Jap team maps 'semi-infinite' rare earth reserves, page-79

You are totally confusing the investment thesis here.

Lynas has sufficient existing reserves to meet current production rates already mapped out in successive mining campaigns thru 2035. Done deal, absolutely NO rational reason to spend precious cash expanding resource security beyond that timeline for at least another decade.

What would make sense of that cash investment ATM (remember Lynas' crippling debt woes?) is if you were planning a significant increase in production volumes beyond the initial LynasNext uplift. IF you had plans to process another 160ktpa beyond the additional 40ktpa required Part 1 LynasNext, and wanted to do the responsible thing and prove up a similar degree of resource security for say an additional 20ktpa production thru 2035.

Any responsible JORC will contain an economic component, assessing the viability of the ore at varies grades & compositions, any test work AP ore ATM will be for the purpose of establishing & verifying cut off grades & composition, not adding current feed stock.

Just as the Li ore was originally rejected, then added to the JORC as an economic process route was established.