American Rare Earths (ARR or the Company) is delighted to report on the recent series of metallurgical tests on ore from its Halleck Creek project in Wyoming. The Halleck Creek project is possibly the greatest rare earth project in the US with a JORC Resource of 1.43 billion tons. The metallurgy test work remains to open the path for cheap processing with the use of traditional technology.
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Highlights
- The recent test work aids earlier findings revealing a seamless process flow sheet to generate a rare earth concentrate and enhance the recovery of magnet metals Neodymium and Praseodymium (NdPr).
- Bulk rougher/scavenger (primary) Wet High Intensity Magnetic Separation (WHIMS) generated 72% recovery and excluded 77% of feed mass, an upgrade ratio of 3.1.
- More testing will start in the forthcoming weeks to produce the final concentrate for refinery testing.
- Existing internal studies concentrate on annualized ore processing rates of 10, 15, and 20 million tons/annum feed rate to the concentrator to demonstrate optimal project economics.
- This is the equivallent to a modeled production of 3,800 tons, 5,700 tons, and 7,600 tons, respectively of the highly valuable NdPr oxides comprised in Mixed Rare Earth Carbonate (MREC) as a saleable product to be processed inside the USA.
The latest tests eliminated a largely encouraging 77% of waste material in the initial processing stages before the flotation circuit, establishing possible chances to decrease the capital and operating costs of the project. From preliminary test work outcomes that are declared in December 2022, this is a 5% improvement. These potential outcomes results are enhanced further by the minimal levels of penalty elements uranium and thorium, which stay way below regulatory standards.
“Rare earth projects typically have complex metallurgy. Under the technical leadership of Wood PLC, these outstanding test results provide confidence for a simple process flow sheet. Halleck Creek ore continues to pass all the key tests from a processing perspective: good recovery using conventional processing methods, low radioactive penalty elements and the ability to produce a mixed rare earth concentrate product.”
“In short, Halleck Creek has the right rare earths (NdPr) and low penalty elements. This means a valuable product, simple metallurgy, and lower costs. Most importantly, the project is in the heart of the USA, the largest economy in the world.”
“As an exploration company I’m also excited to advance our exploration activities at Halleck Creek. to support the economic and feasibility studies currently underway.”
With less than 25% of the area drilled, the deposit remains open at depth and with significant upside potential. To further enhance the project economics, we are keen to test the depth of the deposit, seek to upgrade resources and explore potential higher-grade zones within the project footprint.
Mr. Chris Gibbs, CEO and Managing Director, American Rare Earths