GRL - Media Articles, page-29

Here is the reason, Godolphin’s REE resources could upstage many of the possibles in Australia.

Why? I have copied and pasted the following explanation.

Goldolphin’s REE’s are “Ionic Adsorption Clay” vs “Hard Rock-hosted" REE.

	Mining/Processing Stages	Ionic Adsorption Clay (IAC)	Hard Rock-hosted REE
Mineralisation	Soft material, negligible (if any) blasting Elevated HREO/CREO relative to TREO head grade Lower grade TREO (0.04 – 0.3 % TREO)	Hard rock; Bastnaesite and Monazite (LREO dominant); Xenotime (HREO dominant) High La,Cecomponent of TREO head grade, ~ 5% HREO content Higher grade TREO (> 0.7% TREO)
Mining	Bulk Mining, low relative operating costs: Surface mining (0-20 m), 3 m of cover Minimal stripping of waste material (strip ratio = 0.8) Progressive rehabilitation of mined areas	Selective Mining, high relative operating costs; Blasting required Could have high strip ratios Grade control requirements high
Processing Mining Site	No milling Simple process plant, bulk process methods Potential for static or in-situ leaching Low reagent consumption at ambient temperature	Comminution, Intensive crushing and grinding required to liberate REE minerals Beneficiation via simple screening a possible option Expensive (flotation) reagents and utilities required to produce mineral concentrate
Mine Product	Mixed high-grade rare earth carbonate, +90% TREO grade product Low La,Ce content (25-30%), high HREO/CREO content (70-75%), high basket value (US$39/kg REO) Magnet metals ~ 33.3% (including 5% Dy+Tb) High margin product	Mixed REE mineral concentrate (typically 20 – 40% TREO grade), gangue entrainment requires high product transport costs High La,Ce content (~70%), low basket value per kg of product (US$13-20/kg REO) Requires substantial processing (i.e. cracking) before suitable for feed to rare earth separation plant Low margin product if mineral concentrate only
Product Payability	70-80% payability as a mixed Rare Earth carbonate	35-40% payability as a mineral concentrate
Processing - Environmental	Non-radioactive tailings Solution treatment and reagent recovery requirements (somewhat off-set by advantageous supporting infrastructure)	Tailings often radioactive (complex and costly disposal) Legacy radionuclide tailing management
Processing - Refinery(Typically not on Mining site)	Mixed rare earth carbonate, +90% TREO grade product a highly desirable feedstock directly into rare earth separation plant Simple acid solubilisation followed by conventional REE separation Complex recycling of reagents and water	High temperature mineral “cracking” using strong reagents to solubilise the refractory REE minerals Complex capital-intensive plant required, i.e. high capex requirement Radionuclide issues follow REE mineral concentrates to cracking plant Social licence to operate concerns re radioactive tailings