Nolans rare earths mine to operate for more than 30 years

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Rare earths developer Arafura Resources on Wednesday announced that the mine life at its Nolans rare earths project, in the Northern Territory, could be extended beyond more than 30 years.

The company told shareholders that mine planning work undertaken in advance of the definitive feasibility study has established a mining inventory that could support a longer mine life at Nolans.

The study reported a mining inventory and strategic production schedules that could allow Arafura to produce 14 000 t/y of total rare-earth oxides, including 3 600 t/y of neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) oxide, for a period of more than 30 years. 

The project is expected to have a maximum mining rate of five-million tonnes a year for the majority of the mine life, with steady-state beneficiation plant feed rate estimated at a rate of 525 000 t/y for the first 11 years of operation.

Arafura noted on Wednesday that the study did not take into account some 21-million tonnes of inferred mineral resource, or the nine-million tonnes of rare-earth mineralisation from which lower metallurgical recoveries are predicted, using the high-phosphate metallurgical process currently being piloted.

The company said that considering the abundance of phosphate-rich plant feed available, Arafura plans to prioritise this material for processing and recovery of NdPr.