sell outs, page-19

Vayama,

I think the differences between ARU and GGG are again pretty extreme.

nolans is a carbonatite-alkaline intrusive and they are trying to gold-plate the process plant to achieve maximum extraction of value from all of their various ore phases.

ARU has 3% REE (sometimes more) but it also has a sizeable percentage of phosphates (14% IIRC), uranium, thorium, chloride minerals, etc. ARU it trying to not only extract the REE (as LREE/HREE) and U, but purify agricultural grade phosphates (which last year were worth a motza) and produce chloride chemicals. Plus bin the thorium, and they'll need to get ALL radioactives out of the phosphates and chlorides or they cant use them for fertiliser.

So ARU is trying a 750Ktpa plant feeding into a five or six stage hydrometallurgical process producing gangues, thorium, U, REE, H3PO4 phosphatic acid (with ~0ppm U), chloride, etc.

No wonder it's costing them US$750M at last guesstimate, and taking years and years. They are trying to DIY the whole thing except cracking the REE mischmetal. I owned ARU at one stage, but now, realistically, it's looking like a nightmare of metallurgy and Capex out the wazoo. Yes, the rewards are theoretically huge if phosphate prices stick up where they are now but we're seeing MAK and others come to market with $80M capex projects so there's a seed of doubt as to exactly how much money ARU is theoretically rolling in. In fact, wait to see how LYC's supply affects prices; U has lost 60% of its peak, etc.

I don't think you can compare the two processes side by side. GGG is doing an ARU right up to the point at which they stick it in the mill. Thereafter the process it really rather simple; wash out the NaF, float the REE-phosphates and U-REE phosphates, and that's it.

I saw the same argument on the LYC and ARU threads when the respective cheersquads were duking it out as to which company was more crap than the other. Again, completely different flowsheets. You can't compare the three at all except that they have REE's and all appear viable on paper.

Capex, probably similar to BMN or EXT. Likely US$350M to $450M all inclusive, and if you want to drop your estimates below 8Mtpa to 6Mtpa why not go 4Mtpa and give up entirely? I picked 10Mtpa because thats 3000tpa U or 6M pounds.