http://www.mining.com/australias-forgotten-rare-earths/There’s...

http://www.mining.com/australias-forgotten-rare-earths/


There’s about 10 million contained tonnes of rare earths lying in just one mine in Australia – but whether they will ever extracted is in doubt.

Welcome to Australia’s forgotten rare earth deposits.



Memories were jogged by the recently issued 96-page US Geological Survey report,The Principle Rare Earth Elements Deposits of the United States. The main themes have now been widely discussed, but on page 20 there’s a fascinating list of the main deposits outside the US.

There it is: Olympic Dam in the state of South Australia. Two billion tonnes of ore containing rare earth elements, and 10 million contained tonnes. There, too, is the grade: 0.5 per cent.

The mine is now owned by BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) and, so we believe, there is absolutely no intention of doing anything about the rare earth oxides. As someone who knows the deposit explained, why would a company like BHP which is trying to dominate several large industries – iron ore, coal and now potash – want with getting involved in a small industry. A $100 million investment in the capacity of Olympic Dam would, the argument goes, provide a much greater return if spent on the uranium and copper and gold at this mine than it ever would on rare earths. Olympic Dam is the world’s largest known uranium deposit.

The Adelaide-based Department of Primary Industry and Resources of South Australia (PIRSA) provides some scant detail about the rare earths at Olympic Dam. It said the assays at the deposit of 0.3 per cent lanthanum and 0.2 per cent cerium are common.