General Chat / Discussion, page-207

I thought I dealt with this sometime ago, but appears to continue to be raised. I do have an understanding and posted about the differences before between hard rock and clay processes before, and why clay with lower TREO to hard rock is viable because of much lower processing costs and simpler process, and much easier process at the beneficiation stage for clays compared to hard rock. I went through such differences in Post #: 49202945, and the embedded post there of Post #: 48847518 - unfortunately in terms of that embedded post somehow at times in HC you lose the pics and those pics about process I reprovided in Post #: 50067406. If want to get a better guage - not directed at yourselves - these three above posts might provide a perpsctive.

Before I forget, the last post also sort to address this issue China keeps raising back in January so here is part of that response in that last post:

............each REE process flowsheet has some unique differences especially because of ore type, but as a first call I will simply say a REE clay deposit is very different to a hard rock REE deposit, and even REE hard rock deposits are very different depending on what is the host ore, because processes also differ depending on the ore type. There is little/limited bonding of the REE to clay as against REEs in hard rock, meaning separation is a lot easier as well at the benficiation stage, which allows improved ability to separate minerals, say through using their specific gravities for example from the gangue, to then move to the other aspects of the process flowsheet."

and the crust of the point:

""At the end of the day, the mining plan will detail how environmental issues are dealt with, as one would expect the case to be for PM8. To ask a forum before a SS, PFS and DFS has been established by IXR in how environmental issues will be controlled in a mining plan for IXR is nothing short of mischievious..""""

""Mining rare earths is environmentally sensitive and always has been, but mining itself does deal with environmental issues so time will tell how IXR (and the host of prospective REE deposits) address these issues. Yes will be good for IXR to provide an indicative view on how it will mine the deposit and deal with mining issues including environmental issues, but that does require establishing your mineral resource estimate first, with enough resources in the Measured and Indicated category so as to provide the basis for doing your evaluation studies because that is where you start dealing with these issues more broadly in determining what solutions are required and how costly those solutions are and how they may impact viability. IXR is still at the beginning of that approach, so asking questions around what specifically they will do to extract resources is currently premature IMO IMO.""

Obviously, if before mining happens IXR has to provide its mining plan, including the actual area it intends mining because not all the tenement will be mined, and how it will mine environmentally responsibly. The world is littered with mining operations near towns etc, or not far from towns, so it is nothing new in environmental management, and for mining to occur simultaneouls to protecting social and environmental values. Also there are mines that are far away from towns, but close to waterways that flow downstream, that can be problematic if not managed properly because when mining is not managed properly even these mines can impact people and the environment downstream and that too has happened. So whatever the point, for IXR yes the mining plan will need to deal with these issues, and planning is a key. To come to conclusions in the now before a mining plan has been produced, or even a SS been developed, and to form a view that mining can't happen here because of environmental concerns is a very premature response indeed.

The fact IXR is continuing exploring and the government is allowing that to happen suggests a confidence level that if an economic resource is defined it can be mined environmentally responsibly.


All IMO