knock-out criteria for ree stocks, page-9

stockanalyst1,

the 20% concentrate has everything to do with the grade and nothing to do with the volume

this is from page 8 of the June 2013 Quarterly Activities Report and confirms it:-

"The other key result from the test work is the confirmation that circa 96% of the feed mass to the beneficiation plant can be rejected to tailings and only 4% of the feed mass will report as mineral concentrate. This means a very low feed mass to the hydrometallurgical process plant which translates to a smaller facility with lower capital and operating costs."

With REE deposits, it all comes down to acid consumption, which is typically the largest cost. Less material means less acid, which means less deleterious elements into solution, which means less cost to deal with that solution, and less complications throughout the process - NTU only needs to treat 4% of it's ore with acid !

Here are some cost examples in rare earths:-

Rare Element Resources $8.48kg for open pit:

Avalon Rare Metals $17.28kg for underground:

source: page 17 of: http://image.slidesharecdn.com/rareearthsminecosts-johnsykes-2013-06-24-final-130820201817-phpapp01/95/slide-17-638.jpg?cb=1380070701

The cost of metallurgical recovery is absolutely essential in the REE space, and those deposits that host REE minerals that have been commercially processed historically have an inherent metallurgical advantage over those that do not.

Xenotime is the one REE mineral that all companies wish they had. It is the best HREE-bearing mineral on the planet.

Xenotime hosts the highest amount of HREEs out of any known mineral, and is therefore the most in-demand REE mineral in the world. Companies hosting minerals such as xenotime have the ability to produce high grade mineral concentrates using proven processes and magnetic separation - no acid required to produce a mineral concentrate - that's a huge saving for NTU and means a significant competative advantage over many of it's competitors who have no choice but to use acid in the mineral concentrate stage.

Best to all long term shareholders.