Harena Rare Earths completes Ampasindava ionic clay rare earth project pre-feasibility
Harena Rare Earths Plc shares moved higher in Monday’s early deals after the small-cap completed a pre-feasibility study for the Ampasindava ionic clay rare earth project in Madagascar.
The company said the PFS was compiled internally with SGS supporting technical inputs and updating the 2023 mineral resource estimate to JORC 2012 standard.
Harena said the PFS is based on a 20-year life of mine and a 5 million tonnes per annum dry plant throughput at an average grade of 1,500 ppm total rare earth oxide. The company said the study estimates total rare earth oxide production of about 71 kilotonnes over life of mine and annual production of about 4,000 tonnes per year.
The company said the pre-production capital cost estimate is US$142 million and that its base case modelling using long-term analyst prices shows a post-tax NPV10 of US$249.6 million and a post-tax IRR of 30%, with a payback period of four years.
“The completion of the PFS represents a significant step forward for Harena and the Ampasindava project,” executive technical director Allan Mulligan said.
He added: “we have an excellent understanding of the Ampasindava project where we can now further optimise the asset as we move into the final piloting and studies phase. The Ampasindava Project hosts a world-class scale ionic absorption rare earths mineralisation, particularly amenable to low-cost and high-yield recoveries.”
Harena said it is planning a phased proof-of-concept plant, including an on-site laboratory and test columns, and that permitting is on track to allow construction to commence in 2027.
