Limited areas of the Wicheeda claim group have been covered by reconnaissance and/or gridbased bedrock mapping. The REE-enriched carbonatites located at the project are part of a narrow elongate, south-trending intrusive carbonatite-syenite complex cutting or occupying a structural panel within calcareous siltstones and limestones of the Cambrian to Ordovician Kechika Group. Some of the geological contacts observed in core are intrusive while others are almost certainly structural. The carbonatite complex extends southward from the south end of Wicheeda Lake for approximately 13 km.

Outcrop on a moderately steep, west-facing slope south of Wicheeda Lake, an area that coincides with part of the former ‘George’ grid, consists of a sequence of interbedded limestone, calcareous argillite and argillite with consistent northwest-trending attitudes and sub-vertical dips (Betmanis, 1987). A small intrusion cuts the sedimentary rocks in the southern part of the grid, just north of ‘A’ Creek. This feature was mapped as syenite in 1986 by Betmanis (1987), although during a reevaluation of the area (including trenching) the following year, it was concluded that the intrusion was a carbonatite (Lovang and Meyer, 1988).

Three types of narrow (0.5 m to 1.5 m), northwest-trending dikes were also observed in the gridded area, including: a K-feldspar phyric type with a fine-grained albite matrix and abundant Fe-rich biotite; a blue sodalite-rich (as phenocrysts and matrix ........

The Wicheeda deposit is to be developed as an open pit mining operation. The pit is to be developed in two phases, with Phase 1 targeting at-surface higher grade mineralization. Mining rates over the 16-year life-of-mine vary from 4 to 7 Mtpa to maintain a 1.8 Mtpa mill feed rate to the flotation concentrator.

Mining will be on six-metre benches and mill feed material will be hauled to a crusher close to the pit rim. Crushed mill feed will be conveyed to the nearby flotation concentrator. There is allowance for a low grade stockpile near the pit rim; however, at the level of the PEA, this was not needed. Future detailed mine planning will likely result in stockpiling lower grade materials, to be processed at the end of the mine life.

Waste rock will be mined and hauled to the waste storage facility (WSF) located adjacent to the pit or to the TSF for embankment construction.

It is assumed that the Wicheeda mine will be owner-operated, with contractor engagement for secondary earthworks (e.g. TSF embankment).

Two Phase Design
To minimize upfront mining costs and to advance the mining of high-grade mill feed in the early mine life, the pit waspit was split into two phases (pushbacks). The first phase of mining will focus on the high-grade area in the center of the deposit and avoids mining the high wall. The stripping for the second phase of mining will start in Year 3, after the first phase of mining has established steady mill f ........

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Material from the Wicheeda project is envisioned to be processed in a flotation concentrator to produce a rare earth flotation concentrate containing 40-50% TREO. The flotation concentrate would then be sold into the market for the first four years of operation and then be processed in a hydrometallurgical plant to produce a mixed REE precipitate.

Material from the Wicheeda deposit will be processed in a flotation concentrator. The concentrator flowsheet will include three-stage crushing, ball mill grinding, rougher and scavenger flotation and three stages of cleaner flotation at elevated temperature to produce a final flotation concentrate containing 40-50% TREO. The flotation concentrate will be thickened to about 55% solids and then filtered to about 9% moisture. The filtered concentrate will then be weighed, sampled and bagged in super-sacks containing 1,000-2,000 kg of concentrate which will then be transported to a purchaser (first four years) or to the hydrometallurgi ........