Ann: Gifford Creek REE-Nb Carbonatite Update - Mangaroon, page-130

You are hilarious but dangerously inept... that table shows Reserves in Million Tonnes, not intersections with Mtrs

"It looks like DRE imo are on the money with this find ?"... no, this thread needs more research and less drinking the kool-aid. Niobium is quite common in carbonatites, Mt Weld as discussed, Nguala in Tanzania, Cummins in WA all have uneconomic niobium. Actually, take a look at RareX Cummins MRE and it looks very similar indeed. Almost like Nb enriches with RE, Sc and other volatiles in late carbonatite intrusive plugs, to a typically low level that get's concentrated up through lateritic weathering...



There are always some higher grades holes within a lower grade MRE for almost every commodity I can think of. Carbonatites very much so, between a complicated multiphase intrusive and hydrothermal alteration development, and variable weathering that may 'drag' dissolved goodies down the deeper weathering areas. A few holes don;t make a lot of tonnes, and the capex to biuld and operate a pyrochlore float and then downstream processing plant for a saleable product needs a lot of tonnes and long mine life to make sense.

Cummins is a dead duck, it's small tonnes of 2% TREO and typically poor recoveries from complicated mineralogy in the supergene zone won;t fly. The Nb as a biproduct was never seriously considered for the same reason of low grade and tonnes, plus the complicated and expensive task of trying to separate and float off a REE con and Nb con simultaneously.