Third High Purity Separated Rare Earth Oxide from Ngualla
Perth, Aug 28, 2013 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Peak Resources Limited (
ASX:PEK) (PKRLY:OTCMKTS) is pleased to announce the successful production of the third separated high purity rare earth oxide (REO).
The lanthanum oxide was produced at the Solvent Extraction Pilot Plant currently in operation at ANSTO Minerals (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) from a bulk sample of mineralisation from the company's 100% owned Ngualla Rare Earth Project in Tanzania. The high purity lanthanum oxide follows the mid+heavy rare earth oxide and the neodymiumpraseodymium rare earth oxide produced in May and July 2013 respectively.
Highlights:
- A high purity (>99%)* lanthanum oxide has been produced at the Solvent Extraction Pilot Plant at ANSTO Minerals.
- Lanthanum compounds are used in a number of high-end technological applications, including nickel-metal hydride batteries, high quality camera and optical lenses, fibre optics and catalysts.
- Ngualla is one of the very few rare earth development projects to successfully produce high purity separated products from its mineralisation and this is an important step in de-risking the project.
- The ability to produce separated high purity rare earth oxide adds significant value and allows access to wider markets for Ngualla's products.
- The final product, a high purity cerium oxide will be produced in September.
- Samples and analyses of the products are available to potential customers for assessment during discussions for off-take agreements.
Together with the mid+heavy and the neodymium-praseodymium rare earth oxides, Peak has now completed production of four of the five rare earth products using the chosen simple sulphuric acid leach process. These 4 products represent 91% of the expected value of future production.
Technical Report
The separated, high purity lanthanum oxide was produced by the Solvent Extraction (SX) Pilot Plant currently in operation at ANSTO Minerals test facility near Sydney. It is the third of four oxides to be produced from a 1.3 tonne bulk sample of weathered Bastnaesite Zone mineralisation from Ngualla using the simple sulphuric acid leach recovery process. This follows the medium+heavy rare earth oxide produced in May and the neodymium-praseodymium oxide produced in July.
The SX Pilot Plant work is progressing well with only a high purity cerium oxide remaining to be produced in September 2013. Samples of the first three products are available for assessment by potential off take customers.
Lanthanum Oxide
The high purity lanthanum oxide is a single separated rare earth product (Photo 1) with very low impurity levels, as detailed in Table 2. The purity of >99% REO meets the specification requirements for the catalyst, phosphor and ceramic markets.
Lanthanum compounds are used extensively in a number of high-end technological applications, including nickel-metal hydride batteries for hybrid cars, high quality camera and telescopic lenses, fibre optics, catalysts in oil refineries, satellite communications, ceramics and carbon lighting.
Lanthanum oxide represents 11% of the expected revenue stream and 28% of the product output from the envisaged Ngualla operation.
The production of high purity rare earth oxides from a representative bulk sample of mineralisation de-risks Ngualla and distinguishes it from other development projects.
Ngualla's value drivers show signs of recovery
As illustrated in Figure 1 and Table 1 in the link below, the value drivers for Ngualla are the praseodymium-neodymium and mid+heavy high purity oxide products (Photo 2), which together contribute 85% of projected annual revenue. The lower priced cerium and lanthanum oxides are relative by-products at 15% of the total revenue.
Neodymium and praseodymium are important specialty metals used in the renewable energy, green and high technology industries. These high value rare earths are combined with iron and boron to create powerful permanent magnets, (also known as NdFeB or NIB magnets) used in computers, cell phones, wind turbines, hybrid cars, audio systems, medical equipment and electric motors.
There is growing evidence of a turnaround in the rare earth sector; prices are rising for neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and gadolinium and are stabilising for the remaining rare earths. There are reports* that buyers are starting to re-enter the market on the back of depleted stocks leading to an increase in Chinese exports.
Neodymium - praseodymium oxide is currently valued at around $73,000 to $77,000* per tonne and has seen a 35% increase since prices hit their lowest point for two years in July this year.
About the Ngualla Rare Earth Project:
The Ngualla Rare Earth Project in Tanzania is a recent discovery and the highest grade of the large undeveloped rare earth deposits. Fundamental geological aspects of the central Bastnaesite Zone targeted for first production offer distinct advantages for development over other rare earth projects. These include the large size of the deposit, outcropping, high grade mineralisation amenable to open cut mining with low strip ratios, favourable mineralogy enabling a simple, low cost processing route and the lowest uranium and thorium levels of any major rare earth deposit in the world.
These favourable characteristics are reflected in the outcomes of the Scoping Study and preliminary economic assessment released on 3rd December 2012 (and revised May 2013), which defined very low capital and operating costs compared to other rare earth projects.
Ngualla is a leading rare earth project with an estimated NPV of US$1.77 billion and pre-tax IRR of 60% for an initial 25 years production and an average grade of 5.35% REO. The weathered Bastnaesite Zone can support a mine life of over 50 years at a 10,000tpa REO production level.
The Company continues to fast track the development of Ngualla with the aim of becoming a low cost, long term producer of high purity rare earth oxide products in 2016.
To view diagrams, pictures and tables, please visit:
http://media.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/ASX-PEK-646909.pdf
Contact
Peak Resources Limited
T: +61-8-9200-5360
F: +61-8-9226-3831
WWW: www.peakresources.com.au
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