Overview
| Stage | Permitting |
| Mine Type | Open Pit |
| Commodities |
|
| Mining Method |
|
| Mine Life | 24 years (as of Jan 1, 2022) |
Ngualla is Large scale, high-grade deposit with a long mine life and low opex and capex intensity. |
Source:
p. 31
The Special Mining Licence (SML) for the Ngualla Project will be held under a newly formed Tanzanian entity, Ngwala Mining Limited (NML), which will be owned 84% by Peak’s Tanzanian subsidiary, PR NG Minerals Limited (PR NG), and 16% by the GOT.
Contractors
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Deposit Type
- Magmatic
- Carbonatite hosted
Summary:
Rare earth and barite mineralisation at Ngualla is magmatic in origin and hosted within the core of the Ngualla Carbonatite. Mineralisation has been residually enriched in the oxide zone at surface through weathering and the removal of carbonate minerals to variable depths of up to 140 m vertically.
High-grade rare earth mineralisation is hosted within the iron oxide and barite-rich weathered zone and above an irregular karstic surface, referred to as the Weathered Bastnaesite Zone. For modelling purposes, upper grade thresholds of 0.69% P2O5 and 13.99% CaO have been used to assist with the definition of Weathered Bastnaesite Zone Mineral Resource subset reported, which has been found through test work to be most amenable to the current metallurgical extraction process.
Rare earths are the main commodities of current economic interest within the project. Rare earths were first enriched in the carbonatite intrusions by igneous processes and further upgraded to economic or subeconomic levels by weathering processes and subsequent partial erosion. The major zones of mineralisation identified in the project area are:
• Southern Rare Earth Zone (SREZ), comprising the Bastnaesite Zone (hosted in fresh and weathered carbonatite) and Monazite Zone;
• Southwest Alluvials (SWA);
• Northern Zone (NZ).
The SREZ is a 1.0 km by 1.2 km area in the low magnetic central core of the Ngualla carbonatite complex. The SREZ itself is a geographic are ........
Summary:
Mining is based on conventional selective mining methods, utilising hydraulic excavators, dump trucks and drill-and-blast, coupled to a ROM stockpile. All the ore is oxidised material categorised as “free dig”, so only the fresh waste rock requires blasting.
Both ore and waste will be excavated in 2.5 m flitches following mark-out by grade control. Ore will be hauled to either the ROM pad skyway and tipped onto a designated ore finger or a designated low-grade stockpile. All mine waste will be hauled directly from the pit and placed onto a designated location of the tailings storage facility (TSF) dam wall; there are no other external waste dumps.
The mining fleet comprises 41-tonne articulated dump trucks (Caterpillar 745) loaded by a 90- tonne excavator (Caterpillar 395). A 30-tonne front-end loader (Caterpillar 980M), which is capable of loading the 41-tonne dump trucks, will be used as back-up for the primary loading unit and also to make up shortfalls in periods where additional material movement is required. Other ancillary support will be supplied by a Cat D9R dozer, Cat 14M grader, and Cat 745 watercart. Maintenance will be conducted on site.
Owner-operated mining was selected as the operating strategy at Ngualla, with the intent of further reviewing potential contract mining offerings during the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) phase.
The pit and stage designs were based on the slope parameters: Saprolite (21.3°), Mixed ........
Source:
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Flow Sheet:
Summary:
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Reserves at October 31, 2022:
Ore Reserve estimate is based on the following rare earth oxide prices (net of payability): Neodymium US$49.6/kg, Praseodymium US$46.8/kg, Lanthanum US$0.7/kg, Cerium US$0.8/kg, Samarium US$1.1/kg, Europium US$15.9/kg, Gadolinium US$20.0/kg, Terbium US$666.4/kg, Dysprosium US$205.2/kg, Holmium US$69.0/kg, Erbium US$18.1/kg, Ytterbium US$8.1/kg, Lutetium US$403.8/kg, and Yttrium US$3.2/kg
A total REO cut-off grade of 1% has been used for resource reporting.
| Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
|
Proven
|
17 Mt
|
Total Rare Earth Oxides
|
4.78 %
|
813 kt
|
|
Probable
|
1.5 Mt
|
Total Rare Earth Oxides
|
5.1 %
|
74 kt
|
|
Proven & Probable
|
18.5 Mt
|
Total Rare Earth Oxides
|
4.8 %
|
887 kt
|
|
Measured
|
86.1 Mt
|
Total Rare Earth Oxides
|
2.61 %
|
2,250 kt
|
|
Indicated
|
112.6 Mt
|
Total Rare Earth Oxides
|
1.81 %
|
2,040 kt
|
|
Inferred
|
15.7 Mt
|
Total Rare Earth Oxides
|
2.15 %
|
340 kt
|
|
Total Resource
|
214.4 Mt
|
Total Rare Earth Oxides
|
2.15 %
|
4,620 kt
|
Source:
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