Revenues are estimated to be C$397 million per year from the sale of REE concentrate in years one though four and the sale of mixed REE hydrometallurgical precipitates in years five through 16. The flotation concentrate sold in the initial production period will average 43% total rare earth oxides (TREO).
The PEA suggests annual production would be 25,423 tonnes of rare earth oxide from an open pit mine and 1.8 million t/y processing plant.
Defense calculated the Wicheeda base case economics using a price of $5.76/kg TREO and $14.04/kg TREO in REE carbonate precipitates.
The updated Wicheeda resource estimate includes 5 million indicated tonnes at 2.95% TREO and29.5 million inferred tonnes at 1.83% TREO.
(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)
