A little info from the FS:
In reference to recently discussed topics:
1.9.1 Tailings The tailings produced by the process plant will consist of filtered water leach residue, calcined excess oxide, and slag tailings. The four tailings storage facilities (TSF) will be constructed to contain the tailings, the first three cells in the Plant Site area, later in the mine life Area 7. The Plant Site TSFs would contain approximately 8.2 Mt of tailings. The Area 7 TSF would contain an additional approximately 5.3 Mt of tailings. The tailings facilities have been designed to incorporate two independent areas: a composite-lined tailings solids storage area; and an area with double lined containment including a leak collection and recovery system for management of stormwater runoff and drainage from the tailings solids. The TSFs will store predominantly dry (i.e., not in a slurry consistency) tailings from the plant with embankment construction based on a “downstream” construction method. Facility closure is considered in the design.
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7.7.2 Additional Elements of Economic Interest Within the Elk Creek Carbonatite a host of other elements exist with varying degrees of concentration. The Company has completed both whole rock analysis and multi-element analysis on all samples for the 2014 program, plus resampling of selected historical core/pulps between 2011 and 2014. As the metallurgical test work advanced during 2014 and 2015, the ability to obtain a titanium dioxide (TiO2) and scandium (Sc) product became apparent. TiO2 is typically found to be related to the niobium grades with a range of 3:1 to 4:1 found within the core of the deposit. The scandium mineralization does not directly correlate to niobium mineralization, but does show a grade increase with increasing niobium at low grades, but then a scatter of grades (on average considered higher grades 60 to 80 ppm), within the mdolCarb units.
7.7.3 Rare Earth Element Mineralization Within the Elk Creek Carbonatite complex there are several occurrences of REE mineralization, including the Project. REE mineralization within the Carbonatite occurs within the following minerals: • Bästnasite ([Ce,La,Y]CO3F); • Parisite (Ca[Ce,La]2[CO3]3F2); • Synchysite (Ca(Ce,La)[F|CO3]2); and • Monazite ([Ce,La]PO4).
SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc. NI 43-101 Technical Report, Feasibility Study – Elk Creek Niobium Project Page 60
JAO/MLM ElkCreek_FS_NI43-101_TechnicalReport_241900-040_Rev20_MLM.docx August 2017
A review of historic documents for drillhole EC-93, and part of Quantum’s re-sampling program due to the high grade REE mineralization as noted in the Molycorp drill logs includes an excerpt as follows:. “Barite beforsite is the predominant lithology from 149.4 to 304.8 m. It contains xenoliths of syenite, older mafic rocks, and apatite beforsite I, and is intruded by younger mafic rocks. Intervals 33 m (100 ft) long contain 2.13% to 2.75% LnO from 149.4 to 274.3 ft. An interval 18.3 m long at 179.8 to 198.1 ft contains 3.89% LnO. The highest grade mineralization intercepted was 3.0 m at 4.72% LnO at 155.4 to 158.5 m. Lanthanide minerals occur as radial patches and random aggregates of needles, irregular patches and vein-like aggregates. The aggregates occur with and without quartz. The aggregates appear as light-gray patches in reddish-brown, hematite-altered beforsite. Although individual lanthanide mineral grains are in the micrometer size range, aggregates of lanthanide minerals range from 0.23 to 8.0 mm. in maximum dimension. Monazite and bästnasite have been identified in the aggregates, and EDX spectra show Ce > La.” It should be noted that Molycorp term’s LnO, or rare-earth oxides (REO) incorporates lanthanum, cerium and neodymium along with the other 12 rare earth elements. Present day nomenclature for REE is shown in Table 7-3. Table 7-3: List of Elements and Oxides Associated REE Mineralization Element Element Acronym Compound Common Oxides Associated Elements and Oxides
Total REEs
Niobium Nb Nb2O5 Light Rare Earth Metals and Oxides (LREO) Lanthanum La La203 Cerium Ce Ce203 Praseodymium Pr Pr203 Neodymium Nd Nd203 Samarium Sm Sm203 Heavy Rare Earth Metals and Oxides (HREO) Europium Eu Eu203 Gadolinium Gd Gd203 Terbium Tb Tb203 Dysprosium Dy Dy203 Holmium Ho Ho203 Erbium Er Er203 Thulium Tm Tm203 Ytterbium Yb Yb203 Lutetium Lu Lu203 Yttrium Y Y203 Source: SRK, 2017
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It is much easier text to read in the FS. The copy onto the message board omits many of the features of the original text.
Have a great day.
