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Uganda
Makuutu Project

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 Location:
120 km E from Kampala, Uganda

  Project Contacts:
318 Sunclare Building 21 Dreyer Street
Claremont
Cape Town
South Africa
7708
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Overview

StagePermitting
Mine TypeOpen Pit
Commodities
  • Total Rare Earth Oxides
  • Scandium
  • REE
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start...
Mine Life11 years (as of Jan 1, 2021)
The acquisition of SerenTech delivers IonicRE an immediate rare earth separation and refining capability to target high purity products. Most attractive is the demonstrated capability to recycle NdFeB magnets via extraction of the individual REE content to produce high purity REO products.

SerenTech has demonstrated capability to separate magnet rare earths Neodymium (Nd), Praseodymium (Pr), Dysprosium (Dy) and Terbium (Tb) for modest capital requirements. This presents an opportunity for targeted deployment in key markets in the US, Europe and Asia where existing inventories of magnets exist and where the current recycling technology fails to be able to achieve similar REE extraction results, thus providing a step change advantage and the ability to take an early mover position in new NdPr supply.
Latest NewsIonic Rare Earths Unveils Positive Makuutu DFS     March 20, 2023


Owners

Source: p. 13
CompanyInterestOwnership
Rare Earth Elements Africa Proprietary Ltd. 42 % Indirect
Ionic Rare Earths Limited 51 % Indirect
The Makuutu Rare Earth Elements project is owned 100% by Rwenzori Rare Metals Limited (RRM), a Uganda registered private limited company. Ionic Rare Earths Limited (IonicRE) is the 51% owner of Rwenzori Rare Metals Limited (RRM), with IonicRE moving to 60% ownership on the completion of the Feasibility Study expected to be submitted to the Ugandan government at the end of October 2022. The remaining 42% (reducing) stake is held by the South African registered Rare Earth Elements Africa Proprietary Limited (REEA) and 7% (reducing) by Ugandan Partners.

Contractors

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Deposit Type

  • Laterite
  • Sedimentary
  • Saprolite


Summary:

Makuutu is an ionic adsorption clay (IAC) deposit. IAC deposits contain rare earth elements (REE) ionically bonded to the clay rather than existing as primary minerals in the ore. IAC REE mineralisation can be summarised as REEs that are mainly adsorbed onto the surfaces of clay minerals in the form of hydrated ions or hydroxylhydrated ions. These REE deposits are hosted within the regolith (laterite profile).

At Makuutu, the mineralisation is contained within the tropical lateritic weathering profile of a basin filled with sedimentary rocks including shales, mudstones and sandstones potentially derived from the surrounding granitic and mafic rocks. These rocks are considered the original source of the REE which were then accumulated in the sediments of the basin as the surrounding rocks have degraded. These sediments then form the protolith that was subjected to prolonged tropical weathering.

The weathering developed a lateritic regolith with a surface indurated hardcap, followed downward by clay rich zones that grade down through saprolite and saprock to unweathered sediments. The thickness of the regolith is between 10 and 20 metres from surface.

The REE mineralisation is concentrated in the weathered profile where it has dissolved from its primary mineral form, such as monazite and xenotime, then ionically bonded (adsorbed) or colloidally bonded on to fine particles of aluminosilicate clays (e.g., kaolinite, illite, smectite). The adsorbed ........


Mining Methods

  • Truck & Shovel / Loader


Summary:

The Study has identified that the most suitable and economical mining methods at Makuutu comprise low unit cost, open pit extraction methods.

The assumed mining method would be ‘free dig’ using truck and shovel using a selective mining approach to target higher grade ore feed in the early years of mine life.

Wall angles have been assumed at 45 degrees in the absence of further geotechnical information, however mining is generally shallow with no permanent high walls.

Mining will involve a pre-strip of 1m of topsoil which will be stockpiled adjacent to the pit. ROM mining will be selective with lower recovered rare earth grade open pit material stockpiled adjacent to the pit, whilst waste will be mined and paddock dumped adjacent to the pit. Open pit material will be hauled to the Run-of-Mine (ROM) pad and either stockpiled or direct fed into the process plant. Once areas (slots) are completely mined out, the mined waste and heap leach residue will be reclaimed and the slot will be backfilled (progressive rehabilitation), prior to the topsoil spread back on the area disturbed.

Approximately 84.5Mt of Mineral Resource in the mining plan will be mined at an average grade of 810 ppm TREO and delivering a mine life of 11 years. Mine scheduling demonstrates that minimal mining capital will be required ahead of the development of the open pit. Mineral resource extraction and project economics are optimal with a single open pit.


Crushing and Grinding
Source: Subscription required


Processing

Flow Sheet: Subscription required

Summary:

- subscription is required.


Projected Production:
The Base Case assumes the first module will process 2.5Mtpa ROM and produce approximately 800 tpa rare earth oxide (REO) equivalent product. Additionally, the Base Case then assumes given the lowcost capital modular development approach, additional modules will be added in years 2, 4, 6 and 9 to increase the plant throughput up to 12.5Mtpa by year 10.

CommodityProductUnitsAvg. AnnualLOM
Scandium Oxide t 70740
REE Carbonate t  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required

Operational Metrics:

Metrics
Stripping / waste ratio  ......  Subscription required
Waste tonnes, LOM  ......  Subscription required
Ore tonnes mined, LOM  ......  Subscription required
Total tonnes mined, LOM  ......  Subscription required
Tonnes processed, LOM  ......  Subscription required
Annual processing capacity  ......  Subscription required
* According to 2021 study.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Reserves at March 3, 2021:
Above 200 ppm TREO minus CeO2 cut-off.

CategoryTonnage CommodityGrade
Indicated 66 Mt Total Rare Earth Oxides 820 ppm
Indicated 66 Mt Sc2O3 30 ppm
Indicated 66 Mt U3O8 20 ppm
Inferred 248 Mt Total Rare Earth Oxides 610 ppm
Inferred 248 Mt Sc2O3 30 ppm
Inferred 248 Mt U3O8 10 ppm
Total Resource 315 Mt Total Rare Earth Oxides 650 ppm
Total Resource 315 Mt Sc2O3 30 ppm
Total Resource 315 Mt U3O8 10 ppm

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnitsAverage
Cash costs REE USD  ......  Subscription required&nbs
Cash costs REE USD  ......  Subscription required *†
Assumed price Scandium USD  ......  Subscription required&nbs
Assumed price REE USD  ......  Subscription required&nbs
* According to 2021 study / presentation.
† Net of By-Product.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Operating Costs:

Units2021
OP mining costs ($/t milled) USD 4.99 *
Processing costs ($/t milled) USD  ......  Subscription required
G&A ($/t milled) USD  ......  Subscription required
Total operating costs ($/t milled) USD  ......  Subscription required
* According to 2021 study.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

2021 Study Costs and Valuation Metrics :

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Pre-Production capital costs $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Expansion CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Total CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
OP OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Processing OpEx $M USD 567
G&A costs $M USD 77
Total OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Net revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
EBITDA (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscription required
After-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required.


Proposed Heavy Mobile Equipment as of April 29, 2021:
HME TypeModelSize
Bulldozer ....................... Subscription required
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Mine Management:

Job TitleNamePhoneProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Nov 4, 2022
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Nov 4, 2022
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Staff:

Total WorkforceYear
Subscription required 2021

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
Feasibility Study Report 2023
Feasibility Study Report 2023
Corporate Presentation 2022
Corporate Presentation 2022
Press Release 2022
................................... Subscription required 2021
................................... Subscription required 2021
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

News:

NewsDate
Ionic Rare Earths Unveils Positive Makuutu DFS March 20, 2023

Subscription required - Subscription is required.

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