Ben in America, page-14

Ark Mines (ASX:AHK)

Ark Mines’ Sandy Mitchell project in Queensland currently has a high confidence measured resource of 71.8Mt at 1732.7ppm monazite equivalent, a mineral containing REEs.

Exploration could bolster that further, with an exploration target set of 1.3 billion tonnes to 1.5 billion tonnes at 1286 to 1903 ppm MzEq.

A scoping study released in December has placed a $120-150m cost on a development underpinned by the current measured resource.

This is expected to generate annual EBITDA of $45m-$53m, and annual post-tax free cash flow totalling ~$25m-30m, while payback is expected within 3-4 years from first rare earth mineral concentrate production.

Ease of mining isanother advantagem with the project featuring surface mineralisation withminimal topsoil and no overburden.

Processing is expected to be simple with in situ processing using gravity only, with no chemicals, salts or acids required.

This also eschews the need for tailings dams and waste piles, making mining both more economic and environmentally friendly.