Ann: Scoping Study, low-cost, scalable world-class REE Project, page-25

This study is actually very impressive. Is anyone aware of another rare earth project achieving a 20% IRR at 95 USD/kg NdPr? ARU, with its $520m mcap needs a whopping 130 USD/kg NdPr to clear 20% IRR. So ARR has better economics than ARU but less than a third of the mcap.

My only technical query on these results is the recovery of Dy and Tb. They didn't share the Dy and Tb results in the Feb technical report, but shared Y which is right next to DyTb on the periodic table (a heavy rare earth) and behaves similarly. The Y extraction was much lower than Nd and Pr. So one would expect Dy and Tb to also get the same extraction % and Y, i.e., ~33% (less than half of Nd and Pr). Yet this report has assumed similar recoveries for Dy and Tb to NdPr?



My comment is backed up by Stantec in the full scoping study, see below:


A bit optimistic to assume Dy and Tb will have the same leach extractions given the met leahcing data they have to date! Accounting for this may drop headline revenues by approx. 20% per tonne ore (Dy and Tb accounting for 30% of headline revenues). Study would still be solid, but now IRR 20% would need NdPr prices in the low 100's USD/kg. Any thoughts?