Ann: Mineral Resource Estimate Increased Threefold at Makuutu, page-110

Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) – Commence Study Q2 2021 - Q3 2022
My guess it is going to be extremely thorough to take so long. Try selling any product to the Europeans that is not environmentally friendly. Dot your I's and cross your T's
Pretty much kills off most of the HR Monazite/ bastnäsite deposits containing thorium and uranium then, especially when it upgrades the %'s in the beneficiation and processing.

Given that there are 8 elements within the 238U decay chain and 8 in the 232 Th chain, their separation during processing is not simple and it is important to ensure that the final REE products are below the NORM activity level (1 Bq/g of a single radionuclide in the decay chain).

For Makuutu,
The weathering developed a lateritic regolith with a surface indurated hardcap, followed downward by clay rich zones that grade down through saprolite and saprock to unweathered sediments ( Figure 3). The thickness of the regolith is between 10 and 20 metres from surface.
The REE mineralisation is concentrated in the weathered profile where it has dissolved from its primary mineral form, such as monazite and xenotime, then ionically bonded (adsorbed) or colloidally bonded on to fine particles of aluminosilicate clays (e.g. kaolinite, illite, smectite). The adsorbed and colloidal REE is the target for extraction and production of REO at Makuutu.