Actualización sobre el progreso de la separación de óxidos de tierras raras
5 de febrero de 2024
Rainbow Rare Earths Limited
("Rainbow"O"la empresa")
LSE: RBW
Actualización sobre el progreso de la separación de óxidos de tierras raras
· Group separation of the rare earth elements has been achieved in the initial ion exchange test-work ongoing in USA
· The successful achievement of the group separation paves the way for the delivery of individual separated rare earth oxides. A high purity neodymium and praseodymium (together "NdPr") separated rare earth oxide is the initial focus of the back-end piloting campaign, with the dysprosium ("Dy") and terbium ("Tb") oxides to follow thereafter
· Group separation for the samarium ("Sm"), europium ("Eu") and gadolinium ("Gd") elements holds promise and could provide a complementary revenue stream as a combined oxide
· Rainbow is attending the 121 Mining Investment Conference in Cape Town, South Africa this week. A copy of the 121 conference presentation is available on the Company's website at: https://www.rainbowrareearths.com/investors/results-reports-presentations/
Publicaciones de Noticias
Rainbow Rare Earths is pleased to announce an update on progress with regards to the ongoing rare earth oxide separation work underway at the back-end pilot plant, which is located at the facilities of Rainbow's technical partner K-Technologies, Inc. ("K-Tech") in Florida.
The back-end plant process utilises continuous ion exchange ("CIX") and continuous ion chromatography ("CIC") to produce separated rare earth oxides. The innovative application of this established technology has been pioneered by K-Tech in the rare earth space and replaces traditional solvent extraction que utiliza disolventes y diluyentes tóxicos e inflamables y requiere más de 100 etapas separadas.
As previously announced, the optimal feed for the back-end process has been determined by Rainbow and K-Tech as a cerium-depleted mixed rare earth carbonate, which provides a higher-grade feedstock to the back-end separation circuit.
The initial separation at the back-end pilot plant has been achieved using the mixed rare earth carbonate successfully produced from phosphogypsum from the Phalaborwa project. This material, which includes cerium, was previously shipped to K-Tech from the front-end pilot plant located at the Johannesburg facilities of the Council for Mineral Technology ("Mintek"), a global leader in mineral processing, extractive metallurgy, and related fields. Cerium depletion test work is ongoing at both K-Tech and Mintek and the cerium-depleted carbonate, once available, is expected to produce better results in the CIX / CIC separation circuits.
The back-end plant process comprises three main stages, as depicted in the simplified CIX / CIC block flow diagram to follow, being:
1. Stage 1: Impurity Removal via CIX;
2. Stage 2: Group separation via CIC (in two steps); and
3. Stage 3: Individual separation via CIC (in three steps).
Stage 1 removes remaining impurities from the mixed rare earths feed. Stage 2 then uses CIC to separate the targeted rare earth elements (NdPr, Dy, Tb) into groups from the uneconomic rare earth elements. Stage 3 purifies the separated target groups into the individual desired separated rare earth oxides.
Un resumen del progreso realizado con el diagrama de flujo de back-end es el siguiente:
· eliminación exitosa de impurezas en la etapa inicial de intercambio iónico proporcionando una solución de alimentación adecuada para la separación de grupos;
· separación exitosa del grupo antieconómico del lantano y el cerio;
· successful group separation in the first step of the chromatography stage, delivering a NdPr group, grading ca. 68%, as feed for purification in the subsequent individual chromatography separation steps;
· considerable upgrading of the concentration of the Dy and Tb from a combined feed grade of 0.9% to 14.6%, which requires separation from the SEG group; and
· good separation of the samarium, europium and gadolinium ("SEG") group at a grade of ca. 63%, which as a group provides the strong potential for an additional valuable product line as a combined Sm-Eu-Gd oxide concentrate.
The current focus of the pilot plant test work at K-Tech is to optimise the second stage of the chromatography process to produce a 99.5% NdPr product. This will be followed by CIC testing to separate and purify the separate Dy and Tb oxides.
In addition, the production of a separated and purified SEG oxide product will be evaluated and followed up. Initial indications are that Phalaborwa could produce ca. 500 tonnes per annum of a saleable SEG product which, in addition to the previously announced off-take for the residual gypsum, provides the potential for an additional revenue stream for the project with minimal capital and operating costs.
George Bennett, CEO de Rainbow, comentó: "I am very pleased with the continued progress to date validating our front-end process flow sheet and the K-Tech CIX / CIC process flow sheet for the back-end. The back-end process is on track to deliver separated high purity rare earth oxides of NdPr, Dy and Tb, the four most economically important rare earth elements due to their crucial role in the green energy transition. It is also notable that we have achieved positive separation in the chromatography circuit of the SEG group of rare earth oxides, which could add another very saleable product and revenue stream to Rainbow at minimal cost.''
The four rare earths that will be produced at Phalaborwa - NdPr, Dy and Tb - are all designated as critical minerals further to their important role in the transition to the green economy. As vital components of permanent magnets, these rare earth elements are used within electric vehicles and wind turbines, as well as many other advanced technologies including those required for strategic defence purposes, such as guided missiles, drones, electronic displays, sonar and jet fighter engines. The SEG rare earths are samarium (used in magnets), europium (used in optical displays) and gadolinium (used in medical and nuclear applications).
Para más información, por favor póngase en contacto con:
Tierras raras del arco iris Ltd | Empresa | Jorge Bennett Pete Gardner | +27 82 652 8526
|
| IR | Cathy Malins | +44 7876 796 629 |
Berenberg | Broker | matthew armit Jennifer Lee
| +44 0 20 3207 7800 |
stifel
| Broker | Campo de clanes de Ashton Varun Talwar
| +44 20 7710 7600 |
Comunicaciones Tavistock | RP/IR | Carlos Viviana Tara Vivian Neal | +44 0 20 7920 3150 |
Notas para los redactores:
Acerca del arco iris:
Rainbow Rare Earths pretende ser pionero en el establecimiento de una cadena de suministro ética e independiente de los elementos de tierras raras que están impulsando la transición a la energía verde. Lo está haciendo con éxito mediante la identificación y el desarrollo de depósitos secundarios de tierras raras que puedan ponerse en producción más rápido y a menor costo que los proyectos tradicionales de minería de roca dura, centrándose en los elementos de tierras raras de imán permanente neodimio y praseodimio, disprosio y terbio.
La Compañía está enfocada en el desarrollo de la Proyecto Phalaborwa de Tierras Raras en Sudáfrica y la etapa anterior del Proyecto Uberaba en Brasil. Ambos proyectos implican la recuperación de tierras raras de pilas de fosfoyeso que se producen como subproducto de la producción de ácido fosfórico, siendo la roca madre original de ambos depósitos una carbonatita de roca dura. Rainbow tiene la intención utilizar una técnica de separación patentada desarrollada por y en conjunto con su socio K-Technologies, Inc., que simplifica el proceso de producción de óxidos de tierras raras separados (en comparación con la extracción con solventes tradicional), lo que genera costos y beneficios ambientales.
La Evaluación Económica Preliminar de Phalaborwa ha confirmado una línea de base sólida para el proyecto, que tiene un VAN de caso base10 de US $ 627 millones[ 1 ], un margen operativo EBITDA promedio del 75% y un período de recuperación de < dos años. Las operaciones de la planta piloto comenzaron en 2023 y se espera que el proyecto alcance la producción comercial en 2026, solo cinco años después de que Rainbow comenzara a trabajar en el proyecto.
Más información disponible en www.rainbowrareearths.com.
[ 1 ] Valor actual neto utilizando una tasa de descuento a plazo del 10 %
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