Size is only relevant to the point of >5Mtpa minimum scale to be meaningful. Beyond that you add years and maybe double or treble the scale, but ICD's are not very scalable economically. Every tonne is high opex to dig, heap leach, process and recovery MREC etc. Even with good recoveries from cheap leachate, MTM is starting with very low value clay in the ground (any sensible mining pit will quickly average down in TREO% grade because grades are highly variable). ICD's are favourable partly due to very high prices for DyTb, which this doesn;t have much of.
Unless they can cut a <20micron or some such beneficiation pre-leach tank, there is no way to get the classic economies of scale in ICDs like you can sulphide hosted deposits recovering say 10% mass into sulphide float before sending onto the more expensive hydromet. Leaching low value clay compared to all the other 100 Oz clay hosted projects around means low margins and highest on the cost curve. Unless it turns out miraculously to leach with simple salt solution, which no WA deposit has even come close to yet. I suggest the market will price in the chance of effective, cheap salt leach working here at almost zero until proven otherwise, but good luck anyway.
MTM Price at posting:
16.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
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