re: News: Peak Resources to commence further ... Focus, focus,...

re: News: Peak Resources to commence further ... Focus, focus, focus. IMO, PEK is first and foremost an REE company. They need to leverage the advantages of the deposit to outweigh any disadvantages to attract an end user or JV interest.

The metallurgy is probably going to be highly variable. We know we have a primary apatite, monazite carbonatite orebody with variability in LREE, HREE, phosphate, tantalum, and niobium enrichment. We know that there is a good deal of secondary enrichment giving 7%+ REE grades. We know that a lot of it is variably oxidised and leached to Fe/Mn end-states or conversely alkali rich. So all in all, somewhat complex.

When they go over all the existing core and look at quantities of Fe, Mn, vs Ca, P, K etc and ratios thereof, that will hopefully help to categorise ore that is potentially simply leached into a concentrate and that which isn't.

If PEK can get 20M near surface tons of direct leach ore running around 5% REE, then they have a huge cost advantage over their peers. But only provided they have a treatment and market pathway for it.

I would be happy if PEK sent their most optimised metallurgical outcomes to Xstrata's labs for confirmation testing. A good way to advertise IMO.

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Frontier have recently released their Preliminary Economic Assessment. I recommend too any dedicated PEK investor to read it. In South Africa, Zandkopsdrift is very similar in composition and geology to Ngualla, except it is smaller and lower grade. Frontier have an off-take agreement with KORES to take at least 31%. KORES is committed to dealing with a consortium of Korean industries to market and use the products. So Frontier now have the liberty to push forward with feasibility on that basis. PEK needs the same marketing angle - i.e. Mitsubishi not AIM or mainstream media, IMO (just recently another REE play in the early days of development signed an off-take agreement, this time Matamec in Canada with Toyota).


Some key points from the Frontier PFS.

Cut-off for feasibility is at 2% giving 20Mt at 3.04%. Ngualla easily trumps that.

Frontier has good infrastructure - a separation facility is to be constructed under a separate entity 300km away from the mine. Somewhere in the documents it says the separation plant could possibly toll treat, but it seems ore from Zandskopsdrift is committed for 20 years.

Annual production for Zandskopsdrift is pegged at 1Mt p.a. Strip ratio is at 3:1. On-site concentrating includes fine grinding, flotation and cracking. The concentrate will be 99% pure mixed REE, then trucked to the separation facility.

Opex per kg mixed REE is pegged at $13. About half of that for separation.

The document has forward looking REE prices cited from industry experts.

That's from memory. Lot's more useful info in it, when looking where PEK may follow. The PEA is available on the Frontier's website.