Rare Element Resources (TSX: RES, NYSE: REE) Advances Bear Lodge Rare Earth Project in Wyoming, Increases Size of Deposit and Obtains Favorable Pilot Plant Test Results
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By Allen Alper.
on 3/18/2014
Randy Scott, the President and CEO of Rare Element Resources (TSX: RES), took the time to meet with the Metals News team at the recently held PDAC 2014 conference to provide an update on the company’s progress at Bear Lodge.
Said Scott, “2013 was a very important year for us and for our Bear Lodge project. We made a tremendous amount of progress. We completed our pilot plant testing and have been able to share the 97% pure, near thorium-free resulting product with potential offtake partners.” In addition to talking with offtake partners, the company completed drilling activities that increased the size of their resource. Scott said, “During 2013, we undertook two drilling programs. The first was to look at expanding the Whitetail Ridge resource. It is enriched with heavy rare earths and makes it a good complement to our Bull Hill deposit. We put out a press release that talked about increasing that resource by about 80%. The other program was to further delineate a high-grade core at the Bull Hill deposit. We knew we had a higher grade area within Bull Hill, and we were able to confirm that we will be able to mine it for a number of years early in the project life, which improves the project’s economics.”
As a result of all of this activity and the resulting robust resource, the company is now fully focused on other areas of the project. Said Scott, “We have identified an awful lot of resource, and our focus is now on metallurgy and moving the project through permitting. We have identified a new process that both significantly increases the purity of the rare earth concentrate and isolates the thorium and have filed a utility patent on the technology.” In fact, the company can now produce an almost pure concentrate that has never been seen in the market before. Said Scott, “We are now capable of producing a +97% pure, near thorium-free rare earth concentrate. We think it is highly desirable. Because of the very pure nature of the product, we owe it to our shareholders to understand the additional value of that.” One of the possibilities for the Company is to produce their own separated products. Said Scott, “We are investigating the cost/benefits of producing separated rare earths .”
The next step in moving the project forward is completing detailed cost estimates and continuing to advance permitting. Said Scott, “The focus for 2014 is to continue to optimize the flow sheet for cost. In 2013, we moved ahead on the permitting side of things. Most people know, and it is the same for us, that our determination to be in production by 2016 means that permitting is our critical path. We have had multiple meetings with the US Forest Service and are optimistic that we can meet that schedule.”
Why should investors look at Rare Element Resources? Said Scott, “We differentiate ourselves on several fronts. We are located in Wyoming where we are adjacent to existing infrastructure, including water, power and transportation, as well as enjoy strong community support. This means we can get our project into production sooner without having the burden of large capital costs. With our identified high-grade core, we can say with some certainty that we can mine with a grade 50% higher than the average grade for the first five to ten years, improving project economics. With our new processing technology, we will produce an end product that we believe end users will find attractive. And with permitting underway, we are optimistic that we will be the next rare earth producer in North America.”
Scott and his team want the market to be aware of the diversity of rare earth projects. Said Scott, “It is important to realize that not all rare earth projects are the same. We have a distribution of all of the rare earths, including those elements identified as being critical to moving technology forward.” Scott believes that the true value of their project is in the rare earth elements that are not as well-known but are very necessary for today’s technology. He said, “The majority of the value of our project comes from Neodymium, Praseodymium and Europium, which represent 75% of our projected revenue stream. These are also elements expected to experience better demand growth over the next several years. ”
Scott feels that there is still good upside on their project. He said, “The exploration potential on the property remains strong with multiple targets already identified – several with potential heavy rare earth enrichment. Our 97+% pure bulk concentrate is attractive but we realize that if you produce a bulk concentrate and pass it along to another entity for separation, you will take a discount to the pure oxide prices. For that reason, we think there may be advantages to separating the concentrate ourselves and have begun to evaluate this option. We are working now to update and incorporate all of the new resource and technology information into an economic analysis and hope to have that done in the next few months. Permitting is advancing and we hope to have a draft Environmental Impact Statement later this year or in early 2015. All in all, I would say 2014 is shaping up to be a pretty important year for Rare Element Resources.”
http://www.rareelementresources.com/
Rare Element Resources
225 Union Blvd, Suite 250
Lakewood, CO 80228
(720) 278-2460 (720) 278-2460
Fax: (720) 278-2490
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