PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Western Australian Department of Mines and Petroleum has approved rare earths developer Northern Minerals’ Browns Range pilot plant.
The proposed pilot plant is a tenth of the scale of the full operation, and has a 60 000 t/y crushing beneficiation circuit, and 3 200 t/y hydrometallurgical plant, which will produce 590 t of total rare earth oxide in a mixed rare earth carbonate.
The pilot plant is scheduled to operate for three years, during which time Northern Minerals will take a decision to commit to the full-scale operation.
The company said on Friday that the latest approval was one of the last key approvals required before the start of mining operations at Browns Range.
Northern Minerals is hoping to award construction projects for the pilot plant in early 2017, with mining and installation expected to start in the second half of 2017. Once constructed, the Browns Range project will be the only heavy rare earth mine in Australia.
A final investment decision on the project is expected in the first quarter of next year.
Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter
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