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South Africa
Phalaborwa Project

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 Location:
6 km SW from Phalaborwa, South Africa

  Project Contacts:
Farm Wegsteek, Station Road
Phalaborwa
South Africa
1389
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WebsiteWeb
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  • Overview
  • Owners
  • Geology
  • Mining
  • Processing
  • Production
  • Costs & Financials
  • Fleet
  • Personnel
  • Filings & News

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Overview

StagePreliminary Economic Assessment
Mine TypeTailings
Commodities
  • REE
Mining Method
  • Hydraulic mining
Production Start...
Mine Life14.2 years (as of Jan 1, 2022)
The Phalaborwa Project rare earths resource is contained in two phosphogypsum stacks which are the waste from historic phosphoric acid production on the site, which ceased in 2014.

The industrial nature of the Project provides considerable advantages over similar mining projects with the ability to produce rare earth oxides directly from the large resource in a single process.
Latest NewsRainbow Rare Earths: Phalaborwa Development and Resource Update     March 20, 2023


Owners

Source: p. 1
CompanyInterestOwnership
Bosveld Phosphates (Pty) Ltd. 30 % Indirect
Rainbow Rare Earths Ltd. 70 % Indirect
The amended agreement, signed on 18 January 2022, confirms Rainbow's shareholding in the Joint Venture the Phalaborwa at 70%, with the remaining 30% held by Bosveld.

Contractors

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Deposit Type

  • Tailings


Summary:

The 2-billion-year-old (Archean) Phalaborwa Carbonatite Complex contains apatite-bearing zones, the primary source of South African phosphate production. Phalaborwa carbonatite contains two types of apatite ores: foskorite and pyroxenite.

The manufacture of phosphoric acid from phosphate concentrate produced a phosphogypsum waste which has been deposited on 2 large stacks. The REE in the phosphate ore reports primarily to the phosphate concentrate delivered to the PA plants.

The two stacks are situated to the West of the Phalaborwa mining complex. The residue stacks were deposited on a relatively flat base, consisting of soil and gravel, which was intersected in some of the drill holes.

Stack A, the largest of the 2 stacks, with an approximate basal dimensions of 1,200 m x 700 m, has a higher surface elevation and steeper slopes. An acidic water pond (with a depth of c.4 m at its deepest central part) covers most of the top centre of the stack. Some gypsum has been mined for agriculture purposes has been removed from the NE corner of stack A.

Stack B, with an approximate basal surface of 800 m x 650 m, is lower and has gentler slopes than stack A. The acid pond on top is smaller, but with a depth virtually the same as for stack A. Some gypsum quarrying and mining has taken place in the SE and SW corners of stack B.

In both stacks, the material is made of white, fine-grained, friable phosphogypsum which is indurated/ceme ........


Mining Methods

  • Hydraulic mining


Summary:

Two stacks (Stack A and Stack B) comprising of phosphogypsum residue from a chemical phosphoric acid production process have been identified as the target of reclamation operations.

With no need for hard rock mining, crushing, and milling, the phosphogypsum will be hydraulically reclaimed from the stacks and pumped into the processing facility.

Reclamation Methodology
The main input parameters for this reclamation design are based on delivering a design material flow of 312 t/h to the processing plant at an average solids’ concentration of 25 to 35 %w/w and with a single monitor cannon being able to produce 7,000 tonnes/day. The number of monitor cannons required will be 2 x operating 24/7 with two complete standby units connected to ensure flexibility and continuity of supply to the process plant.

The proposed methodology for the reclamation of the RRE Bosveld resource is to hydraulically reclaim both stacks – starting with Stack B and then moving over to Stack A once B has been depleted. The top-down method in 8 to 10 m benches will be used on both stacks. This is determined by the material's behaviour and considering the high moisture content on the facilities.

Large amounts of water are currently stored on both residue storage facilities. This water will need to be decanted from the facilities to allow the material to consolidate before reclamation. The material at the face will be reclaimed using a 150 mm track-mounted rem ........


Crushing and Grinding


Processing

Source: Subscription required

Summary:

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Projected Production:

CommodityUnitsAvg. AnnualLOM
REE t 1,84826,208
All production numbers are expressed as oxide.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics
Annual processing capacity  ......  Subscription required
Annual ore mining rate  ......  Subscription required
* According to 2022 study.
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Reserves at :


Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnitsAverage
Cash costs (sold) Total Rare Earth Oxides USD  ......  Subscription required&nbs
Assumed price Dysprosium USD  ......  Subscription required&nbs
Assumed price Terbium USD  ......  Subscription required&nbs
Assumed price Praseodymium USD  ......  Subscription required&nbs
Assumed price Neodymium USD  ......  Subscription required&nbs
Assumed price Total Rare Earth Oxides USD  ......  Subscription required&nbs
* According to 2022 study / presentation.
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Operating Costs:

Units2022
G&A ($/t milled) USD 0.67 *
Total operating costs ($/t milled) USD  ......  Subscription required
* According to 2022 study.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

2022 Study Costs and Valuation Metrics :

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Total CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Gross revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Operating margin, %  ......  Subscription required
After-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscription required
After-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscription required
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Water Supply

Bulk water is supplied to the BP property by Lepelle Northern Water (LNW), a state-owned water utility that supplies the area. Water is supplied as “domestic” and “industrial” (river) water to 3 existing bulk storage reservoirs located northeast of the BP property, from where it is reticulated to users on the site. Both sources are regularly tested, and water quality exceeds the requirements for the project.

BP is currently permitted to use 2,000 m3 of domestic and 5,000 m3 of industrial water per day from this source. Current consumption is 20 m3 of domestic and 250 m3 of industrial water per day.


Proposed Heavy Mobile Equipment as of September 30, 2022:
HME TypeQuantity
Dozer ....................... Subscription required
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required
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Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Feb 16, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Feb 16, 2023
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Staff:

EmployeesContractorsYear
Subscription required Subscription required 2022

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
Other 2023
Corporate Presentation 2022
Preliminary Economic Assessment 2022
Press Release 2022
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

News:

NewsDate
Rainbow Rare Earths: Phalaborwa Development and Resource Update March 20, 2023

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