicate) were once considered as a source for a possible zirconium by-product, but this is no longer the case. Each of these is described in the sections below, followed by a short section on ore genesis.

While vlasovite and its alteration mineral gittinsite are spread in a fairly uniform manner throughout the syenitic body, this is not the case for the other minerals. Specifically, three vertically-stacked mineralized zones h ........

A conventional truck-and-shovel open pit mine has been considered to be the most appropriate mining method. One (1) front wheel loader with a bucket size of 5.25 m³ will be used for production. The selected front wheel loader will load three (3) 55-tonne mine trucks.

At the high grade ore loading facility located at the mine site, an excavator with a 6.5 m³ bucket size will re-handle the ore and load eight (8) 40-tonne road haulers. There will be the auxiliary excavator available with the capacity to load the haulage trucks when there is preventive maintenance or unexpected downtime for the main loading equipment. Mining ramps and roads will have a width of 20.7 m and a maximum gradient of 10% which respects regulations for 2-lane traffic in all seasons.

The open pit mine is designed to be mined with a double benching arrangement and includes a 14 m bench for every 60 m of vertical height which does not intersect the ramp. The mining will take place between elevation 370 and 245 on 5 m benches to minimize the dilution and to maximise the mining recovery. The dilution and the ore loss per block were estimated at 5% and 4.76%, respectively. This level of dilution and ore loss is consistent with the North American mining industry.

The mining plan will produce 55,500 tonnes of TREO for the entire mine life averaging more than 3,650 tpd of TREO during the full production years (Years 2 to 14). The main revenue contributors are dysprosium oxide, fo ........

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